Bangface Weekender 2018 + Iceland trip

April 9, 2018 at 1:41 am | Posted in Bangface, Photos | Leave a comment

I flew out to England for this year’s Bangface Weekender festival, because some of my friends were going and I kept seeing the lineups every year and saying I’d go someday. So I finally did, and it had its ups and downs. The music itself was mostly incredible, the soundsystems were top notch, the visuals were crazy, and there were people playing from early afternoon until late at night on most days. However, Dillinja and A Guy Called Gerald didn’t play, which was a bummer, and the location itself was kind of a hellhole. It takes place at some cheap family resort that I can’t imagine anyone would actually want to take their family to, and it was cold and wet because it was in the middle of March. British food is notoriously disgusting, and being a vegetarian, I basically had to live on chips (fries) and Pop Tarts and candy. But it was fun, it definitely felt like a once in a lifetime experience. I probably won’t go back to this festival but I do want to come back to England as soon as possible, and explore some of the cities this time. After England I flew to Reykjavik with some friends, which was truly wonderful. Very expensive, but everything I saw was gorgeous. The city itself isn’t that big but there still wasn’t enough time to explore everything. We did get to go on a guided tour and see some nature. Of course it was very cold but there were some beautiful sights to see.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

loading up on krónur (pictured here) and pounds for the trip

Moroccan breakfast at the London airport (by far the best meal I ate in England)

flying over England

Manchester train station

arriving at the chalet at Pontins Southport

Friday, March 16, 2018

Ainsdale train station

cycle cafe

Bar Mio

downtown Ainsdale

not actually a coffee shop but the artist entrance building

entrance to the main venue building

Gabba the Hutt

convenience store mostly filled with candy, toys, and unbelievably gross-looking food products

giant toy synth (partially functional)

Northern Hard Crew showcase at the Queen Vic room

Bang Shop

Acid in Wonderland

mini golf course at Pontins

outside the chalet

outside the swimming pool and TV studio

I took a step outside the madness and walked out to the beach which was right near the Pontins. This was easily one of the best parts of the trip, and if it wasn’t so cold I would’ve spent a lot more time out here. I walked pretty far in and didn’t seem to come close to the actual shore.

abandoned house near the beach

Ok, back inside for the opening ceremony in the main room

inside the Chinstroke TV studio

main room just starting to fill up

dinos in the crowd

opening ceremony

Altern-8

yes, Napalm Death played at a rave, and it went over really well

sparkly raver and skeleton

the soundsystem in the Face Room

skeleton ravers

Current Value

Lenny Dee & ISR, and a giant beachball about to hit me

Industrial Strength Records flag

Lenny Dee & ISR

inflatable city during Hellfish’s 5AM set

Hellfish

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Aphex Bugs warning children about the unsteady ground

go-karts

afternoon hula raver

Calum Gunn @ Algorave

Chemical Adam @ Algorave

empty dancefloor of the just-opened main room

Slugabed

Spinscott (live jungle MPC choppage)

Ceephax Acid Crew

ravehammer

Helena Hauff

Helena Hauff

Champion

Ben Sims

shark and light suits during Friction’s set

palm tree lasers

End.user

Somatic Responses

Somatic Responses

The DJ Producer

Sunday, March 18, 2018

soundsystem in the main room

Posthuman

Posthuman

I’m not sure if 2 Bad Mice actually played but this mascot of sorts was there

Barrington (in the oldskool jungle soundclash room)

light hula raver

Liquid

someone on Bangface staff must be from Detroit because Breakcore Pancakes is totally a Detroit thing

Speedy J

Monday, March 19, 2018
This was a travel day. We checked out of the chalet, and myself and three friends flew to Iceland and checked into an Airbnb in Reykjavik.

cleaning up the chalet

checking out

waiting for the train

Southport train station

“Way out”

Westhoughton train station

comic mural in Reykjavik airport

giant puffin crashing through the baggage claim area

exchange rates

downtown Reykjavik

ice cream vikings

after-dinner group photo

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

view from our Airbnb

art at the cafe downstairs from our Airbnb

downtown Reykjavik

clothing store w/ a cat logo

communal nachos

incredibly good veggie burger (which was called the “meat lovers” burger)

Arcade & Toy Museum which we didn’t go into

desserts at a random coffee shop

the basement of 12 Tónar

12 Tónar

street art

street art

downtown Reykjavik

street art

Lucky Records

Lucky Records

Lucky Records

Lucky Records

Lucky Records

polar bears

downtown Reykjavik

Harpa concert hall

viking ship sculpture?

inside the Airbnb

inside the Airbnb

Wednesday, March 21, 2018
We went on a guided tour outside of the city and visited some nature trails, geysers, and waterfalls.

directly following a geyser burst

nature does not care for your money

pizza with rocket (arugula) and potatoes

Mikkeller & Friends (where we had pizza)

Thursday, March 22, 2018
This was the day we flew back to the States. It also happened to be the only sunny day when we were in Reykjavik. We took one last drive through downtown and then went back to the airport.