Norwich Psych Fest 2022
Here are my six favourite acts across a quite brilliant weekend
Karma Sheen – The Sheen are an International Hindustani Classical Psychedelic rock group based in London. The band is spearheaded by Sameer Khan, and they tore the walls of this beautiful venue to shreds. They are the perfect example of what it mean to be Psych, they fused rock, jazz, funk, soul and naturally, Psychedelia to heights I genuinely hadn’t heard or felt before. Modern influences that stretch back beyond the 60s, Karma Sheen are shining, go see them.
Bug Teeth - Now a fully fledged five piece, the dreamy sounds of PJ and band mates are just getting bigger. They create dreamy, emotional ambient pop and shoegaze goodness that made me float. I cannot wait to hear their next ep ‘Lucky Me, Lucky Mud’ and the single taken from it ‘Ice-9′ is simply stunning. Bug Teeth have got some serious bite, I could happily listen to them all night and long into the morning, more, more, more please you wonderful Bugs.
Lemondaze - My word how good are this band! There’s no question mark about it, they are absolutely the best band around right now. This was the third time I’ve seen them and as a hat-trick it doesn’t get any better. Ambient noise and glorious sweeping shoegaze, this foursome will undoubtley be headlining bigger venues than the Arts Centre soon. They are up there with Wolf Alice (I feel I can hear influences from Ellie and Co) and are undoubtably my band of the weekend.
BDRMM - Headlining the Saturday night was Hull’s finest BDRMM. With a wonderful mix of songs of songs taken from one of THE albums of 2020 Bedroom and some new songs thrown into the mix (one of which made its debut live appearance on the night) they soared with their modern take on classic shoegaze and Psych. Tracks like Push/Pull and Happy filled the room with a glorious sense of love and optimism. Whilst the band remain shocked by their success (I don’t get this, we’re from Hull says Joe) the audience are well aware of what they are witnessing, sheer greatness.
Ben Auld - Playing songs from his brilliant debut album, Lemongrass, Ben and the band really got to soar on the Arts Centre stage. Its always a real pleasure to see a musician on the up and up, they pay off to say I told you so is always welcome. Hints of Teenage Fanclub circle around Ben’s songs, and that is something that really works. The harmonies are glorious, the set was a real treat, looking forward to listening to the songs on vinyl and taking in those sweet vocals again and again. Lovely.
Tess Parks - An absolute fitting end to a quite stunning weekend, Tess Parks and her band left everyone on an absolute high. I adore Tess’s voice, so dreamy and just perfect for the incredible musicians she performs with. I genuinely felt like I was having an out of body experience as Cocaine Cat whirled around my brain. It is safe to say then that the whole weekend has been an absolute triumph. Norwich Psych Fest ‘23 anyone? I’ll be there with bells on. Literally.
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