This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending and sweating at the inaugural Lazydays Festival in Priory Park, Southend. Usually, I don’t entertain these invites to gigs and events because I’m a shy boy, but this was only an hour away, and featured a lineup of big names & local artists, so I was excited to check it out. Nerves be damned.
As well as boasting big names on its lineup like The Futureheads, The Hoosiers and Mystery Jets, Lazydays Festival also housed a smaller stage for local artists. Showcasing just how vast the music industry is.
So, in terms of music, Lazydays couldn’t be beaten. Which makes it even more impressive that it’s a craft beer festival at heart. It offered a wide range of vendors, complete with drinks – alcoholic and non-alcoholic – that fit the vibe and tasted even nicer in the sunshine.
Here’s a list of the artists we saw on the Saturday daytime lineup.
Alfie Firmin – Kicking things off at the Lazydays Bar stage was Alfie Firmin. The local artist delivered a soothing set of electro-acoustic tunes that had the same accessibility that made The Beatles sound so effortlessly catchy. His set featured songs that immediately sounded familiar to you, making it so easy to enjoy. It provided the perfect soundtrack to a sunny day and set the tone of the festival.
Alfie’s new album This Time Around is set to be released on August 16th.
The Futureheads – The first band on the main stage were The Futureheads, who wasted little time in showing us how it’s done. The Sunderland boys put on an excellent show, to a crowd who were way more raucous than I anticipated. There were some die-hards in there, for sure. One woman even started heckling them for a promise made five years ago. It was a great set that provided a lot of fun, catchy moments, and tons of songs I forgot I even knew. It definitely reignited my love for The Futureheads.
The Hoosiers – Arguably the biggest name of the day and probably could’ve headlined the event. The Hoosiers performed halfway through the day to a massive crowd. A crowd that went beyond the main stage and into the food stalls. Essentially, they filled the entire festival. Reeling back the years, the duo performed their biggest hits such as “Goodbye Mr. A” and “Worried About Ray” – which still prove to be bangers to this day. There were also songs performed from their latest album Confidence, which also went down well.
It was a storming performance complete with pyro and falling disco balls. Just a full on, straight up fun set. It was an example of how to put on a proper live show.
Gabriela Eva – Somebody I was particularly excited to hear was Gabriela Eva, another local artist from Colchester, who released her new single “Everything” last Friday. She performed a stripped back set of her songs, which really suited the intimate setting of the tent and brought a calm and peaceful vibe to it. Unfortunately, this is where things took a slight blip, but through no fault of her own.
The festival organisers had done a good job at scheduling the artists on both stages. Making sure that there was always somebody performing throughout the afternoon, but there was one clash as The Hoosiers played at the same time as Gabriela. Now, it did sound like a collaboration between the two would be good, but considering she was performing on her own, and how close the two stages were, she was drowned out by The Hoosiers.
This was something even she mentioned, affecting things to the point that she suggested cutting her set short. She did power through a couple songs – so props to her.
Gabriela is set to release a new EP called Recovery in November.
Ellie Bleach – Headlining the Lazydays Bar stage was Ellie Bleach. The artist from Leigh-On-Sea released her excellent EP Now Leaving West Feldwood earlier this year, and we heard a few songs from it. The first line of the notes I took were “Her sound is so rad, man”. Its true, Ellie and her band sounded amazing. Bringing a jazzy style to the tent that always had some oomph to it. Whether that was horns, keys or the occasional chaos of distorted guitars, Ellie’s setlist seemed to have something for everyone. Including a little girl who couldn’t have been any older than 2 years old, who enjoyed it a lot. It was adorable.
It was a commanding, excellent performance and one that made the material on West Feldwood come alive even more. It ended what was a great lineup of music, from artists who showcased all kinds of different genres and moods.
I left Lazydays Festival feeling very happy, and satisfied with what I heard, drank, and ate. It was a fantastic day, and no doubt the high standard of music and beer on show were maintained throughout the entire weekend.
I would definitely recommend the festival to anyone. There were a lot of families and music lovers there, and everybody seemed to have a great time. It offered a great balance of established names, and local artists, who I’ll be keeping an eye on for future releases now. Thank you to WeCraft Events for the invite – cannot wait to see you again next year.