Temples Festival is in its first year, and based on both the organisation at the event and the line up across the whole weekend, what an achievement. The festival's reputation will likely increase tenfold after the success of this year's event, proving to be another successful addition to the festival season. Whilst we only made it down on the third and final day, we were left more than impressed.
The day kicked off with an impressive set from Maryland Rockers Lionize (9/13) who throughout won over more and more people in the crowd to a point where by the end there was a genuine sadness that they had to go. The funk driven grooves were pulsating across the venue, as right from the off the sound on the main stage proved to be excellent. This was a slightly shorter set than what they've had on the rest of the UK tour with Clutch, but they were still able to make the right kind of impression, smashing through tracks on their most recent release Jetpack Soundtrack. Their musicianship is tight and groove powerful, a combination which had many in the audience still talking about it right up to Clutch hitting the stage that night.
Next up on the main stage came Leeds based Hard Rock band Black Moth (10/13) who, much like Lionize before them, delivered a hugely impressive set full of tunes with ridiculously catchy hooks and riffs and soaring vocals. There was an excellent stage presence and confidence, as the band would croon around with slow chugging Doom riffs before exploding into this superb rock n' roll swagger. They had heads banging across the venue throughout tunes like Blackbirds Fall. They are well worth checking out if you get the opportunity. The same can be said for the mountainous power coming from War Wolf (9/13) across the floor at the second stage. 'War Wolf' is right when looking at guitarist and front man who is an absolute powerhouse. They sounded really tight live throughout the set with the drummer being the real driving force behind the Doom-y, savage brand of hardcore. They certainly played an important part in getting the crowds fired up for the day, crushing everyone's hangover in the palm of their hand.
Back over on the main stage, the snarling Dutch maniacs in Herder (8/13) were chomping at the bit to get going, and when they did they smashed into a set of savage tunes combining everything from Sludge to Death. There were pockets of chaos across the crowd as the front man's banter did well to antagonise the crowd into a reaction. They were also phenomenally loud, which meant some elements of their music were lost in the mix, but it was a suitably crushing set nonetheless.
In quite a deep contrast to this (and many other bands across today) Beastmilk (11/13) delivered one of the more intriguing and mesmerising sets of the festival. Sounding like the bastard child of Faith No More and Joy Division, Beastmilk were very different to some of the savagely heavy bands they were sandwiched in between. There were a good few leaving because of this, but not once did this affect the band who conveyed this ridiculous level of confidence and swagger. Their post-punk style turned out to be a refreshing twist as the band flew through tracks off of their latest album Climax. Their set was moody, dark and just really, really, good.
Bringing the heavy back to the festival, Hark (9/13) wielded yet another sludgy dose of riffs for the Temples patrons. The sound was a bit off for some parts of the set, but later on it sounded like someone had simply plugged something in as everything sorted itself out. Thankfully this came just in time for a very special appearance from Clutch front man Neil Fallon. The band were extremely tight and had most of the crowd gripped throughout. The same can be said for SSS (12/13) but in a more "take note or we'll come off the stage and pummel you if you don't" kind of way. Liverpool based SSS delivered fury on a completely new scale, smashing through track after track with eye watering pace and precision. You'll be hard pressed to find an SSS track over a minute and a half, in which case the band probably smashed through about 40 tracks during their set. They triggered the biggest pit on the day as everyone just completely lost their mind. Another band well worth checking out, live especially. They will thrash your brain out.
In an effort to 'out-maniac' SSS, extreme Metal band Dragged Into Sunlight (9/13) delivered an utterly mesmerising set. Even if you didn't really dig the music all that much, the show itself was just absolutely mental with the only light at all coming from the strobe machine. All you could see were silhouettes of the band, all facing the drummer, through the smoke and the strobe lighting which just added another level of intensity to the set. The excellent Doomriders (11/13) were far less theatrical back on the Main Stage but their set wasn't any less impressive. Their riffs were absolutely deafening as the band smashed through tune after tune, leaving the crowd more than satisfied at the conclusion of their set.
To conclude both the day and weekend at Temples Festival the mighty Clutch (12/13) delivered a set doing exactly what they do best. This has been an excellent run for the band throughout the UK and to have a headline set at the very first Temples Festival as part of it is superb. The band expressed their admiration for the very well run festival in its first year, showing genuine appreciation to be asked to close the very first edition. Like many of the dates on the UK tour, the set list had a very heavy Earth Rocker presence which the crowd absolutely lapped up. The set was a bit quieter than others on the day, but you could still hear the awesome tightness and brilliance between JP, Tim Sult and Dan Maines, with Neil Fallon orchestrating the whole thing. They truly are one of the great Rock bands in the world amplified by the awestruck nature of the whole crowd throughout the performance.
Temples Festival has proven to be a fantastic hit in its first year. A very well organised event, with a friendly manner across the board. Based on this year's very impressive line up, this festival will grow and grow, just make sure you don't miss out next time!