Funeral for a Friend + The Wildhearts + JAYLER + ELLiS·D + The Scratch + Cosmic Psychos + SLAG + Reclus.É + Knives + Twat Union + Aerial Salad @ 2000trees Festival 10th July 2026
Friday Turns Up the Temperature
Friday starts once again with breakfast in air-conditioned luxury in Cheltenham before returning to the 30-degree-plus heat of the festival site. Getting out of the car – which is also air-conditioned – is rather like stepping into a sauna.
Aerial Salad Find the Shade
Thankfully, Aerial Salad, the first band that I review, are playing on one of the tented stages, so there is at least some shade.
Aerial Salad are a punchy three-piece from Manchester comprising Jamie Munro on guitar and vocals, Mike “Wimbo” Wimbleton on bass and vocals, and Jake Marshall on drums. Their material manages to sound simultaneously tuneful and powerful, which is a feat that isn’t always easy to achieve.
Jamie and Wimbo often sing the lead vocals in unison, which makes the melody line stronger. They have good harmonies too. They often sound a little like distant descendants of The Jam.
My only slight criticism is that their songs all sound quite similar, although when the songs are as good as they are, maybe that doesn’t matter quite so much. They’re a good live band and an enjoyable way to start the day.
Twat Union: Laugh, Learn and Line Dance
I make my way to the Main Stage for Twat Union. It’s still early enough in the day for there to be some shade right in front of the stage, so that’s where I plonk myself, leaning against the rail.
I’ve been debating with a friend whether Twat Union are a comedy band or not. I would say not. While their lyrics are certainly witty, and they do lark about a bit onstage, the subject matter of their songs is serious. Their comedic approach possibly makes that subject matter easier to digest.
They kick off with Tiny Shorts and Little Pink Drill. The latter song is full of innuendo, but vocalist Kate Mac insists that it isn’t about female masturbation and is instead about DIY. Although it could be argued that both interpretations are one and the same thing. However…
During the song, the keyboard player alleges that she is studying for a qualification in country-punk line dancing, an art form that the band gleefully demonstrate. Kate Mac then produces a tiny pink dildo, which the guitarist uses as a slide. Not something that you see every day.
Red Flag is about misogynistic things that have been said to them, both in person and online. They also talk about Sir Winston Churchill’s misogyny, which wasn’t something that I knew about. Listen and learn with Twat Union.
Period Sex is about what it says on the tin, as is UTI. During the latter song, the sax player drinks a carton of cranberry juice as a cure. Good luck with that.
They leave the best until last, however. Singer of the Band is about the male assumption that if a woman is in a band, she must be the singer. I mean, a woman couldn’t possibly know how to tune a guitar, could she?
How any man could possibly have such beliefs when there have been so many great female musicians over time beggars belief. The song features an awesome sax solo, played by a woman.
Also, if anyone has any doubts about this band’s name, it’s actually Theatre Workers and Television Union. Honest.
Knives Out
Next, I retreat to the shade of one of the tents to savour Bristol punks Knives. They’re a six-piece collective comprising Jay Schottlander on vocals, Dan Farren on guitar, Erin Cook on drums, Ben Marshall on bass, Josh Cook on guitar and Maddy Hill on saxophone and vocals.
There’s a distorted cacophony as they take the stage and crash into the hardcore punk of The Dagger. It’s very bouncy, and from this point onwards they put on a brilliant show which barely pauses for breath.
PHD ups the tempo. Saxophonist Maddy spins around as she plays – which can’t be easy – and then jumps into the photo pit to continue playing. Bassist Ben contributes some impressively growly backing vocals, while Jay plays a cymbal as he sings. There’s so much going on at once that it’s difficult to keep up.
Unsurprisingly, there is much moshing. I’m keeping well out of the way.
I Hope You Get It has a hint of hip-hop about it as the band all jump in unison. Maddy ditches her sax to share the lead vocals on Doppelgänger. One of the guitarists then ditches his guitar and jumps into the crowd to mosh, while vocalist Jay picks up the discarded instrument and plays it.
Paradoxically, Rhinestone Cowboy has a gentle and melodic sax solo from Maddy. At the end of the set, bassist Ben chucks his bass into the air a couple of times and catches it. Who said showmanship is dead?
This has been an incredibly physical set, and the band look absolutely knackered. What a band! They play Brighton Psych Fest on 4th September. It’d be rude not to see them.
Reclus.É Refuse to Play It Safe
Next up for me are Reclus.É, a new collaboration between former A guitarist and BBC Radio 1 Rock Show host Daniel P. Carter, and Tummyache’s Soren Bryce on vocals.
Soren both looks and sounds a bit like the late Sinéad O’Connor. The first song I hear is preceded by Soren shouting: “Free Palestine! Fuck Trump!”
The song is about the situation in Palestine and is the first recent track I’ve heard that addresses it head-on. About time! It’s fast hardcore punk, which suits the subject matter.
The material is more varied than I was expecting. One song, which may or may not be called Every Man’s Dreaming, is slow and quite gentle. The song that follows has a cataclysmic drum intro and is fast and heavy, with screaming vocals. It’s too short! There are some unusual time signatures too.
They only have a short set, and I very much want to hear more. I can’t find anything about upcoming tour dates, so I guess I’ll just have to wait!
SLAG Make Their Own Rules
I wander over to the rather lovely Forest Stage – there are trees, and therefore shade! – to see SLAG.
I first saw them at The Great Escape in Brighton last year and really enjoyed them. Their material is varied and interesting, and they’re a band with attitude too, which is always good to see.
Bald is funky in an indie kind of way. Dislocated has some interesting tempo changes. The verses are in – I think – 5/4, while the choruses are in 3/4.
Ripped has a tuneful synth intro, while Face Off is seemingly about the horrors of Monday. It has a beautifully delicate keyboard figure and a cool guitar solo too.
Set closer Legs is another fairly gentle song. It skips along pleasantly and is perfect sunny-afternoon music. They draw quite a crowd who seem to appreciate what they do, although the guy behind me says: “This is the least rock ’n’ roll thing that I’ve seen all weekend.”
Maybe that’s a good thing.
Cosmic Psychos: Beer, Bellies and Rock ’n’ Roll
My next entertainment is provided by Cosmic Psychos, who are nothing if not rock ’n’ roll. I saw them at this very festival two years ago, and they were bloody awesome.
Bassist Ross Knight is on lead vocals, which stands to reason as he is the only member to have been ever-present since 1982. Motörhead are a clear influence, as is classic punk.
The subject matter is very down to earth. Who, for example, can’t love a song entitled Nice Day to Go to the Pub? Never a truer word said, mate.
People may possibly turn their noses up at the subject matter of the songs, but the musicianship is spectacular. There’s almost a form of telepathy between the three members.
They like beer, and to celebrate this fact they have a song called I Really Like Beer. Indeed, Ross has the word “beer” tattooed on his gut, which probably owes its impressive size to Ross’s intake of beer over the years. A fine achievement, sir!
Meanwhile, Fuckwit City could be about a number of towns and cities that I’ve had the misfortune to visit. No names given.
It’s fair to say that the band are very non-PC, and why should they not be? For the last song, guitarist John McKeering takes his shirt off and jiggles his belly up and down while soloing with his guitar on his head. Skinny lad Jimi Hendrix couldn’t have done that!
At the end of the song, the three band members move to the front of the stage and moon at the audience. Now that, my friends, is class.
Without doubt, we have been mightily entertained, and we’ve been treated to some great rock ’n’ roll too.
Another Round with The Scratch
The Scratch have a similar degree of levity to Cosmic Psychos, with their blend of Irish traditional music, heavy metal and punk rock.
The band’s rhythm is played out on a cajón, a box-shaped percussion instrument that originated in Peru. Percussionist Daniel “Lango” Lang has other instruments at his disposal, but the cajón is the main weapon in his armoury.
All four members have been professional Irish traditional musicians, hence the authenticity of their sound. They may be traditional musicians, but by God they know how to rock out!
Bassist Cathal McKenna underlines his rock ’n’ roll credentials by playing his instrument behind his head at one point.
They leave what is probably their most famous song, Another Round, until last. It’s a classic Irish drinking song. Indeed, the Irish write the best drinking songs in the world, although Cosmic Psychos might have something to say about that.
I bet the Psychos have Irish heritage way back. That would explain a lot.
ELLiS·D Take Us Somewhere Else
My next appointment is with yet another Brighton artist: ELLiS·D. I have seen Ellis a couple of times before, and they and their band are terrific! Ellis has one hell of a voice too.
Their band are a long way from being slouches. Ellis and their guitarist both play lead, while their keyboard player reminds me of Jon Lord from Deep Purple on the Made in Japan album, especially on Humdrum.
The music is heavy psych which gathers you up and takes you away somewhere entirely different. The band seem to play much harder than when I’ve seen them before, which really suits them.
Drifting has some ethereal-sounding lead guitar, which Ellis plays while down in the crowd. They’d make great touring mates for Mandrake Handshake. They have a similar mix of psychedelia and Krautrock.
The ELLiS·D experience is one not to be missed. They play London’s Lexington on 14th October. You know where to be.
JAYLER Wear Their Influences Proudly
Next, we have maybe a bit of controversy in the shape of JAYLER – or perhaps the men who would be Jimmy, Robert, John Paul and John.
The band have been criticised for being just a bit too much like Led Zeppelin. I saw them at Volks in Brighton last year as part of The Great Escape Festival, and they looked and sounded like Led Zeppelin circa 1969. Indeed, some of their songs sounded just like particular Led Zeppelin tracks.
On the plus side, they had – and still have – the musical chops to fit the comparison. The visual similarity is still valid, especially with vocalist James Bartholomew, who is the absolute spitting image of Robert Plant almost 60 years ago.
However, the music has moved away slightly from the Zeppelin template. An example of this is No Woman, on which James plays guitar, which I don’t remember him doing before. He even plays a bit of lead.
Apart from singing, one of his main musical contributions to the band is his harmonica playing, which is excellent.
Riverboat Queen is about the music industry and how unpredictable it can be. I would hate to think that the band are becoming disillusioned at such a young age!
Need Your Love sounds like Free or Bad Company if Robert Plant had sung with them. Over the Mountain sounds like it could easily have come from Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy album and has a great solo from guitarist Tyler Arrowsmith, whose playing has been jaw-dropping throughout, incidentally.
Make no mistake: JAYLER are a great live band, and the crowd absolutely love them. However, they could do with wearing their influences less prominently on their collective sleeves.
They embark on an arena tour with Deep Purple in the autumn, which, in my opinion, could either make or break them. Hopefully it will be the former.
Love, Life and The Wildhearts
I run – well, walk very quickly – to the next stage, where the much-loved Wildhearts are playing.
I wonder whether Ginger Wildheart’s recent cancer diagnosis is going to make this a particularly emotional occasion, but that’s not the case. It’s a joyous occasion, as Wildhearts gigs usually are.
As Ginger appears, the crowd loudly chant his name. The love for him is tangible.
Ginger has always been good with lyrics and titles, and the title of the opening song is one of my favourites: Failure Is the Mother of Success, from the latest album, Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts. There’s wisdom right there.
It’s a crunching start, with some nice dual lead guitar from Ginger and Ben Marsden. Ginger calls the song “a celebration of life”.
After the evergreen I Wanna Go Where the People Go, Ginger’s dog Maggie comes onstage, wagging her tail and barking at the audience. We all bark back at her, and she loves it!
We have another excursion into the current album in the form of Maintain Radio Silence, which elicits the first crowd surfer of the set. Ginger congratulates the packed tent on our incredible musical taste. Why, thank you!
He tells us it’s the best evening that he’s had all day!
When the band play Everlone, from the first album, it strikes me for the first time ever that the song is actually quite complex. How hadn’t I noticed this before?
There’s an ace solo from Ginger and awesome drumming from Charles Evans. Honourable mention must be made of keyboard player Carol Hodge and bassist “Random” Jon Poole as well.
All good things must come to an end, and this set does with the always wonderful Suckerpunch.
There are opportunities to see The Wildhearts next month: 8th August at The Brook in Southampton, 9th August at Firevolt Rock Festival in Stockport and 10th August at Sub89 in Reading.
You know what to do.
A Mixed but Energetic Finale from Funeral for a Friend
After grabbing some food, it’s time to head to the Main Stage for headliners Funeral for a Friend.
The band are unusual in that their guest vocalist, Lucas Woodland, has been singing with them live for two years. Be that as it may, he repeatedly tells us how lucky he is to be singing for one of his favourite bands, whom he listened to while growing up.
He also occasionally thanks the crowd in Welsh: “Diolch yn fawr” – thank you very much.
Opener All the Rage is pretty punchy. Streetcar starts and then immediately stops due to a technical issue. Lucas calls it “an early hydration break”.
There are some nice guitar arpeggios. However, apart from the breakdown during the second song, everything seems a bit too slick and sterile for my taste. There doesn’t seem to be any real heart or passion to the performance.
Rookie of the Year is an oldie from the band’s first album and seems to be well received. Lucas, however, wants the crowd to display more energy.
This Year’s Most Open Heartbreak is heavier and a bit metallic, but doesn’t really seem to do the trick.
There are highlights, but they’re really quite few and far between. The dual lead guitars during the intro to The End of Nothing make me prick up my ears, and the appearance of Ben Barlow from Neck Deep adds a little more excitement.
As headline festival slots go, this wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really better than okay.
Already looking towards next summer? Super Early Bird tickets for 2000trees 2027 – the festival’s 20th-anniversary edition – are still available as this goes to press. Don’t waste time wondering who might be playing. 2000trees delivers a stellar line-up year after year, and the festival’s atmosphere, setting and commitment to brilliant alternative music make it one of the easiest festivals in the calendar to recommend.
Grab your tickets HERE before the next release sells out or the price rises.
You can find out more about 2000trees on the festival’s official website HERE.
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: SARA-LOUISE BOWREY / CRIS WATKINS / JEZ PENNINGTON
FULL GALLERY BELOW FEATURING AERIAL SALAD, BRATAKUS, COSMIC PSYCHOS, ELLIS-D, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, GLASS BRIDGES, GOD COMPLEX, GRANDMA’S HOUSE, GUILLOTINE, KNIVES, THE SCRATCH, THE WILDHEARTS AND TWAT UNION
