Beacons Festival - 2013 Preview

Skipton's Heslaker Farm will be once again hosting one of the North of England's finest small festivals when Beacons Festival 2013 pitches up its tents in the scenic Yorkshire Dales.  Bringing some of the alternative music scene's best up and coming talent, mixed in with some of the best DJs in the world today and a host of more established acts, the Dales will be rocking again on August 16 - 18.

One of the most refreshing parts of Beacons 2012 was its celebration of local talent, with a plethora of Yorkshire-based musicians joining up with some internationally recognised stars and in 2013 that is still very much the case. For nearly fifteen years, Leeds-born Bonobo has been one of the most sought-after and appreciated down-tempo, trip hop producers in the world and when he takes to the main stage at Beacons, you know that it's going to be a big occasion. One of the Leeds music scene's fastest rising and most promising bands in years, Hookworms, will be returning to Skipton to bring their brand of psychedelic, fuzzy rock. Bradford MC and Don't Flop's biggest success story to date, Lunar C will bring his marmite-like flow with him to the fest, joining a collection of rising hip hop stars including festival returnee Ghostpoet and one of the rap game's most watched stars today: the unmistakable Danny Brown. 

London/Bedford folk-rockers Wolf People will also feel right at home when they return to the Dales, having recorded their acclaimed, April 2013-released sophomore album Fain in the North Yorkshire Dales. Nottingham-formed Childhood look like one of the bands to go check out before they end up headlining the festival, with the young indie rockers already whipping up a frenzy of anticipation with only a handful of songs recorded by them already. Headliners Django Django really tie up the UK connection (and that's without mentioning any of the mouth-watering array of DJs lined up) and may very well perform THE show of the weekend.

The festival isn't just a local celebration by any means though, and it will feature some of the hottest talent from across the Atlantic and the English Channel too. The Parisian, Melody Prochet-fronted Melody's Echo Chamber will aim to convert their kaleidoscopic brand of pop from studio to field, whilst one of the US's most lauded indie bands in recent times, Local Natives, might find themselves winning a host of new fans when they take on one of the headlining slots on the main stage. Moon Duo will fit in nicely alongside the other psyched out rockers such as Hookworms and Wolf People, when the Wooden Ships spin-off dredge through their set. There will be a punk under-current to this year's Beacons too, with punk rock Gods Wire set to perform their hits from Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and more. America's F***ed Up will also be ravaging the Dales when they perform too, and our money is on Damian Abraham and co. to bring us the most energetic performance of the weekend.

All that leaves to discuss now is the DJ list and, boy, is it a list to behold. Last year Oneman gave quite possibly the best performance of the weekend and one of the most memorable (that is if you were sober enough to remember anything) and when he returns to Beacons we can hope for another riotous set. Although it would have been brilliant to see Solangé perform at the festival, her dropping out turned out to be something of a blessing in disguise when anonymous producer SBTRKT was announced as her replacement. On top of that, the showcase features Eats Everything, Bicep and Theo Parish going back to back with Andres, not to mention Gold Panda, Throwing Snow, Ben UFO and Bondax! And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Top 5 acts to see:
Danny Brown
Hookworms
Moon Duo
Childhood
Django Django

Top 5 DJs to see:

Bonobo
Theo Parish B2B Andres
Oneman
SBTRKT
Throwing Snow