Day one of Dot to Dot Festival took place in Bristol last Saturday, overtaking the city centre with song, dance, excitement, and beer. With over 70 acts on the roster – not to mention all of Bristol’s local bands supporting the official lineup – there were dozens of female and non-binary artists I was sadly unable to see. Nonetheless, my day at D2D was jam-packed with incredible performances by loud women from across the musical spectrum, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
The day kicked off with a few intimate sets in the early afternoon, including an outdoor performance by the alt-country group Florry. Lead singer Francie Medosch and guitarist Jon Cox performed a batch of songs from their latest album, The Holey Bible (“spelled like cheese,” they helpfully clarified.) Medosch is an emotional crooner with a talent for raw, expressive songwriting, and her crystal-clear vocals were beautifully embellished by Cox’s magic touch on the pedal steel guitar.
On the small upstairs stage of the Louisiana, Full Flower Moon Band raised hell. The band is the brainchild of Babyshakes Dillon, who makes real, no-frills rock ‘n’ roll with a modern edge. Dillon commanded the stage with unmatched swagger and confidence; in between her vocal parts, which were bathed in a trippy doubling effect, she flipped her hair, banged on the ceiling, and swung her black Telecaster about. She was moving so much it was difficult to get a clear photo of her, which I take as a testament to the high energy in the room.
The Louisiana stage was then taken by soft-spoken Mali Velasquez, who served as a much-needed balm to my racing heart rate following FFMB’s rowdy set. Accompanied by guitarist Chase Hall and a small drum machine, Velazquez cast a spell over the room with her resonant lyrics and country-southern twang. Velazquez is as adept a guitarist as she is a songwriter, plucking out elaborate strumming patterns over dark, warm chords.
Velasquez and Hall were shy but friendly onstage. “How’s everyone’s day been?” Hall asked during their first tuning break. The moment felt intimate and safe, especially since the words to Velazquez’s songs were more clearly audible than ever in the small space.
Despite mary in the junkyard‘s limited discography, their sound – dubbed “the best new rock music in the UK right now” by Rolling Stone – has captured fans far and wide since their first release in 2023. Having just dropped their debut EP, this old house, the day before, the beloved alt-rock trio drew a huge crowd for their haunting set on the SWX stage.
Lead singer Clari Freedman-Taylor has a voice that is sweet yet spine-chilling, like a sentient doll in a horror movie (who also plays guitar). She leans into this childlike image with her twin hair buns and bangs, but her dark, complex songwriting showed the band’s irrefutable maturity and self-awareness.
“See us set ourselves on fire, the city burns / She looks at me, my head turns.” – mary in the junkyard, ‘Tuesday’
Welsh punk band Panic Shack proudly sauntered onto the O2 Academy stage in matching fishnet stockings and t-shirts that read “Dangerous Gigs for Men” (a nod to Safe Gigs for Women, a nonprofit that works to foster live music environments free of sexual harassment, assault, and misogyny). Panic Shack seemed to reject the notion of the “frontwoman”; four of the five band members all had prominent singing parts, taking turns to deliver their defiant, in-your-face lyrics to a riotous audience.
Next up on the O2 stage The Bug Club, a post-punk trio with a laid-back demeanour and an infectiously positive energy. Guitarist Sam Willmett and bassist Tilly Harris trade vocal responsibilities on their bouncy, groovy songs – which, on the surface, seem to mostly consist of spitballing about the joys and annoyances of daily life, such as beer, paintings, James Bond, and overbearing mothers. A deeper listen, however, reveals a poetic insight that only hits harder when backed by Harris’ and Willmett’s danceable instrumentation. To that end, the pit during this set was a blast; though the songs were a touch too slow for classic moshing, there was much friendly jumping, pushing, and smiling to be had.
“Love is just a painting on your spare room floor / and it means something to someone / But I’m not that guy.” – The Bug Club, ‘Love is a Painting’
Before getting on my bus back home, I knew I had to catch Infinity Song at SWX. I stumbled in part-way through their viral ‘Hater’s Anthem’, which is about… well, being a hater. And yet, the band, which consists of four siblings, filled the room with so much love it was almost visible in the air. The crowd sang along to every word, and singer-guitarist Israel even passed the mic to a few audience members so they could have their moment in the spotlight. It was obvious that Infinity Song is family. As they performed their latest single, ‘Slow Burn,’ the four members seemed to sing with one collective voice, with perfectly cohesive phrasing and full, clean harmonies. All throughout, the affection and gratitude between the four of them was palpable.
“Bristol, you’ve outdone yourselves,” said the eldest brother, Abraham, towards the end. “I knew that in the UK, love was real, but I didn’t know it was this real!”
Dot to Dot did a fantastic job of giving a platform to some of this year’s best emerging musical talent, and Bristol was the perfect host city for a multi-venue festival like this one. I came away from this event a fan of so many new artists. If you, too, would like to discover your new favorite band, you should check out Dot to Dot’s official 2024 playlist, which features songs from all the artists I wasn’t able to cover.
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