There’s always a myriad of options to choose from when it comes to closing off the festival season in the UK and, since its debut in 2022, Forwards has been my choice of the bunch. Boasting hefty lineups of some of the most interesting names in dance, jazz, post-punk, and generally all things Radio 6-core, it should be a staple of any music fan’s summer calendar. As many great day festivals as we have in the UK, the Forwards lineup is the one I always keenly look forwards (pun intended) to, knowing it will be a great treat.
The first act of my day was Yussef Dayes on the West Stage. Mostly known for his numerous collaborations with Tom Misch, I was very intrigued to see what a solo set consisted of. What followed was 45 minutes of smooth, upbeat jazz and colorful drumming that would have been far better suited to a sky with fewer grey clouds in it. There was a respectable crowd gathered by the end of the set, with many small sections erupting into dance circles or holding their arms in the air. Yussef’s set came and went far quicker than I’d have liked it to, the perfect start to a day of dancing. Next up was Romy. After a brief walk over to the East Stage, I found the former xx lead singer walking onto the stage just as I arrived. I must say this is one of my favourite aspects of the setup of this festival—a brilliant (mostly) no-overlap format between the acts on the two primary music stages, meaning you truly do get a full day of acts to see. If you have seen Romy before, then you know exactly how this set went. A balanced mix of the newer, highly-produced dance tracks and slower ballads with a solitary xx song to keep the older fans happy. I have never been disappointed with a Romy set I’ve seen so far, and this show kept up that trend. Whilst we eagerly await the return of The xx, we are certainly still treated to a party. After these 45 minutes of singalongs, I was more than ready to get into the main run of acts I had been looking forward to for the Saturday.
Next up: Floating Points. Having already been as excited as always to see this wizard do his thing on stage, my excitement hit new levels when I realized it was a rarer live set from the Mancunian producer. If you haven’t seen this man do his thing on stage then I simply insist you must; it is truly one for the ‘heads’. Playing out a set consisting of purely his own tunes, notably many of his recent singles such as the brilliant "Birth4000" and "Key103," it was an honour to watch FloPo work his magic. Team Love have to be fully praised for this booking, being the first repeat from previous years (although that was a DJ set); it was the perfect type of set this festival deserves. After this set concluded, the crowd was faced with the only clash of the day: stay for East Stage headliner Four Tet, or waltz over to the West Stage for Joy (Anonymous). Although I would not blame you for opting for the latter, it was an easy choice to remain for Four Tet for me. The thing about Four Tet is that you absolutely never know what kind of set you are going to get, and that’s half the draw. Unfortunately, this may have been the downfall of the set on this occasion. What started off as a pretty standard set from the DJ, opening with the inescapable but still banging "Flight FM," devolved fairly quickly into a bassline and garage-heavy set that you would come to expect from DJs like Sammy Virji or Conducta rather than Four Tet. As spot on as the booking seemed on paper, a set like that would have been better placed at Team Love’s other Bristol festival, Love Saves The Day. By no means was this a bad set at all; I had my BRAT summer fill when he played "365," it just did not fit the Forwards “vibe” they have curated over the years.
Saturday’s headliner was the great Loyle Carner, and the man did not hesitate at all to provide a heavy-hitting setlist spanning his 3 albums to date. With his bigger songs like "Ice Water," "Damselfly," and "Loose Ends" evoking huge crowd responses, even the lesser-known tunes had large portions of the crowd singing along. Interspersing his set with moments of spoken word poetry and monologuing to the crowd, it is obvious that Carner always had it in his locker to be a festival headliner. Closing out on an encore of the deeply personal song "Ottolenghi," and a second encore of more spoken word poetry, the crowd was left with the final sentence: “Take these words and go forwards, go forwards, go forwards,” a staple phrase associated with the South London rapper that felt especially poignant at this festival. Having followed Loyle closely since he released Yesterday’s Gone in 2017, seeing him many times in the years since, I truly believe that this is him at the top of his game. An act I truly would not be surprised to see reach the heights of Pyramid Stage headliner in time, a dizzying height that many could never fathom.
Heading into the festival on Sunday was a slightly different, much damper vibe. I had put off entering the site for as long as possible, hoping the rain would let up but unfortunately, it did the exact opposite. As I walked in, the lightning got so intense that all music was called off for the next 45 minutes or so, particularly annoying timing as I was hoping to catch the second half of CMAT’s set. With nothing to watch, I headed to the new Aperol Bar for cover, which I must say was a very welcome addition. £10 isn’t half bad for an Aperol Spritz at a festival in the south these days at all, though maybe I'm giving the bar too much credit on account of the fact it kept me dry for a while. I feel like this is a suitable time to pay respect to dance icons Crazy P, who were due to perform around this time, pulling out last minute for unknown reasons at the time. Since learning of the passing of Daniella Moore, I’d like to take the time to express how big of a loss she is to us all and give my deepest condolences to those that knew her. Once the music resumed it was time to watch Baxter Dury. The atmosphere was buzzing, the crowd primed and ready for some live music after a lengthy break, and Baxter did not disappoint. Storming through his catalogue and being the incredibly eccentric man he is on stage, there was a very good time to be had there. Unfortunately, it was cut short for me as the break now meant a slight overlap of acts, and I wanted to catch Yard Act. They were just fine. With the highlights being a great rendition of early track "Fixer Upper," and a guest appearance from local celebrity Katy J Pearson, it was no set to write home about, however, a solid way to spend some time in the late afternoon after the rain let up. Following them were Scottish alternative legends, The Jesus and Mary Chain. With a short but sweet set, they ploughed through the big hitters and truly showed they are still very much capable of performing to the top standard. This set may have been slightly wasted on the festival, however, with quite a small crowd showing up.
With Jessie Ware providing a solid disco soundtrack for me queuing for food, it was time for the 1-2 everyone had been waiting for: Underworld and LCD Soundsystem. Underworld, whilst only having an hour, absolutely commanded the crowd, opening on big hitter "Two Months Off," playing a host of classics while sprinkling in some new songs, and closing on quite possibly the best rave tune of all time, "Born Slippy." The only commentary I could possibly provide on this set is simply that it should have been longer. Although I certainly wasn’t complaining about that when James Murphy et al. walked onto the West Stage five minutes later. What happened next was, simply put, the greatest 90 minutes of my summer. A stellar setlist including most of the classics, a brilliant performance of "New Body Rhumba," and a wholesome ending run culminating in a big, heartwarming singalong to "All My Friends" proved that the New York stalwarts are truly still at the top of their game and show no signs of slowing down. Comparing it to their Pyramid sub-headline, there is no contest at all; Forwards got the far greater set. Despite a distinct lack of "Losing My Edge," there is no doubt in my mind that LCD Soundsystem provided a headline set for the ages and will go down as one of the greatest Forwards headliners of all time. All there is to do now is count down the days until we see what brilliant acts this wonderful festival provides us with for 2025.
