Liverpool Sound City Day Two

The Spring Bank Holiday weekend saw Bramley-Moore Dock swamped with crowds of artists and fans alike attending Liverpool’s Sound City festival. The line-up for the second day was much more promising than the first day, with The Coral, Circa Waves and The Dandy Warhols all performing on the main stage that night.

During the day, the stage that caught a lot of people’s attention was the MailChimp Record Store brought by Dig Vinyl. This stage was Sound City’s very own immaculately stocked record store within the heart of the festival. It was not only selling records but also had intimate performances from various musicians, including Aldo, The Band, made up of three brothers from São Paulo, Brazil. The tent was packed with an audience bouncing along to their electronic beats and they even got one audience member leaping over the speakers onto the stage.

Following Aldo, The Band came another group of siblings: the Slovakian brother and sister forming the electronic duo Bulp. The atmosphere they created was quite a contrast as it was a lot more chilled as they played their various songs including ‘Over’ and ‘Far Light’. They finished by handing out free stickers at the end of their set, definitely winning over the crowd (or the big kids within the crowd).

From 7.30pm onwards, the Atlantic Stage was buzzing with hundreds of people there to see the headliners. First up came The Dandy Warhols, the psychedelic alternative quartet from Oregon, USA. They got the crowd dancing with their idyllic rock vibes and their well-known tracks, most notably ‘Bohemian Like You’ and ‘We Used to Be Friends’.

Next came Liverpool’s own Circa Waves, the indie-rocker foursome who formed after meeting at Sound City in 2013. Their lively music had fans boogying along whilst belting out the lyrics to their favourite songs… until the power went out. This led to 20 minutes of confusion and a frantic sound technician running around the Atlantic stage, until eventually managing to get the stage back on so Circa Waves could finish their set with their most well-known song ‘T-Shirt Weather’ to a slightly dispersed crowd.

Meanwhile, the Cavern Stage was setting up for the band WHITE, the very chic five-piece indie rock band with beats similar to Bowie during his Berlin era. This was followed by Eliza and the Bear – the indie-folk quintet with an awesome stage presence, with banter flying between the band and the audience alike. Sadly their set had to be shortened due to the stage running late, but nevertheless Eliza and the Bear pulled off a great performance with their chirpy and catchy songs getting the whole crowd singing along.

The Coral, the British rock group from no other than Hoylake (just across the River Mersey from Liverpool), had been playing the Atlantic Stage during Eliza and the Bear’s set, but another power cut occurred during this set. This led to some people leaving disappointed but, when the power came back on, the Coral saved their set with their popular songs ‘In the Morning’ and ‘Dreaming of You’.

Overall Sound City day two was much better musically than day one, despite the power cuts, as the curfew was ignored to ensure the fans got what they came for. Plus, there was a tribute to both David Bowie and Prince (who both died earlier this year) on the side of the Baltic Warehouse with projections of both the musical heroes, as well as a Bowie Disco in Tim Peaks Diner.