Review: If variety truly is the spice of life, then Sŵn is one seriously spicy festival!

Simon Thomas 

The sold-out signs said it all. Sŵn is now firmly established as one of the hottest tickets in town.

It’s a festival which has grown enormously since its first edition way back in 2007 and it’s gone on to become a key fixture in the Cardiff musical calendar.

Now into its 19th year, its popularity is clear to see, with every single ticket being snapped up for all three days.

It’s developed into a major logistical operation, with no fewer than 11 different venues being utilised across the city centre.

You’ve got Clwb Ifor Bach – upstairs and down – Tiny Rebel, Fuel, Little O’Neill’s, St John’s Church, Jacob’s Basement, Jacobs Cafe, Canopi and theTramshed.

On top of those, there was also Cornerstone, the converted neo-Gothic church on Charles Street which hosted the Connect conference, with panels of various speakers talking about the music industry in Wales.

So there was certainly no shortage of things to do, see and listen to over the three days of an event which forms an integral part of the wider Cardiff Music City Festival.

In fact, there’s so much going on that you literally don’t know which way to turn at times such is the choice on offer.

There were well over 100 artists performing with something for everyone, from indie guitar bands, to singer-songwriters, to hip hop, to folk, to electronica, to shoegazing, to rap, to pop, to choral chanting and everything in between.

You also have artists from all over the world. Just on my wanderings, I came across bands from Canada, Austria, Iceland, USA and the Netherlands, not to mention Scotland, Ireland and a host of English and Welsh performers.

If variety truly is the spice of life, then Sŵn is one seriously spicy festival!

Given the musical menagerie on offer, with numerous different acts performing at the same time at various venues, there is a real danger of being struck down by FOMO – fear of missing out.

My rule of thumb is to try and take in 15 or 20 minutes of as many artists as possible, adopting a kind of pick and mix approach with a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Then if you find yourself staying for an entire set, you know you’ve struck gold.

Being something of a geek, I go through the programme beforehand – via the excellent festival App – and put together a schedule of bands I want to see and try to stick to it, but there’s always a bit of deviation from the script with venues so close together and tempting sounds drifting out of doorways.

What’s particularly satisfying is when you happen upon an act you haven’t heard of before, just by chance, and they turn out to be mesmerising.

One performer who fell into that category this year was Pixie McCann, a singer songwriter from London whose haunting vocals and flair for melody have echoes of Florence and the Machine, Kate Bush, Fleetwood Mac and The Sundays. Remember the name.

She played upstairs at Tiny Rebel which was also where I saw Glasgow’s Joy Hotel, who proved to be another highlight of my festival.

Fronted by dual vocalists Emme Woods and Luke Boyce, they meld a myriad of influences from blues, to psychedelia, to classic country, to grunge and back again to create a grand cinematic soundscape. Catch them if you can.

One of the great joys of Sŵn is that the proximity of venues enables you to change musical tack by taking just a few steps.

An example of that was listening to the pleasing Americana of London-based Little Grandad upstairs at Clwb Ifor Bach and then taking a couple of flights down to catch Sunday Club, a dream pop duo from Winnipeg in Canada.

It’s essentially all a bit of a musical pot pourri.

The all-day nature of the festival also throws up some delightfully unusual scenes.

So it was that 5.30pm on a Friday afternoon I found myself watching Dutch band Personal Trainer who had the audience bouncing before they’d had their tea with their high energy, singalong set.

As for my favourite venue, that has to be St John’s Church which dates back to 1180 and was substantially rebuilt in the late 15th century.

With its gothic west tower and stained glass windows, it’s such a striking building and a wonderful environment for atmospheric and contemplative music.

As such it was the perfect setting for the excellent Honeyglaze with the chiming guitar and floating vocals of Anouska Sokolow echoing around the church.

St John’s was also the ideal backdrop for Icelandic folk outfit Emma and their choral chanting. This was their first gig outside of their homeland and they were clearly blown away by the venue they found themselves performing in.

Speaking to them afterwards, they described the experience as the highlight of their career to date – playing in a beautiful setting in a great city. Nice words to hear.

Other bands that impressed were The Orielles, Bar Italia, Pyncher and Fatale, with the latter Scottish five-piece having the rock stars in the making look firmly nailed down.

But when it comes to the pick of the festival, fittingly enough it turned out to be the headliners Westside Cowboy.

Their rise over the past year or so has been nothing short of stratospheric.

Some 18 months ago, these four former students who met at Manchester University’s freshers week were supporting the aforementioned Personal Trainer.

Now they are festival headliners.

It was an inspired performance on Jools Holland’s Later back in June of this year that really announced them to a wider audience and there has been no stopping them since then.

Their debut album ‘It Goes On’ has received rave reviews and they recently returned from a tour of the USA during which they played on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show. Now that is big time.

They are a band much in demand and they are grabbing every opportunity that comes their way.

That was demonstrated by their schedule last Saturday. At 2pm, they played a secret set at the Neighbourhood festival in Manchester.

They then headed down the motorway to Cardiff for their headlining Swn slot.

Given the buzz surrounding them, it wasn’t surprising to see The Tramshed packed out.

The question was could they deliver and live up to the hype. The answer was a resounding yes.

They have hit upon a self-coined Britainicana style, with American influences blending with British indie rock, and it really works.

Their tunes are laden with hooks, harmonies and urgent guitar, while all four of them can sing, with the vocals of bassist Aoife Anson O’Connell an elevating factor taking them to the next level.

The way she combines with main vocalist Reuben Haycocks is really effective and brings to mind the contribution of Kim Deal to The Pixies back in the day.

At the end of Pin Up Boys, she takes centre stage with her roaring vocal and the way the crowd sung along with her shows this is a band that has quickly captured the zeitgeist.

Tellingly, a large proportion of the audience appeared to know the words to every song, even though the album has only been out for a couple of months.

It feels reminiscent of when the Arctic Monkeys exploded onto the scene two decades ago.

Non-stop gigging

Virtual non-stop gigging has seen Westside Cowboy develop into a really tight unit, with the exuberant drumming of Paddy Murphy and the frenetically fast guitar work of Jimmy Bradbury adding significantly to the whole.

But what really sets this group apart is their energy. They are clearly loving it and lapping up every minute and that energy is hugely infectious.

Make no mistake about it, they are going to be huge.

It was a real coup by the Sŵn organisers to secure them as headliners and once again you have to take your hat off to everyone involved in putting the festival on.

It’s a jamboree that brings Cardiff city centre alive over three days, with music lovers criss-crossing between the various venues and pink Sŵn T-shirts everywhere you look, including those worn by the numerous volunteers who perform such an important role.

All in all, it’s a great event and it’s getting more and more popular with every edition. So, the message is clear. Make sure you get your ticket early next year!

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