We made the short-ish trip up North to Middlesbrough to catch the latest instalment of Make A Scene Festival. Taking place at the Teeside students union, MaS have previously held acts such as Don Broco, Roam, Boston Manor, Funeral for a Friend, Malevolence, Neck Deep, Mallory Knox and Bury Tomorrow and many more great acts. This year was no different, headlined by one of our favourite acts, Trash Boat, and supported by an abundance of talent including; As December Falls, Dream State, Caskets, Heriot, Graphic Nature, Tired of Fighting and again, many more fantastic artists. Sadly, due to time constraints, it meant we couldn't arrive until 5pm so we caught Telltale as our first event.
Telltale: a band we have followed since their conception with their classic "Timeless Youth" record. Embarking on their first ever UK shows, their tour included performances at this years 2000 Trees Festival and MaS festival. Telltale's set was bright and energetic. I've always been impressed with John's vocals on record, but to see him perform such sweet symphonies live took the fondness and appreciation to a whole new level. It was nice to hear them play some of my personal favourites like "Bouquet" and "Rose", in which the latter proved to start off a bit of a pit, before quickly moving on to do a verse and chorus of "Break Stuff" and getting a large reception. Telltale are one to keep an eye on due to their steady stream of top-quality releases.
Led by Lanterns: ah, another band that we adore here at Punk, Rocks! The crowd sprinted from one side of the room to the other to be at the front of LBL's set. Chris was performing his routine spinny-spins and guitar shooting the crowd. The crowd were lively from the start, feeding into a set of pure chaos and mosh-pits. They were met with a raucous cheer when Shaun mentioned they were going to play their 2 newest tracks live for the first time ever! Tobi Duncan (of Trash Boat) came out to perform his verse in "Alive" but sadly the hype was fairly short lived as the mic he picked up wasn't working. Not to worry, he took a hold of Shaun's and managed to complete the last 2 lines. Led by Lanterns are constantly releasing fantastic music, doing huge tours, and have a solid loyal network of fans, the only question is, when are they going to blow up?
Graphic Nature: I headed down to the Sinner Stage to catch Graphic Nature who had recently played at Download festival. Now I'm not usually a lover of hardcore music, but this band thrill me, they absolutely do. I gave them a listen on Spotify before attending the festival and I grew into them quickly. This developed ten-fold when I caught their set at MaS fest, each song had beautifully unique elements built into it and their mesmerising set left you wanting more and more each time they finished a track. As is synonymous with any hardcore show, there was pitting plentiful. 2023 will be the year Graphic Nature explodes.
Little Twins Bakery: Sadly we aren't local to this bakery, but if you are then you should definitely check them out. We treated ourselves to a Lotus Biscoff brookie pie and it was exquisite. It was great value as it was huge and packed full of deliciousness.
Caskets: I went into this set expecting good things from Caskets and I must say, I wasn't disappointed. Hailing from Leeds, Caskets have 1.7m listeners on Spotify and it's easy to see why. Very similarly to Holding Absence, this band hold a calm vocal presence over heavier instrumentals. Every single chorus that was performed sounded anthemic, none more so than "beating of my glass heart" which seems to be their most popular track as the crowd were blaring it back to them. Overall a solid set from the Yorkshire band who are destined to continue their powerful rise to the top.
Dream State: Oh wow. Anyone may be skeptical of a line-up change within a band that you've loved for so long, it's natural. It was the first time I've seen Dream State since CJ's departure but wow, Jessie can fill that role. I'd call her "the queen of range". The vocals were absolutely phenomenal, between the screams and the unique singing voice she possesses, it got me fired up to mosh my way through the set. Dream State played a nice mix of songs with the old line-up and new. There's ever such a subtle change in their direction and I look forward to seeing what else they come out with. One of the more notable things regarding their set was the stage presence and crowd interaction they did, we got a few whoop-whoops in the set, as well as a venture out into the middle of the crowd, in which she admitted she felt terrified. Anyway, Dream State are going on a huge tour with As December Falls later this year and you should 100% be getting to a show.
As December Falls: ADF then come on at the opposite end of the room, and again there was a huge rushing swarm to get there. As December Falls are a band that have continued to impress me since their first ever single. Bethany's vocals have always left me in awe and will continue to do so evermore, there is such power in that magnificent vocal range of hers. I've not been able to catch them before until this year when I saw a few songs of theirs at Download Festival. For me, it's a shame they don't delve into their "back" catalogue so much given their musical prowess that it holds, but with 2 albums and a constant stream of bangers, it's understandable they'll perform their latest releases. "Join the Club" - the latest album by As December Falls is out this Friday! Personal favourites "Nothing More to You" and "Ride" were performed and they went off! As mentioned above, As December Falls are headlining a huge tour later this year in the UK and Europe with Dream State, an event you will need to get down to.
Trash Boat: This may have been my 10th or so time seeing Trash Boat and they've never failed to amaze me. Tobi sadly announced that this may be their last UK show of the year, but on the positive side, that probably means an album and a big tour at the start of the year, right?
All other bands, including the Sinner Stage headliners Heriot had finished by the time Trash Boat were due to come on, so the room was twice as full. After a long day of drinking and pitting already, the crowd may have been low on energy, but that was quickly brought back up with an insane set of breakdowns, colossal riffs and explosive chorus'. Tobi changes his vocals from the recordings quite frequently, to get a more infectious scream live rather than what you might hear on the album. Trash Boat of course played their famous cover of Linkin Park's "Given Up" which is always a good one to play if you're introducing yourself to people who may not be familiar with you. Trash Boat's energy was matched by the crowd who were non-stop moving, and when a band is smashing their way through one of the best setlists they can produce, it's hard to stop. A couple of rogue songs were played in the set, including none other than Controlled Burn, which in my opinion has the biggest riff on the album, if not their discography.
Make A Scene Festival was very well organised, had a great atmosphere and was overall a fantastic experience. The two stages in one room was perfected so you really didn't have to miss out on any music. I truly look forward to seeing who they may bring in next year.
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