PUP + SPRINTS + The Dirty Nil + Lake Malice + BLACKGOLD + Hyphen + Split Chain + VENUS GRRRLS + SOAPBOX + Bruise Control + Karen Dio @ 2000trees Festival 8th July 2026
Welcome to the Nicest Festival in Rock
It’s probably considered terminally uncool to describe a rock festival as being “nice”. Be that as it may, 2000trees Festival is one of the nicest festivals in the UK. Set across acres of bucolic Cotswold farmland, it is one of the UK’s most picturesque festival sites.
That’s not the half of it. The festival has a very friendly atmosphere, partially due to the chilled approach of security and stewards, and partially due to the nature of the attendees. Unlike many festivals, there is little in the way of corporate involvement here. Okay, so Marshall sponsors a stage and has a shop on site, but that’s rock ’n’ roll sponsorship. It’s not like the stages are emblazoned with banners advertising Pepsi or Miller Lite.
Indeed, drink and food suppliers tend to be independent. There is craft beer and cider, and also – music to my ears – an abundance of gluten-free food. Verily, the organisers have created a small slice of heaven on Earth. My only mild criticism would be that, in this extreme heat, there is little in the way of shade, but hey, we can cope with that.
The festival has a soft opening on Wednesday 8th July, with only two stages in operation, but there’s still plenty to see.
Cris Watkins – From Gridlock to Glorious Punk Rock
The journey has not been kind to me. I’ve spent hours crawling along the M25 in the blazing heat of yet another UK heatwave, only to finally escape the motorway and run straight into another accident on the M3. My planned three-hour-and-20-minute journey rockets past four and a half hours, meaning I miss the first few acts of the day.
By the time I arrive, I’m already soaked from head to toe in sweat, and I haven’t even seen a band… yet.
Karen Dió Light the Fuse
I’ve seen Karen Dió a handful of times now, and I must confess that they seem to get better with every show. They’re the first band I catch at this year’s festival, having sadly missed openers Split Dogs, who are always a guaranteed good time. I hurry across to the Forest Stage just as Karen Dió launches into their set.
It’s great to see former UK Subs drummer Jamie Oliver pounding the skins at the back. We’re clearly in safe hands here.
Euphoria is a cracking opener. It’s a little slower-paced than some of their material, but its huge chorus makes it an instant singalong. Stupid follows with two minutes of glorious Ramonesque riffage, while the fabulous Cut Your Hair delivers another sharp burst of irresistible punk rock.
I Hope You Know It’s Not Me is pure pop-punk perfection before they bring things to a close with the glorious 90-second rap-punk blast of Sick Ride. That wraps up my first gig of Trees and, wow, what a way to begin.
Bruise Control Bring the Carnage
Manchester’s Bruise Control sound exactly as their name suggests. They’re hard, fast and abrasive, bringing to mind the relentless energy of Chubby and the Gang and Brighton legends Rotten Foxes.
They waste none of their 30-minute set, tearing through one punk banger after another. It doesn’t take long before a beer-soaked Jim Taylor climbs over the barriers and launches himself into the mosh pit, taking the chaos directly to the crowd.
Somewhere amid the carnage, I manage to pick out If Yr Not Mine, along with a particularly revved-up version of Taxman. The rest of the set becomes a glorious blur of hammering drums, shredding guitars, flying bodies and flung beer.
Two bands in, and 2000trees is already shaping up very nicely indeed.
Mark Kelly – Politics, Punk and £3 Pints
By the time I’ve got to the festival site, staggered to my campsite and put up my tent, I’ve missed the opening acts, but there’s still plenty to see. Thus, my 2000trees experience for 2026 begins with Hyphen, a rap-punk artist of Indian descent from Portsmouth.
He’s accompanied by a guitarist and drummer, with the bass handled by a backing track. Hyphen is refreshingly outspoken and his material is very political. It’s not just sloganeering, however. The lyrics are intelligent and thought-provoking.
This Is Great Britain is a reflection on the character of the country. He tells us, “All I talk is politics.” Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. He calls out Reform UK for being fascists. Perhaps, if they think he’s wrong, they should sue him?
Hyphen has a song called £3 Pints. They crop up occasionally, but they’re increasingly rare. He’s anti-billionaires, which makes sense to me. One of the last songs in the set asks the question, “What does Dave down the pub have in common with the people in power?” As you may have guessed, the answer is “nothing”. It has to be said that Hyphen is one of the most interesting artists I’ve seen for quite a while.
SOAPBOX Have Something to Say
The two stages in action today are virtually next door to each other, which means that I don’t have to drag my ageing carcass too far between bands. So I toddle across to The Word stage to see SOAPBOX.
I’ve seen SOAPBOX, a punk band from Glasgow, a couple of times before. I was particularly blown away by them when they played the Volks Bar in Brighton as part of The Great Escape Festival last year. They start their set with Fascist Bob, which should set anyone who has any doubts about their political leanings straight.
Some people – notably America’s Proud Boys – became confused by the fact that frontman Tom Rowan is a shouty skinhead and assumed that he must therefore be on the far right. The Proud Boys endorsed SOAPBOX without listening to their lyrics. A schoolboy error if ever there was one, or simply a reflection of the Proud Boys’ collective intellect.
The band are tight and powerful and get their first crowd surfer as early as the second song, Meter Made. At the same time, Tom Rowan is in the photo pit galvanising the faithful. The intro to the third song, which I think is new, is powered along by an incredible drum roll from Jenna Nimmo.
Tom tells us that they’re touring in September, but he doesn’t know when or where “because that’s not my job”. Fair enough. I’m sure we’ll find out.
Musically, SOAPBOX are no one-trick ponies. Mad Jungle Beat sounds like it could have come from a punked-up Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Insurance is another new song and features some nice melodic bass parts from Aidan Bowskill, who earlier was wearing a Scottish flag as a cape.
Private Public Transport is virtually completely sung by the audience. Another new song is about lost music venues – we all know plenty of those, unfortunately. The set closes with fave Yer Da. SOAPBOX have a lot to say, a powerful way of saying it, and are damn well worth listening to. See ’em on tour in September.
BLACKGOLD and VENUS GRRRLS Raise the Bar
Next up are BLACKGOLD, a funky rock five-piece with lots of evident rap and hip-hop influences. I must confess that I’ve heard their records before and haven’t been overly impressed. Live, however, they take things to a whole different level, like a heavier, shoutier Living Colour.
Their songs take on a whole new life, which I guess is a sign of a top-notch live band, which BLACKGOLD absolutely are. Stand-outs are Social Blackout, Old School Sound, Dance Like That and Crazy World, not to mention a cover of Cypress Hill’s I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That. They tour at the end of the year and are a band that I’ll be paying a lot more attention to in future.
I saw VENUS GRRRLS supporting Nova Twins at Brighton’s Chalk in March. I was mightily impressed with them, and so they are one of today’s unmissable bands.
As they soundcheck, vocalist Grace Kelly – really? – looks to be in a bad mood, but that might just be how she prepares herself for the onslaught to come. As it is, her performance is superb. Grace is quite theatrical, like a dark-haired Stevie Nicks. She’s more powerful vocally, though.
The band as a whole are really tight. I’d like to see them do a headline set. Luckily, they tour in October and November, so I’ll get the opportunity. This is ace. The band are fast, hard and powerful. Unfortunately, the crowd are chatting way too much. Still, they are here to have fun! This has been a cracking set, but far too short. Roll on the tour!
Covers, Crowd-Pleasers and a Change of Pace
Many of the bands who play the Forest Stage on the Wednesday play again later in the festival. Therefore, when they play on the Wednesday, many of them try to do something different, and so it is that The Dirty Nil play a covers set.
I must confess that I’m not a great fan of covers sets, as it’s something you can see in pubs in any town every Friday and Saturday night, usually for free. However, much depends on the choice of covers and the way in which they’re played. By and large, The Dirty Nil’s set emphasises their skill and versatility, although their cover of Metallica’s Hit the Lights manages to sound rather more like Motörhead.
I can’t argue with their choice of Cheap Trick’s Surrender, and Next to You by The Police presents a bit of a challenge to any band. In this case, Luke Bentham nails the slide solo perfectly.
Choosing covers by The Soft Boys, The Replacements, Jawbreaker and Misfits is far more adventurous than anything most pub covers bands would do, while closing with crowd-pleasers from AC/DC and Thin Lizzy brings it all home, so to speak. It’s hugely entertaining, which I guess was the intention.
Split Chain walk on to some pretty portentous intro music. They’re a five-piece consisting of a vocalist, two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer. The keyboard sounds would appear to emanate from the backing track.
They’re pretty heavy and have drawn a big crowd, but they do seem to be rather unremarkable. I’ve seen them described as grungegaze and nu-gaze, but they sound more like old-school metal to me. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
They release beach balls into the audience, which is nice, but it doesn’t really improve matters. Make no mistake, they play really well, but unfortunately it’s not anything you haven’t heard a thousand times before.
They ask people to push into the tent, although it’s pretty crowded already. Apparently, they have a “bunch of shit” to give us at the end. Vocalist Bert Martinez-Cowles asks for a circle pit. Apparently, “it’s time to get angry”. Right.
Frankly, this is a bit dull. The most interesting thing about them is Bert’s Nine Inch Nails T-shirt. They come from Bristol. That’s quite interesting too.
SPRINTS Ignite the Circle Pit
One band that wouldn’t even know how to be dull are SPRINTS, a strongly punk-influenced band from Dublin. It’s been four years since I last saw them at the Moth Club in Hackney, and I must confess that I’ve missed them.
Much has changed since then, with the band having released two studio albums: Letter to Self and All That Is Over. There’s a Palestinian flag draped over Sam McCann’s bass amp, but thankfully there’s no repeat of the fiasco with The Mary Wallopers at last year’s Victorious Festival, when the band had their sound cut after displaying a Palestinian flag and shouting a pro-Palestinian slogan.
Vocalist and guitarist Karla Chubb is proudly wearing a Guinness shirt, and fair play to her. They have some very cute walk-on music, but opener Heavy, from Letter to Self, has a deliciously squally guitar intro.
Descartes brings to mind what I’ve been told taking speed is like. Karla calls for a mosh pit at the beginning of Feast. It doesn’t quite happen, but Sam McCann’s bass chords at the beginning of Cathedral seem to be sufficient to precipitate the formation of a circle pit, which I’m staying well away from.
An even more riotous mosh pit forms during Pieces. Karla is on synth and a glass of wine. She knows how to live. SPRINTS remain as fun and adventurous as they were the last time I saw them. It certainly won’t be four years until I see them again.
Lake Malice Versus the Machine
Brighton-based Lake Malice appear at 2000trees ahead of the release of their much-touted and really rather storming debut album, I Wanna Know If It’s Real. The forthcoming album appears to display a degree of unease with the influence of technology in general, and AI in particular, on modern life. It’s an unease that is warranted, in my opinion.
However, as the band are technically a duo, I wonder how their material is going to translate in live performance. The answer is that they’re joined by a live drummer, and Blake Cornwall plays most of the guitar live. However, an awful lot of what’s coming out of the speakers is on the backing track.
I’m no longer as puritanical about this as I used to be. I know that, increasingly, taking a live band on the road can be ruinously expensive. Nevertheless, I would love to hear these songs played by a full band. Maybe one day.
PUP Bring the Dream to Life
The end of today’s entertainment approaches with headliners PUP. They’re a Canadian band, PUP standing for “pathetic use of potential”. Well, that’s clearly an acronym that doesn’t apply to the band.
There’s certainly a great deal of anticipation before they appear. They play their album The Dream Is Over in its entirety, opening with If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will. There’s nothing in the least bit morbid about PUP. This is powerful modern rock.
They have a kinetic stage show and are as tight as I don’t know what. Refreshingly, everything is live, and there is no backing track – not that I can discern, anyway.
I must confess that I’ve never heard The Dream Is Over before, but on tonight’s showing I think I’m going to have to invest in a copy. It’s a cracking end to an excellent first day. Tomorrow is the first full day of the festival proper, and it promises to be even better than today.
One Day Down, Plenty More to Come
And that’s only the beginning. There’s much more from 2000trees 2026 still to come, with three full days of bands, discoveries and inevitable clashes ahead. Be sure to check out our complete Day One gallery below.
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.
FULL DAY ONE GALLERY
