Community 2022 Review

One of the best value-for-money festivals in London returns for 2022 with a mega lineup.

After a couple of years off, Community Festival in Finsbury Park made its return this summer on one of the hottest days of the year. The festival came back with a bang this year with a mega line-up consisting of new indie and alternative talents and indie legends such as Two Door Cinema Club returning to headline after their last headline slot in 2018. It was all set up to be a fantastic day out.

I want to start by talking about the disabled access at the festival. After our awful experience with Download. My friend Josh (who is visually impaired) and I were hoping that Community Festival would do better. We had issues getting hold of their access team to get ourselves a career ticket so I could accompany my friend on the platform and other disabled access areas in the festival. Once we were able to establish contact with them, they could help us with our queries eventually. In terms of the access to the festival, it was very good. We had our own entrance to the festival which was easy to access, and we had no issues with getting access to the access platform or any other of the facilities on site that we might have needed. Also, the access staff who greeted us on site were very nice and friendly without being condescending which made us relaxed and started off our day at the festival right. It was not perfect, not by a long shot but it was a much better experience than we had at download for sure.

"I'd say the access on the day was great, but the coms and reachability of the team prior were pretty horrendous"

Josh Nonet-Black

Crawlers

The first band we got to see was Liverpool-based band Crawlers, who I had been hearing about a lot in my social media feeds and from word of mouth. It was a band that I've wanted to check out and see what the hype was about, and I can safely say that it is justified. It's clear that lead singer Holly Minto knows how to get the band's dedicated fan base hyped up as she would get the crowd to jump with her on track 'Placebo' and get them to sing along with songs such as "I Can't Drive' and 'Come Over (Again)'. It's clear to see how this band have become so popular as their songs are very catchy, and you will find yourself humming or singing their songs after watching them live. They certainly know how to warm up a crowd and was a perfect start to our day.

Alfie Templeman

One of the most exciting talents on the day's bill would be 19-year-old singer-songwriter Alfie Templeman who has become one of the biggest names in the indie music scene. One thing that I will take away from his Community performance is that he is an incredibly talented musician. He is an absolute master at playing the guitar and demonstrated this by sneaking in guitar solos in between their songs. He also knows how to create great music with tracks like "Film Scene Daydream" and "Happiness in Liquid Form" which would get the crowd dancing and jumping along. The standout moment, however, was Templeman's band starting to play Nirvana's 'Smells like Teen Spirit' the vocals were done by his bassist which was a very good impression of Kurt Cobain it has to be said. Ultimately, Templeman did not disappoint with his set and showed off how talented he is and shows he has the potential to become an indie legend in his own right. It's simply a matter of time.

Pale Waves

Up next on the main stage would be Pale Waves, who made a special trip back to London whilst on their tour in America. Despite this, the band showed no signs of jet lag as they would smash through their eight-song setlist to make the journey worth it. While the band played some older tracks such as 'Television Romance' and 'There's a Honey', I was more impressed with their material, which comes from their second and new album (which was not released then). Tracks such as 'Lies' show the band is moving to a more pop rock sound and leaving the synth-pop sound in the past and I will not complain as I feel this sound better suits the band and sounds great live. A great example of this would be the final track from their set 'Jealousy' which is a great ending track and has an awesome rift at the start which reminds me of the Foo Fighters' track 'Cloudspotter'. I would have to say that the band set was one of the best performances they have done and I'm loving their new sound and the direction that they are going in.

Kid Brunswick

We went over to The N4 Stage for the first time to watch an artist that I have seen him on bills for a lot of festivals and recently started listening to his music, so I was interested to see what he is like on stage. It was clear that Kid Brunswick was going to be the rowdiest set of the day. With songs such as 'Prescription Kid' and 'Bipolar Rhapsody', They got to crowd going. Moshpits would open up and even a circle pit started. It was chaos but in the best way possible.

It brought a more alternative edge to the festival. I have to say I was impressed with Kid Brunswick's performance as well. The energy he had for this set was wild and the different style of music which he incorporated into his music is very clever and excellently done. I will be looking out for this guy more when it comes to festival bills because you can be sure he will put on a good show.

The Wombats

It was back to the Main Stage to see one of the biggest names on the line-up. It's fair to say by this point I've seen The Wombats a few times in my life. From playing 20 minutes from my house at Lingfield Racecourse to playing Main Stage at Reading and Leeds, I've lost count of the amount of time I have seen them. It's even got to the point that me and my friends can predict what they will play. To be fair to The Wombats, the setlist did have some new songs in it which went down well. Songs such as 'This Car Drives All by Itself', 'If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You' and 'Ready for the High' brought some well-needed freshness to the band's setlist and sounded great live. It shows that the band are still about to make great music nearly fifteen years on from their debut. As well as this, there is no doubt that the like of 'Kill the Director' and 'Moving To New York' was going to get people moving and that's what they certainly did. Everyone danced along to the band's back catalogue in a 13-song setlist which shows why the band deserved their slot on the main stage. Their mix of indie classics and great new tracks made them a great addition to the festival. Don't be too surprised to see them become headliners for Community in years to come.

Nothing But Thieves

We worked our way to the front of the Main Stage to watch our sub headliners for the day. Nothing But Thieves have been hitting the heights recently with them playing At the O2 arena and getting their latest album, 'Moral Panic' in the top ten of the UK charts. This has seen the band working their way up the festival bills with Community being no exception. The band kicked things off with 'Futureproof' which set the vibes for the show. Lead singer Conner Mason would hit all the high notes to perfection and keep the crowd on their toes as they moshed away. The band played a rather extensive set, going through classics such as 'Trip Switch' to newer songs such as ' Life's Coming in Slow' from the recent Gran Turismo 7 which was a nice surprise to the setlist.

The band also know how to slow things down in between their sets with songs such as 'Particles', 'Sorry' and 'Impossible' which shows the band's more venerable sides. However, the band ending on 'Impossible was a bit of an odd choice. It is one of their more popular songs but for me, 'Amsterdam' is the perfect ender of a set. The band play the song with such ferocity, and it is one way to close out a show. Despite this, NBT put on a great show and showed why their recent successes are warranted.

Circa Waves

We quickly went over to The N4 stage which we found absolutely rammed for Circa Waves who were headlining The N4 stage. We came over just as the band were having some technical difficulties which was a shame as the band had to cut some of their set because of this. The band tried to keep the huge crowd entertained while they try to rectify the issues with the mics by jamming to The White Strips 'Seven Nation Army' and a whole host of songs. Thankfully the band got the issue sorted and started playing their set again. Getting fans to vote on what songs they wanted so they could trim down the setlist so they would not go over the time slot. However, they blitz through some of their best songs such as 'Move To San Francisco' and 'Fire That Burns' and ultimately finished on 'T-Shirt Weather'. A set which was a bit rushed and frantic due to the situation which unfolded but the band did their best to salvage it.

Two Door Cinema Club

After an incredible set from the band at Community 2018, I had high expectations for Two Door Cinema Club, and they did not let me down. Opening their headline set with 'I Can Talk' to kick things off. Then out came the confetti for 'Undercover Martyn' as the party in Finsbury Park really got started. The band would play through a nineteen-song set list which was made up mostly of classics from their back catalogue such as 'Something Good Can Work' 'Sun and 'Bad Decisions' just to name a few. More interestingly, the band played nine songs from their debut album 'Tourist History' which came out twelve years ago (I'm starting to feel old now!). It felt like the band wanted to celebrate by bringing out some deeper cuts such as 'Come Back Home' which had been missed from their setlist for a few years now. It was great to see the band exploring their past and playing some songs many die-hard fans may not have expected.

The band also used the festival to try out some of their new music from the album 'Keep On Smiling' such as the lead single 'Wonderful Life' which sounded really good at Community and got me excited for the new record which was a couple of months after the festival. While there were no fireworks to accompany the amazing performance of 'Sun' as they did in 2018, The band's visuals were still incredible and kept your eyes hooked to the stage. Two Door Cinema Clubs' performance at Community was a throwback to the high points in their careers and gives us a glimpse at what's to come which made for a perfect headline slot. It will not surprise me if this band get a shot at headlining a major weekend festival in the future.

Community Festival was a great day out with some legends of the indie and the alternative scene showing London why they deserve their status as well as plenty of new artists showing off their talents which make for a fantastic festival line-up and a great return for the festival after a few years off.