Live Review: FOCUS Wales International Showcase Festival 2024 ..(Part 1)

 

                                                                 

                                 

                                         

                                                       

          Welcome back to Wrexham.

It's been 12 long months since we last rolled into Wrexham City Centre to join together for FOCUS Wales; bands, artists and fans of music from all over the world gather to find tomorrow's most exciting new sounds. 2023's event was a resounding success, held in the afterglow of the football team's first promotion in nearly 20 years. Fast forward a year and the team have done it again, promoted for the second year on the bounce. The team behind the festival have a tough act to follow to rival that story, but they certainly play an attacking game. 

As in previous years, the festival's main stage is located in the Library field or Llwyn Isaf as it's rightfully known in Welsh. The big top tent plays host to some of the bigger bands on the bill, with local heroes The Royston Club going down a storm on Thursday night to a packed tent. Scouse Retro Rockers The Mysterines prove their ready for the big stage with their explosive set and Space Rock legends Spiritualized playing a spellbinding set of tracks that illuminated the sky as brightly as the Northern Lights.

                       SAGE TODZ

I don't spend much time at the main stage this year, armed with a very mixed schedule of bands in the 20 or so smaller venues that make up the majority of the festival. My only other visit there is on Thursday evening to see NNWNF regulars Campfire Social play a set that will live long in the memory. The first night is far from over yet and the mood they create is nothing short of joyful. 

The sun is beating down on Thursday as I arrive earlier on and a slightly excitable first hour means I've already drank more beer than planned. ..Oops. First band I see is Brooklyn shoegazers Punchlove playing in the Wynnstay Hotel to an appreciate audience. Their songs are permeated with woozy guitar lines that swirl around in your brain and feel like a hug from a old friend. There are many layers to the overall bake here; interweaving melodies that are sonically manipulated with an almost obscene amount of effects pedals. Impressive stuff.

             

                

One of the bands that made me sit up and take notice when I did my research were French noise rockers W!ZARD (see above). If you came expecting to revel in the joys of Christmas, then you came to the wrong place; no Roy Wood to be seen here anywhere. The trio play three times throughout the weekend and word clearly gets around about their extraordinary live shows. I get to their first set at the festival's central hub Ty Pawb on Thursday night and only a handful of curious souls have made this there next stop. By the end of the set, the performance space is bursting to the seems; the casual passer by sensing that something special was happening. They are simply sensational playing songs from new album Not Good Enough, with echoes of Gilla Band, Protomartyr and Fugazi to their sonic capabilities. I left aghast by their brilliance and subsequently see both their other sets over the weekend at The Rockin' Chair and The Penny Black.

 I'm so pumped up at this time, I need a change of pace. I head across to the other performance space in Ty Pawb to see North Walian rapper Sage Todz bring out the dancing shoes of many in attendance. Todz raps in both English and Welsh and his impeccable flows give me a much needed second wind. I end the night at The Rockin' Chair where Snapped Ankles play a raucous set to a packed venue. It's always fun to see them - dressed as feral animals - play their mad electronic take on krautrock and post punk and see the faces of those witnessing it for the first time. A fitting end to an absolutely astounding first day. 

                           SNAPPED ANKLES

At this point, the last train home awaits and tempted though I am to crawl home in the wee hours, energy must be preserved for day two. I was definitely going to need it. 

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