I think when some people hear “free event” they assume that this will immediately lower the quality of the whole thing. This was not the case at Swindon Shuffle. In fact, many frequent Shuffle-goers have proclaimed this year’s Shuffle as “the best one yet”.
The line-up was fantastic with a really good balance of acts - the relics, the up and coming, and the brand-new acts - and over the course of the weekend it really had a festival vibe to it.
Performance wise it seemed that every musician and band upped their game. The sets were short but sweaty with a lot of high energy darting around - it felt a bit more upscale and gave the Shuffle a new lease of life.
To be honest there was quite an exciting feel to the whole thing, but admittedly come Sunday, when the old hair of the dog just stopped working altogether, I had the glorious excuse of it being my mother’s birthday and tagged myself out. Luckily Ocelot editor Jamie took one for the team as our man in the mosh. We’ve had a few quarrels over highlights of the Shuffle, but one thing we could agree on was Wasuremono. These guys were one of the highlights of every single Shuffle, with a set at The Vic on Saturday that showed that the Bradford-Upon-Avon band belong now on the national stage rather than local. If you missed them, you’ll probably have to shell out a good few quid to catch them again especially after securing themselves as the support act for The Flaming Lips.
Then there was the weird and wonderful SexJazz, who headlined The Beehive on Saturday night to a packed crowd with a set that was chaos personified to a very sweaty room. But strong sets also came from Shuffle newbies like the nightmare pop five-piece Flour Babies who kicked off the Shuffle on the Thursday at The Castle, the ridiculously polished and soothing melodies of Palm Rose at The Victoria, and the infectious riffs of The Compact Pussycat at The Castle. I was meant to run over to see SN Dubstation but not being much of an athlete with a drink still in my hand I stayed for The Harlers set on the Friday, and I’m so glad I did - they headlined The Victoria and absolutely smashed it! Such an electric performance.
With a dynamic range of musical sounds and talents the bar has been raised significantly higher for next year, and I’m really looking forward to it.
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