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.
view from the Airbnb
view from the Airbnb
flower planting in downtown Reykjavik
one last look at downtown Reykjavik
checking in and getting through security was not easy or fun
Omnom Chocolate
stained glass at airport
Reykjavik airport
Think twice, you’re sweet enough