It's the second day of Threshold Festival 2013
and the ever excellent Camp and Furnace has been transformed into a forest of
multi-disciplinary fun. There's music, art, vintage craft, costumed persons,
pegs with supportive messages on and much much more besides. It could be said
that Threshold Festival needs a superhero mentality to be able to get around
everything on offer and in some cases some tough decisions. If you saw anybody
rushing about in a happy-go-lucky panic with an iPad or notebook furiously writing
or shooting it was probably one of the blog team.
Words by Sebastian Gahan. Photography by Sebastian Gahan and Michael Kirkham.
An oft-quoted line is that Threshold is like a
funfair. And if you didn't believe that before then today was the proof. From
the offset it was, as one of the doodles in the Draw The Line scribble fest in
furnace had it, excellent and buzzing. There was a dazzling (and
physically impossible to see all of) array of art, inspiration, creativity and
music. Yes, the music! My route for today had been planned in advance butin the
end I followed my ears, heart and inner tastemaker and found pure gold.
Yesterday evenings array of entertainment was excellent but this first full day
of festivities was mindblowing. It was a real tough decision on what bands to
see, where to go and above all when to stop. Hunger would call. Thirst would
call. Then the music would call, imaginary notes floating around invitingly.
Perhaps Kate Bush had it right when she wrote Eat The Music?!
A packed day of gigs included the always entertaining Gastric Band, with a
poster warning of nudity during the perfromance and a notably large crowd in
attendance. of course, the music was excellent, challenging and often hilarious
despite the topics on offer. The dancers accompanying them were a surreal yet
dystopic accompaniment to the music and worked surprisingly well.
Over at Elevator, Laura and Claire, a folk duo with strawberry hued hair and
equally drama hued music impressed, reminding me of an up and coming Smoke
Fairies. Other treats, some seen fleetingly others savoured longer,
included the always excellent Science of the Lamps at the chilled out The
Picket. Mashemon also impressed at The Roost with their multi-media
performance. Even though when I'd bumped into the band earlier in the day they
jokingly suggested I give them a bad review for change I just can't. The band
improve their particular genre constantly and the extra muscle now added to the
band has paid off immensely.
Of course, there was much to take in and one of biggest spectacles was
the Stankh takeover in Camp, with much to be enjoyed incuding the return of the
Mr Wolf Collective's magnificent elephant during Fire Beneath The Sea's
excellent set. And as for We The Undersigned, they still have that voodoo
working it's wonderful magic over the crowds. Ordinarily that alone would have
been the perfect end to the festival but with one more day of surprises to go
it can only get better!
Of course I also caught the excellent art installations in the upper floor's Art
Attic as well, with most notably Robyn Woolston's latest creation for the
festival of which we'll talk more in the next entry. Some other visual arts
highlights were Shoot Gallery's installations X and Y Axis, the chance to Make
Your mark in the adjacent gallery space with paint and lots of dance and Pamela
Sullivan's forest of trees on the corridor to The Blade Factory, which also
held a nice set from Graham Massey's latest project on offer for those lucky
enough to squeeze into the packed gallery space.
Could it get any better? In the microcosmic world of Threshold Festival time is
transformed into something that seems to stand still, the need to know anything
else other than your favorite band's set time negligable. If escapism occured
on Friday then the transformation is now almost complete as we reach the final
day. Bring it on!
Words by Sebastian Gahan. Photography by Sebastian Gahan and Michael Kirkham.
