Review – Forwards Day Two – The Bristol Gig Guide

After an incredibly joyous Saturday, rejuvenated Bristolians all made the pilgrimage to the final day of renowned festival Forwards, excitement. Smoke and a whiff of cider trailing after them as they headed towards the furthest corner of the iconic downs, here, an action packed day full of new and old musical power houses.

Originally, my excitement for the day stemmed from american rap royalty Doechii being put as a ‘surprise” inclusion on the line up, albino alligators were not uncommon to be seen on billboards around the city, and there was a buzz of excitement at the prospect of the american artist hitting the west stage after her momentous grammy win. However, not all things are meant to be, with the rapper pulling out of multiple festival sets a week before. My hope is we will see Doechii on our lineups in the near future. The forwards booking team, reacting quickly and calmly allocated jungle royalty Nia Archives to take the spot, a great choice to get the crowd moving the hours before headliners The Last Dinner Party and Jorja Smith took to their opposing stages.

Forwards as a festival has always and will be the voice of change, and “forward thinking” with environmentally friendly practices keeping litter to a minimum and ensuring more proactive mindsets during the two days on the down.

To my utter joy, the line up was predominantly female, a refreshing and empowering experience for all the younger generations dancing away in the fields to the likes of my all time favourites Olivia Dean, The Last dinner party and multitudes of other artists around the site, such as Shy One who played on the new stage “The Arches” a welcome addition to the festival, which I hope will get bigger and better as the festival lives on. Dean was a perfect fit for the afternoon, the sun slowly sinking and her exuberant energy and catchy lyrics getting the crowds amped up for the night ahead, a headline slot could be in her future with the thousands of punters who rushed to the stage hours before her set even began to get a good spot to watch ( at least in my mind) future award winning Dean belt out fan favourites new and old alike.

Another great choice by bookers was Hackney collective “ The silhouettes Project” a group of artists who came together in 2020 to curate and record a vast collection of songs with various with influence of hip hop, jazz, and soul, and in turn gave a unique experience to festival goers earlier in the day, their entire repertoire allowing for their new listeners to find and follow a community based collective whose only aim is to share love and creativity, their live performances even better than their recorded tunes.

Forwards has always been known for its ability to mix music and politics together seamlessly, allowing for important conversations to flow in the information stage, which was packed out late afternoon for Zarah Sultanas big talk about the UKs futute for politics, and what her new party will bring to the table. Having had to tiptoe around enraptured listeners to take a few shots, it gave me a sense of hope that my generation could be better, could do more, that so many people , despite being at a “ music” festival, were given a space to be able to learn and process the world happening around us. Sultana then gave a powerful “ Fuck off” to the current U.K. government and also a resounding cry of “ Free Palestine” , her priorities inline massively with the festival goers watching in awe. Sunday was certainly a hopeful one.

As the sun started its journey downward, the downs was buzzing with energy to see the incredible two headliners that forwards had picked for 2025. The last dinner party, who played on East stage, were charged up and feeling fierce, after boycotting another festival the day before, after abhorrent events leading to the silencing of musicians trying to speak up for the victims of genocide on the Gaza Strip. The last dinner party, known for their activism, lit the stage on fire playing songs from their debut album, like “Nothing matters” and one of my favourites “ Sinner” which got the crowd buzzing. Front woman Abigail morris is certainly a wordsmith, giving a beautiful speech in response to their boycott of Victorious festival, and simply restated their stance of humanity over the horrific genocides happening around the globe. For a first festival headline slot, the band hit forwards with a force to be reckoned with, and I wouldn’t doubt that we won’t be seeing them in the future.

After an energy filled day, Jorja smiths crooning vocals were the perfect way to end the weekend, singing classics like “Blue lights” and “Be honest” the perfect hybrid of between genres, allowing the crowd to sway softly, but also dance to the full band if they felt like it. Smith herself seemed incredibly emotional, thanking the crowd for their enthusiasm, along with seemingly having moments of reflection and awe at the thousands of fans loving her at the Clifton downs.

Sunday was an action packed day, and further proof that forwards is here to stay, and will only get bigger and better as the years go on, the festivals values and exceptional trend watching allowing Bristolians to experience artists just in the first years of their careers, and industry greats sending us off into a very sleepy bank holiday Monday