End Of The Road Festival 2023 Review: Hot Weather And Even Hotter Bands

End of the Road Festival is situated in Wiltshire’s stunning Larmer Tree Gardens which hosts a big spread for a ‘medium-sized’ festival. The wooded area is great, full of areas to explore and gardens to wander in, and the main space has plenty to keep you busy in between bands.

I arrived just in time on the Thursday to catch Beige Banquet and their shimmery post-punk riffs. This krautrockesque quintet were tight and a good band to start the festival with. Next up was Deerhoof who I’ve been a fan of for a long time. Their music is playful and melodically whimsical, and they are all such skilled instrumentalists. Greg Saunier is a monster behind that kit. It always looks so small for him as well, I am amazed he can get that much out of it as he towers over what looks like a kid’s drum kit.

I rounded off Thursday night watching Alien at the pop-up cinema which was an experience. It was very atmospheric in that tent, and I had forgotten what a great film it was. Everyone cheering when Ripley returns from the escape pod to rescue Jones was hilarious. I missed out on other movies but the cinema was being curated by Mubi the film streaming service so I would have liked to have caught more.

Friday started with Say She She, on the main stage. I didn’t clock until halfway through their set that they’re the band that play the song Forget Me Not, which I loved when it came out. It was a pleasant surprise seeing that one. Very soulful, and disco-y. Next, I saw the band Fat Dog, who get bonus points just for their name. They rocked the Big Top tent and drew an impressive crowd for their early afternoon show. I am a big fan of animals in band names or songs, so I was buzzing for their recent single King of the Slugs. What a show.

Later on in the Big Top, Flohio gave a tight performance, and Okay Kaya gave a very intimate show- I was looking forward to Mother Nature’s Bitch which I had been listening a lot to in the run-up to the festival. Insert Generic Song Name, and Psych Ward were other standouts from her set. In the evening I caught Greentea Peng and Kokoko! who were both fantastic. Very cool up on stage and a hot-ass band. It was a standout performance from the bassist switching from upright bass to electric, love me some upright with those sliding notes. After Greentea I checked out Congolese group Kokoko! who I have been wanting to see for ages as they weren’t able to get visas for their last UK shows last year. Their sound is a mix of electronic and homemade instruments with lyrics focused on political issues from the Democratic People’s Republic of Congo. Their set was great and the crowd loved them, if anything they should have been on one of the bigger stages as it was rammed in the tent. I highly recommend their album Fongola.

To round off the night I checked out Part Chimp, the London-based noise band who gave a great show, and Be Your Own Pet who followed who equally gave a stellar show. I had caught them earlier in the year in Madrid and was impressed by their music, the band have just released their third album Mommy on Third Man Records.

Saturday was a busy day starting with Cardiff outfit CVC, a great way to start the day in the sun listening to their upbeat Beatle-esque songs. One of the highlights was Avalanche Kaito, the Belgian experimental noise trio. They played an energetic set which had some great dancing from frontman Kaito Winse. Straight after I caught Moin and PVA back to back, which upped the temperate in the Big Top tent. Moin played a loud and atmospheric instrumental rock, they have a show in London at the end of November which will be well worth checking out. I’ve been following PVA for a little while now and loved their debut Blush which came out last year. The trio have some great songs and remixes, and I’m excited to see where they go. Louis Satchell is a great drummer, incredibly tight and he gets such a great sound out of his drums. After a while of being stuck inside melting tents, I decided to brave the direct sun and watch Kokoroko on the main stage. Kokoroko are so great at what they do and always look like they’re having fun when performing. They are the perfect festival band to have a dance and a cold pint to. I also loved that the festival had two ‘koko’ bands.

The biggest highlight of the weekend was Charlotte Adigery and Bolis Pupul who went HARD. I have been a fan for a while catching Charlotte in a small pub in London when she was performing under the name WWWater with 30 other people in 2017 and loving her song Screen. After their release last year, I was stoked to see them and it was such a lovely experience seeing them onstage KILLING IT with hundreds of people to enjoy their set. Topical Dancer came out last year with song brilliant songs, awesome production, and great lyricism drenched in irony making it a stand-out for the year in album releases.

Sunny Sunday was a morning of drifting around and walking through the woods and gardens dropping into different stalls and areas. It was fun to see all the peacocks wandering around like this whole festival was normal for them. Australian outfit The Murlocs were a lot of fun and gave a good showing in the Big Top. I felt sorry for Panic Shack who played a couple of songs before the stage went into a power cut. After the power came back they experienced another halfway through a song. This was a shame as they are another great band from Cardiff I had been looking forward to seeing.

The evening headliners were brilliant in King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and The Murder Capital, both ending the festival with a bang. King Giz played a lively show on the main stage playing from their most recent metal albums. It’s difficult to keep up with their release, they’ve released a whopping 6 albums in the last two years. All their releases are great and it’ll be fun to see the evolution the band take for their next releases as they drift further from their psychedelic roots.

After King Giz was the Irish group The Murder Capital. I loved their album Gigi’s Recovery which came out earlier this year, and equally loved their debut When I Have Fears. I’ve caught them a couple of times and this was certainly the best, they’ve always managed to outdo themselves. I highly recommend this band, and what a way it was to put an end to the final festival of the year.

Bring on End of the Road 2024.