Jess' Highlight: Sŵn Festival
In the track ‘Sorted Out For Es and Whizz’, Jarvis Cocker describes himself as being ‘Somewhere, somewhere in a field, in Hampshire’. Whilst he’s referring specifically to a rave, something about this line always puts me in my mind of the sense of geographical anonymity that can pervade traditional ‘festival experiences’. You know, where you all rock up at a random field somewhere in the countryside, party non-stop for three days with people who’ve travelled there for exactly the same reasons you have, then leave. And when you get home, it’s without any understanding of the local community or the unique assets or features of the environment. In fact, save for an emergency stop in the garage for some Lucozade Sport and a bag of Wotsits on the way home, you probably haven’t spent a penny in a local business either.
Sŵn is different. It’s not just a ‘city-based festival’ – it has Cardiff running through the core of its identity.
I’ve been a fan of Sŵn since the early iterations of the late noughties, and it’s been incredible to see it grow from strength to strength over the years, cementing its current reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting festivals for new and emerging music. One thing Sŵn has always done brilliantly, however, is shine a spotlight on the diversity of Cardiff’s cultural infrastructure, expertly co-locating a festival experience that feels intimate and coherent, despite the expansive physical geography of its venues across the city.
Back in the day, I recall attending shows at Amgueddfa Cymru’s Reardon Smith Lecture Theatre, as well as the now much-missed Gwdihw and Barfly. And the trend for curating shows in unexpected places continues to be a central feature of current iterations of the festival. Where else but Sŵn would you attend shows at an antiques market, a high-end wedding venue, a tiki-themed roof terrace, a subterranean café and a heavy metal boozer, all in the course of an afternoon?
After a decade of living and working in London (the scale of which means you can spend half a day travelling between cultural sites) being at Sŵn this year also made me keenly reflect on the huge potential for the music economy in Cardiff, our city’s ‘concentrated diversity’ of music and performance venues, and their co-existence with local independent businesses. I’ll venture that nowhere else in Europe does a stadium venue the size and scale of the Principality exist a mere stone’s throw away from the beating heart of a city’s grassroots music scene. There’s such an exciting opportunity emerging to join-up this messaging into a compelling story of place in Cardiff: somewhere that – as Chris Martin put it during Coldplay’s gig this Summer – bands can start out playing relatively small gigs on Womanby Street, only to revisit in years to come as bona fide sell-out stadium headliners over the road, and all in the city that’s home to the oldest record shop in the world.
With another saturated year of large-scale live music events shaping up in 2024, it’s more important than ever for all of us in the sector to think carefully and strategically about how we harness this opportunity as we look to how we will fulfil our ambition to become a truly thriving and independent ‘music city’ in the future.
Sŵn is such an integral part of this vision, helping to establish Cardiff as a destination for buzz-worthy new music and building the beginnings of a 'scene' that tells a holistic, joined-up story of place.
Carys' Highlights: Welsh Music Prize, Panic Shack and Melin Melyn
I loved the Welsh Music Prize last year and was so excited to attend again this year. Although it's a prize, I see it more as a showcase of all the great artists, new and established, who are creating new music in Wales. After last year and this year's events, I left with a completely new playlist, and full of excitement about the future of the industry in Wales.
The shortlist was so strong and eclectic this year. Huge congratulations to Rogue Jones for winning this year's award!
The live performances were exceptional. Mace The Great, Minas and Cerys Hafana were my personal highlights of the night. I was completely captivated by each performance, in three entirely different ways.
I also had the pleasure of chatting with CVC before the awards, a band that has gone from strength to strength since I first saw them at Gwdihw over five years ago. They were nominated for their acclaimed debut album 'Get Real':
"It was a lockdown project, we decided to get together and create something while the world stood still, and we created 'Get Real'", they told me.
We talked about their album, and their upcoming USA tour (they were leaving for the USA the morning after the Welsh Music Prize). I also asked them what impact being based in the Cardiff Capital Region had on the band:
We were part of the Forte Project in 2018, which had a huge impact on us, giving us the direction we needed, and advice on funding and gigging opportunities. We are still so grateful to those for supporting us. All the grassroots venues in the city too, they gave us a platform to go out and gig, places like Gwdihw - RIP. Without those venues, music in the city wouldn't be the same. They give artists a platform to do what they love. It is such a connected and supportive community in Cardiff.
I haven't seen CVC live for a few years, so I was delighted when they told me they were about to perform in Cardiff. On 13 December, they performed at Tramshed, in a sold-out gig, and "the biggest gig of (their) career so far".
I also can't talk about music in Cardiff without mentioning the brilliant Panic Shack and Melin Melyn who performed at our summer and festive parties in 2023. Both bands blew us away with their sets and my personal highlights were Melin Melyn's new track 'I Paint' Dogs' and 'The Ick' by Panic Shack. I can't wait to see what these two bands do in 2024!
Listen to Melin Melyn's new track.
Creative Cardiff's Playlist
Jess and Carys have created a playlist of all their favorite bands from Cardiff and the region, listen now.
