Love Saves the Day has rapidly become Bristol’s largest festival – fostering a sanctuary for domestic and global musicians to express their endless talents. Having now found its home in the green expanse of Ashton Court; the festival has developed a flawless template that not only marks the beginning of many music lover’s festival seasons but further transcends the traditional boundaries for what contemporary city-based events can be. Scattered across eight different stages, Love Saves the Day has powerfully found a balance that contains both the household names of the dance world, while simultaneously providing an essential platform for upcoming prodigies. Whether there for the soul-driven house beats of the Centre Stage, the drum ‘n’ bass of The Big Top, or the reggae soundscapes that annually bounce around the site walls, this year’s edition of Love Saves the Day proved once again why it is one of Bristol’s most anticipated events.
As the Sunday attendees made their way into the festival grounds, it was clear that – for those returning for this year’s edition – there was a potent nostalgia to what has been labelled “the Love Saves the Day curse”; the seemingly yearly mud swamp that arrives on the May bank holiday weekend. Noting this, the earliest entrants followed the travelling bassline through a sea of wellies, hiking boots, and the typical festival ponchos – slowly beginning to dance as the deep soundwaves grew louder. Sunday’s party was ready to begin, and it started with Leeds-based Oliver de Friend. Monikered ODF, de Friend has burst into the consciousness of rave enthusiasts in recent years, cementing his name in the United Kingdom’s revived speed garage scene. As the time closed in on two o’clock, de Friend took stage on behalf of Dubtendo – a Bristol-based collective known for coalescing rave and retro gaming. For the following hour, ODF perfectly started the day’s proceedings, neatly synthesising garage classics with some of the genre’s more recent exports. With the sixty-minute set drawing to a close, the attention of the early afternoon audiences turned towards the Transmission Stage and the exhilarating artistry of New Zealander MESSIE, who was set to go back-to-back with Bristol’s very own Redlight. MESSIE, who first gained attention after a last-minute support set for Fred Again.. last year, has quickly formed a global reputation as of one dance music’s brightest future stars – embarking on a worldwide summer tour, gaining an ardent fanbase on the way. In conjunction with Redlight’s experience, the duo’s dynamic set championed the soundscapes of house, techno, and UK bass – a back-to-back that embodied the Love Saves the Day boundary-pushing ethos.
The day continued to progress and so did the size of the lineup’s names, summiting in the early afternoon as one of the most anticipated moments of the weekend came to fruition in the form of another electrifying back-to-back between two established artists: Groove Armada and Eats Everything. With the crowd buoyed under the blazing May sun, the iconic trio made their way under the towering love heart shaped main stage, gazing upon the crowd who were ready to witness the pioneers of the late 1990’s house landscape. Groove Armada, known for their global successes with Vertigo (2000) and Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub) (2001), brought with them three decades of soulful house, bass-driven disco, and Balearic rhythms. Partnered with Bristol’s Eats Everything – an artist who first held residency in the city’s Club Loco in 1996 – the onstage chemistry rippled into the South West crowd as each onlooker started to sway from side-to-side, hands held high, and adoring cheers bouncing around the Love Saves Stage floor. Having travelled through both artist’s expansive discographies, it was Eats Everything’s rework of Diana Ross’ “Upside Down” (2024) that rounded out the show, perfectly representing the soul filled vocal overtones and the house basslines that had underpinned the preceding ninety minutes. As Groove Armada’s Andy Cato raised his hands to signal the end of the show, the crowd – which was notably a mix of all ages – showed their appreciation towards the trio, letting out one last scream, united through dance.
Slowly, the heat of the afternoon was shifting towards the cool evening breeze, indicating that the lineup’s biggest names were set to come soon. After a brief, five-minute interval, following Groove Armada and Eats Everything, it was time for a genre change as the Love Saves Stage welcome jungle and drum ‘n’ bass icon Shy FX. Commonly regarded as one of the founding members of drum ‘n’ bass, Andre Williams first made a name for himself with the release of “Original Nuttah” (1994) when he was just seventeen years old. It was clear, as the calm figure of Williams entered the fray, that the crowd understood his monumental influence and contribution to the dance world – quickly raising their hands in appreciation, vocalising their adoration for the legendary DJ. Sifting through his endless discography, Shy FX perfectly intertwined nostalgia, reggae, and the contemporary jungle sounds, in what felt like a temporal trip through the genre’s three-decade evolution. As the anthemic bassline of “Original Nuttah” wrung out across the Ashton Court fields, fans began to hurriedly disperse – making a path towards The Big Top and Bristol-based artist Mandidextrous. Much like Shy FX, Mandi Gordon has been an omnipresent figure within the United Kingdom’s drum ‘n’ bass scene over the past few decades, championing both inclusivity and high BPM rhythms – persistently forcing their crowds into a relentless frenzy. Following their recent set for Dubtendo at Bristol’s much-loved Motion, the South West crowd waited, desperate to catch a glimpse of Gordon, and – right on cue – Mandidextrous met the eager expectations of those who had held their breaths in the sweaty Big Top pit, exploding into an hour of heavy drum ‘n’ bass and piercing rollers.
While, primarily, Love Saves the Day is regarded as a festival that celebrates dance and electronic music’s multifaceted subgenres, its propensity to expand on its foundations seemingly grows through every edition. This year, saw the festival delve into the world of grime with on of UK rap’s most enduring and iconic voices: Giggs. With his unmistakable deep flow and catalogue of grime anthems, the South London artist drew in the masses, all of whom were ready to recite every lyric that came through Giggs’ microphone. Walking out to “The Blow Back” and finalising his emphatic set with UK anthem “Talkin’ the Hardest”, the concise, yet powerful, set acted as a reminder as to why Giggs remains a central figure in the British rap scene.
With the tempo high and the Love Saves energy exuding throughout the crowds, the genres shifted once again – turning towards Australian-born DJ Mall Grab. Situated on the other side of the festival site, fans promptly made their way downhill to the Brouhaha stage which – from a distance – had a noticeably large crowd forming around its DJ booth. Starting his career in 2018 with “How the Dogs Chill, Vol.1”, an EP that featured the likes of “Liverpool Street In The Rain” and “Get Impetuous”, Jordon Alexander has been repeatedly praised for his capacity to fuse nostalgia with innovation – often drawing on the sounds of classic rave artistry and conjoining it with the emotionally-driven beats that are consistent with modern dance music. Under the brief spell of drizzling rain and the capacity crowd, Mall Grab demonstrated his capabilities – each song and mix demonstrating how and why he has become one of the most respected names in the sphere of electronic music. Flirting between anthemic 4×4 rhythms and the breakbeat transitions that defined the start of his career, Alexander’s set rippled throughout the entirety of Ashton Court, drawing in audiences from all around the festival site.
Taking its final turn, the 30,000-strong crowd collectively made its way from Brouhaha and surrounding stages towards the main stage on final time, readying themselves for the evening’s headline act: Nia Archives. Having risen to recent glory over the last five years, Dehaney Hunt has persistently rejected the title of being jungle’s revivalist – arguing instead that the scene was never gone; an agreeable statement having witnessed the united passion of that the Love Saves the Day crowd had shown the genre throughout the day. Now full, the capacity crowd had found their positions and were ready to bear witness to the BRIT Award nominee. As the time grew closer to ten o’clock, the stage lights were suddenly shut off and Nia Archive’s signature logo shone on every screen – something that was met with a colossal roar from her expecting fans. Quickly responding to the vocal’s cries of the South West crowd, Hunt made her way on stage – quickly bursting into the jungle soundscapes that had defined her stratospheric rise and mainstream popularity in the musical sphere. With an ever-growing discography, following the release of her debut album “Silence is Loud” (2024), Hunt uniquely intertwined DJing with typical onstage artistry – singing live over the dance basslines that kept the crowd electric. It is through this live fusing of vocals and DJing that has gained Nia Archives the label of the “emotional junglist”, as she provides pop-infused overtones to the typically bass-driven and rave-associated genre, displayed namely through tracks such as “Crowded Roomz” and “Unfinished Business”. However, while unifying in its rhythm, it was clear that the Love Saves was here to party – and Hunt recognised this too. Following the fifteen-minute injection of emotive dance tracks, Nia Archives suddenly burst into Watch the Ride’s “Mad!”, a track that is defined by its cry for “ALL HANDS UP IN THE AIR!”, this was answered by the Bristol crowd who responded with further dancing and frenzied movements. As the energy of Hunt’s set continued to grow, her set began to reach its final stages, and the Bristol audience knew that there was one track remaining: Baiana. Released in the summer of 2022, Baiana samples Barbatuques 2005 track, surpassing 40 million streams on music’s largest media outlets. For one final time this year, the Love Saves crowd began to sway, smile, and bounce as the festival’s final drop was about to bounce around the fields of Ashton Court. As the beat dropped one final time, the crowd was sent into one last moment of musical hysteria – singing along to the jungle rhythm, holding their hands in the air as a show of appreciation for Sunday’s headline act.
The final notes carried through the crisp evening air and Nia Archives made her way off stage, as the beaming light of the Love Saves Stage shone down on the packed audience, signalling the closure of this year’s Love Saves the Day. Turning to face the exits, happy recollections of favourite moments and smiles rippled throughout the festival as fans joyfully meandered out of Ashton Court and towards the city centre. Whether due to the lineup, the breaking of “the Love Saves the Day curse”, or the electric crowds, this year’s edition of Love Saves the Day has undoubtedly cemented its name further into the calendars of festival and music lovers across the South West and the United Kingdom more widely.
Role - I am a passionate writer with an interest for reviewing concerts and music.
Available For - Gig reviews and artist interviews.
Qualification - Currently I am studying BSc in Politics and International Relations at the University of Bath.
First Concert - The first concert I ever attended was Coldplay at the Royal Albert Hall (2014). It was to promote the release of their ‘Ghost Stories’ album. I will never forget the call my dad gave me to say he had managed to get two tickets for the both of us. The whole experience was just pure joy. The relative intimacy (for Coldplay) of the Royal Albert Hall, will always make that night one of the best (if not the best) concerts I have ever attended.
Dream Concert - In all honesty this is too difficult to answer with just one concert. If I were to select a few artists that I would love to see, it would have to be: Hope Sandoval, feeble little horse, Greg Foat, Kurt Vile, Lucy Dacus (specifically playing ‘No Burden’ in its entirety), Jadu Heart and The Moldy Peaches.
There is also the difficulty of dream gigs that are not able to be done. These would be: Mahalia Jackson, Etta James, Ann Peebles, Karen Dalton, Leon Russell, Mojave 3, The Smiths, and George Harrison (“All Things Must Pass” just from start to finish).
Bio: Professional photographer since 2016, specialising in nightlife and live music photography. I’m passionate about supporting grassroots music venues, with notable experience at venues like Thekla, where I’ve had the privilege of capturing both bands and club nights for over 6 years.
Available for: Gigs & Headshots
First Gig Shot: All Saints at the O2 Academy Brixton, 2016
Dream Gig: Paul McCartney, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones
www.davidjeffery-hughesphotography.uk
Instagram: @david_jh_photography