Wild Paths Festival

It is now Monday morning, and in the afterglow of four days and nights of live music my body is now in post-festival comedown, both physically and emotionally. Good luck to any of my fellow weekend wristband holders who today had to drag themselves back to work and the mundanity of the 9-5 routine.
 
Wild Paths 2019 was a fantastic four day celebration of live music, DJ sets and conference sessions that took in 18 venues and featured over 200 acts – a mix of local, national and international artists. Put together by a crack team that included some of the city's best promoters and an army of volunteers, Wild Paths set out to revive the spirit of Norwich Sound & Vision, the annual gathering that ran for eight years between 2009 and 2017. NS&V famously gave local music lovers the chance to rub shoulders with music industry figures and artists at a series of evening gig sessions hosted by venues throughout the city. Admission was either by wristband, by pre-booking individual events, or by pay-at-the-door. It was similar to the multi-venue weekend festivals that are now so popular elsewhere, events like Brighton's The Great Escape, Sheffield's Tramlines, and London's Camden Crawl.
 
Not unsurprisingly, the announcement of Wild Paths back in May was greeted with delight by those of us still mourning the passing of NS&V. The first acts announced included folk singer-songwriter José González, jazz outfit Ruby Rushton, and genre-spanning artist Rosie Lowe. 'Early-bird' passes went on sale but, as further names were added to the programme, so did the ticketing options. You could choose a standard weekend wristband or you could upgrade to a 'VIP Pass'; you could buy a multi-venue day pass; or you could cherry-pick a ticket for individual events. And some free events did not require a ticket at all. By the time we got to opening night the options seemed bewilderingly wide. My own choices were ultimately dictated by throwing my cap into the ring and volunteering to help out at one of the main venues on Thursday and Friday night, but that still left me free to roam wild and free on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Saturday
And so it was that I started my Wild Paths at the Millenium Library on Saturday afternoon, listening to local singer songwriter Gabby Rivers, first of a number of students from Access Creative College to appear at this innovative free event. “Live music? In a library? Whatever next? I must write a strongly worded letter to the council...”. Well, why not? Full marks to the library for once again embracing the principal that live performance can be a perfect bedfellow to the written word and their collection of recorded music and film.
 
Over next to the Shoe Factory at St Mary's Works (between Oak Street and Duke Street). Currently awaiting regeneration as part of The Shoe Quarter project, two storeys in one area of the old building had been taken over by Wild Paths for the weekend, and were hosting a programme that split alternate acts between the ground and first floor stages. I arrived just as Brighton band Ralph TV were playing to a modest, but receptive, crowd downstairs. In one corner a bar was serving drinks and, outside, a pop-up food stall ensured that we didn't go hungry. Toilets were in a temporary block outside at the back, close to where graffiti artists were spray-painting a large exterior wall. Taking a pee was quickly euphemised into being 'off to check the mural'.
 
The stairs to the first floor were a tad narrow and twisting but as one act finished we negotiated them to take our places for the next, who would be soundchecked and ready to go. There was little in the way of sound-proofing at this venue, so some noise bleed was going to be inevitable. I experienced no problems, but apparently one acoustic act was at times competing with the sound of the next band checking below. And, talking of warming up, there was no heating at the Shoe Factory so it was potentially a case of donning an extra layer unless you could dance your way warm through each set.
 
I checked out local outfit Dlore, London five-piece Junodream, and alt-soul singer VC Pines before heading off to Karma Kafe in Bedford Street where two of my favourite local bands, Other Half and Hex Friends were playing in the upstairs room. Then it was back to the Shoe Factory, where I stayed until the bitter end, watching jangly Liverpool pop band SPINN (fronted by rubber-hipped dancing front-man Johnny Quinn), electronic artist Anchorsong (with four piece string accompaniment), Leif Erikson (no, not the Icelandic explorer), Colchester's Sam Eagle (still wearing shorts in mid-October), and awesome London singer Wu-Lu and his band. As darkness fell, the crowds downstairs swelled in anticipation of sets from Genghar and Brighton pop masters, the Magic Gang.
 
As live music ended the DJ's were just getting started at after-parties scattered around the city but for me, after fourteen live acts and going up and down the Shoe Factory steps all day, it was time to recharge.
 
Sunday
My Sunday began at a sparsely populated Banking Hall at Open at just after half past two in the afternoon. They have removed the central steps and gallery from the banking hall, and the resultant venue space is now even more magnificent, but absolutely massive. Like the Shoe Factory, Open were alternating acts between two stages - the huge main stage and the compact, and more cosy, Club Room. Soul singer Jerome Thomas did a sterling job on the main stage, engaging with the small but enthusiastic crowd, encouraged them forwards to the barriers and urging them into participating with both singing and dance moves. We then moved into the Club Room where hip-hop trio Jungle Brown benefitted from the smaller space and connected more easily with the audience.
 
I left Open for a short walk down to King Street, and the Last Pub Standing (proudly claimed as the last of 58 historical pubs to have once lined the length of King Street). It was my first visit to this comfortable (and dog-friendly) watering hole, but certainly will not be my last. I enjoyed a tasty, and quite potent, pint of Wild Stallion whilst listening to local band Galli, now functioning as a quartet with the permanent addition of Cecily Eno on backing vocals.
 
Meanwhile, back at Open, Monster Florence create a storm in the Club Room, their trio of rappers giving it large together with a live band, and with all of them claiming to be still recovering from the effects of a previous night's imbibitions. Jazz quartet Ruby Rushton filled the growing crowd in the Banking Hall with a wonderful mix of saxophones, flutes and trumpets driven along by keys and percussion, but I make my way back to Last Pub Standing to catch new local band Dharma Hum, featuring an unconventional line-up - three guitars plus drummer (who switched to bass guitar for their closing number). Keen eyed members of the audience will also have recognised renowned photographer Andi Sapey, usually seen pointing his lens at gigs and festivals, but today swapping SLR for electric guitar.
 
By now it is early evening, and the doors of the Waterfront Studio are open for a Wild Paths triple bill with psych five piece The Cult of Dom Keller (who reminded me a lot of millennial rockers The Cooper Temple Clause); feral garage punks Avalanche Party; and the hotly-tipped Pregoblin. Avalanche Party totally storm it with a maelstrom of undiluted power and energy, leaving Pregoblin, I am afraid to say, with just two vocalists and a backing track instead of live band, disappointing to say the least.

 
The final leg of my Wild Paths journey took me back to Open, and the chilled sounds of José González, but I arrived to find the entire building being evacuated. Two songs into his set, and a fog machine had set off the smoke alarm, so the venue staff were marshalling the entire audience out the doors, past Gonzo's and down into London Street. After a period of some confusion, and the bemusement of passers by, we were eventually allowed back in, with Gonzáles resuming his seat and, with the merest shrug of the shoulders and a light-hearted “Now, where was I?”, he completes his set and still finds time for an encore, even though the gig was running about half an hour later than originally scheduled.
 
Once again, there is still a choice of a late-night jazz jam in Open's Club Room, a choice of DJ sets at either Gonzo's or Last Pub Standing, or a Wild paths Karaoke at Voodoo Daddy's. But for this old Voodoo Daddy it is once again time to call it a day.
 
So, despite the bewildering array of ticketing options; despite the disappointment incurred by a handful of weekend wristband holders that couldn't get into the Arts Centre to see Anna Meredith; despite that disappointing closing set from Pregoblin; and despite the over-sensitive smoke alarm at Open, was Wild Paths 2019 a success? Well, you had better believe it. With its incredibly ambitious goals for a first year, booking a ridiculously rich array of artists and venues, but by galvanising a fantastic team of organisers and volunteers, somehow Ben Street had pulled it off – four days and nights of remarkable shows that reinforced Norwich's position on the musical map, and gave the city's music fans plenty to talk about for months to come.
 
Thank you, Ben. Here's looking forward to Wild Paths 2020! 

Words: David Auckland 

For three years in the mid-twenty-teens, the Norwich Sound + Vision festival was the highlight of my gig-going year. For three days every October, 100 or so bands and artists descended on Norwich to play gigs all over the place. Wild Paths takes that and expands it to an extra day with almost double the number of performances at three times as many venues. It may not be quite at the level of Brighton’s Great Escape, let alone Austin TX’s South by South West, but it is still a brave and ambitious undertaking.

Of course, it isn’t perfect. What event of this scale is? There are clashes that inevitably mean I miss several acts that I really want to see. For this - unfit ol’ bloke - the distances between some of the venues is daunting. Some weekend pass holders were turned away from venues. This was, however, very much a success. Go to any festival - be it Glastonbury, Latitude or, more in the style of Wild Paths, Tramlines or Camden Rocks - and there will be clashes, it will be a trek between shows and people may not be able to get into everything they want to. That is the nature of these things. If Wild Paths does take place again - oh please let that happen! - the only thing I would ask is that the ticketing options are simplified. 

And now to the music. I managed to get to see 28 bands or artists in six venues. The beauty of this was it gave me a chance to see a good number of artists I had never seen before and to go to venues I had never previously been to. Of the performances, only one really sucked. As it was that band’s debut performance, I won’t name them here and will give ’em another chance. Oh, and I’ll definitely be visiting all of the venues again. 

Things kicked off in mighty fine style on Thursday night at Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom with three bands I’ve been wanting to see for what seems like ages but have never managed to catch. First up, FRONT BANGS are a guitar driven combination of garage rock, surf and alt.rock with a touch of funk.  Despite some technical issues theirs is a very strong, confident performance that somehow reminds me of both Lloyd Cole & The Commotions and Talking Heads without sounding like either. Next up, BAG OF CANS deliver a gloriously surreal mix of old school indie, Weimar Berlin cabaret and the Kinks circa Village Green Preservation Society. It is scuzzy, sleazy and bloody good fun. Closing the night, MILLIE MANDERS & THE SHUT UP suffer the worst sound I have ever heard in this room. For large swathes of the set, the bass is inaudible and there is nothing at all coming from the PA stage left. Despite this, I am completely won over by Manders and band’s mash up of ska, 2Tone and punk. Here’s to next time for all three bands.

Friday starts at what is arguably my home from home, Norwich Arts Centre. LYLA FOY is a new name to me and, being honest, I only catch her set as I really didn’t want to miss Pom Poko. I am wholly glad I went, though. The shoegazey electronica brings to mind (a less eccentric) Kate Bush and School of Seven Bells and I am impressed enough to buy the album. POM POKO take things to another level. The rhythm section Ola and Jonas are as heavy and intense as anything from the hardcore and post-hardcore scenes, coming on like Fugazi. Martin’s guitar is all No Wave New York-meets-Keith Levene wild discordance. Yet, for all that, the songs are joyously pop: twisted, skewed pop, maybe, but POP nonetheless. An absolute ball of energy, vocalist Raghnild doesn’t stop moving all set and this is quite possibly the performance of the whole weekend.

Up at Voodoo Daddy’s and HEAVY LUNGS aren’t that dissimilar to Pom Poko musically but, due at least in part to the vocals of Danny Nedelko (yes, him of the Idles song title), there is no way I can call them pop. Cathartic? Yes. Angry? Definitely. Enjoyable? Absolutely. Pop? No way.

Back at NAC, I manage to catch the tail end of ANNA MEREDITH’s set. What I hear is an enticing mix of soundtrack composition and the less aggressive end of post-rock. Sadly, I do not see enough to form a definitive view but I will definitely be keeping an ear out for Meredith.