Nottingham's Baby Godzilla played Hit The Deck Festival 2012
Nottingham’s premier alternative music festival Hit The Deck returned for its second year, boasting big names such as Kids In Glass Houses, Deaf Havana, Rolo Tomassi and Cancer Bats, as well as a couple of Nottingham’s finest local bands. With acts spread over some of the city’s best venues, including Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Stealth and The Forum.
Talbot Street was replaced with a mass of music lovers, clothing stalls and surprisingly a man dressed as a bride! With a huge number of bands playing the only problem was deciding which bands you wanted to see as there was so much choice.
Opening proceedings at Stealth were Nottingham’s Baby Godzilla, a band who are making a name for themselves with rousing energetic performances propelled, by youth, sweat and vigour. They played to a large crowd, despite many of the punters still queuing to get in.
Both Crossfaith and Decade played to packed rooms in Stealth and the Rock City Basement. Yashin took to the Rock City main stage to an adoring crowd and quickly created a huge mosh pit. Their energetic performance prompted a wave of crowd surfers. Vocalist Kevin Miles, plunged himself into the frenzied crowd, only to have his top ripped to shreds before scrambling back on stage.
Crazy Arm won over an initially modest crowd at The Forum. Their fast paced set barely paused for breath as the crowd grew in both number and interest. By their final song the whole crowd were on their side.
Local comedy kings Arse Full of Chips took to the stage dressed as wrestlers and played to a throng of enthused fans who were rewarded with free t-shirts for creating the best slow motion circle pit. Not content with this they also created the longest conga line in the history of Hit the Deck before their man Stan did naked roly poly’s amongst the jubilant crowd.
Cancer Bats alter ego Bat Sabbath rocked The Forum. During set opener Paranoid, lead singer Liam Cormier bounced about the stage before throwing himself into the tumultuous crowd where he stayed for much of the song. Lower Than Atlantis shook the Rock City stage and had the crowd clinging on to their every word. At one point lead singer Mike Duce instructed the whole crowd to crouch on the on the floor before they burst back up in unison.
Rolo Tomassi headlined Stealth in a sweat drenched room. New single Old Mystics was a highlight as was the slower Kasia. The bands energy and progressive sounds worked the crowd into a fervour turning Stealth into a mass of swirling bodies. Lead Singer Eva Spence contorted her body as keyboardist James Spence encouraged the manic mosh pit which had developed. Party Wounds seemed a fitting close to Hit The Deck 2012, as I’m sure many will be nursing their own party wounds if the after show party was anything to go by. Here’s to next year, hopefully my ears will have stopped ringing by then!
Hit The Deck Festival 2012 took place on Sunday 22 April 2012.
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