Hosted by the returning Good Shoes, the Hope & Future Festival promises top-quality new acts and East London alternativa in one delicious four-day swoop. Held from Wednesday 20 - Saturday 23 January in Dalston/De Beauvoir’s Stag’s Head, a pub and regular gig venue, the mini-fest will offer gigs each evening for the adults, plus Wednesday, Thursday and Friday matinee shows at 4.30pm for those aged 14 and above. How very civilized, eh?
The line-up looks excellent and admirably London-focused. Along with Good Shoes, there’s the energetic electro brouhaha of Is Tropical, Othello Woolf’s louche folk/soul melancholy, Wild Palms’ “noise wave” as Dazed calls it (more on them here soon) and the fierce drum-led rock of New Cross act Hatcham Social. The rest of the bands (Fiction, Disappearers, Gold Sounds and La Shark) I haven’t heard of, but I’d wager there’s at least one gem among them. Maximo Park and Blood Red Shoes are among the DJs in the evening shows. Pretty strong, huh?
Tickets are priced at £5 for the evening shows and £3 for the matinees on the door, with a few available in advance here.
MP3: Othello Woolf – Stand
MP3: Is Tropical – I’ll Take My Chances (demo)