It was almost the weekend at 2000trees festival, and neither the pace nor the heat was letting up in the glorious Gloucestershire countryside. People were beginning to ooze out of their greenhouse-like tents, baked in the intense morning heat, so where better to flock to than the idyllic shade of the Neu stage, where we open the day with Failstate.
Failstate
Failstate were the band blessed with the opportunity to open proceedings on this Friday morning of the festival.
I caught up with them shortly after their set, and you can read the full article here.
BLACKGOLD
If there was ever a good time to be a masked band, it is 2025. Even the infamous Slipknot never enjoyed the levels of obsession that recent Download Festival headliners Sleep Token have enjoyed or the tent-overflowing intrigue for mysterious new band President.
This all spells fortune for BLACKGOLD, the next band taking to the main stage in appropriately black and gold masks.
While many of the masked bands opt for a spooky and mysterious presentation, BLACKGOLD take a different direction. The vibrant new Metal band, clad in sports jerseys, offers a more down-to-earth presentation.
Their style, both in looks and in sound, had me immediately thinking of Limp Bizkit, not a bad source of inspiration as noughties culture seems to be making a nostalgic comeback.
The set was everything you could hope for from a lunchtime main stage appearance. There was a mass of energy on the 200trees stage, met with dust whipping chaos in the crowd. The entertaining band even wove a prodigy interlude into their set, which tells you precisely the sort of energy they were offering.
Their natural performing ability, along with a nice bit of building momentum, could push BLACKGOLD, this brilliantly fun band, into the stratosphere, and it will be interesting to see how they capitalise upon it.
Julia Wolf
Hot-stepping it to the Forest, I was able to catch the back end of Julia Wolf’s set. The serene acoustic performance was a stark change from what I had just witnessed on the main stage. The Forest stage was jam-packed for what James Scarlett has hotly tipped as one of the most exciting acts to catch in the lead-up to the festival.
The 2000trees set was a serene moment of peace and reflection, showcasing the impeccable vocal talents of the artist alongside acoustic arrangements for her shoegazey, intimate music.
I doubt we will be seeing Julia Wolf kicking up a mosh pit on the main stage anytime soon, but the Forest was an immaculate setting for a taste of the variety that 2000trees does so well.
It is still early in the career of the intriguing vocalist, and enough was shown today to suggest she will be a huge hit across demographics with a sound that can appeal to both the rock community and to a more pop-centric audience.
Frank Turner
Frank Turner hardly needs an introduction at 2000trees Festival. To say he is part of the furniture is underselling it. The man literally has a festival campsite named after him.
Despite his synonymity with the festival, Turner has always succeeded in keeping his regular appearances fresh, shifting from full band performances to solo performances to midnight campsite appearances and even one or two hardcore sets [more on that later].
Today, we saw another variation as Turner celebrates one of his most iconic albums, Love, Ire & Song.
For those in doubt of what they were about to hear, Turner arrived on stage with a guitar emblazoned with the words ‘Love, Ire & Song’ as he set out to play the entire album.
The audience was given the opportunity to hear some of the most popular classics such as I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous, Reasons Not To Be An Idiot and the titular Love, Ire & Song, as well as some of the less traveled songs like A Love Worth Keeping and Jet Lag.
While much of the 2000trees attention was undoubtedly pointed towards the thrilling reunion of Million Dead later in the day, the brief meeting in the Forest made for a pleasant look back at some of the moments that made the popular singer the man he is today and gained him the support he now boasts. 
Turner has gushed about the role James Scarlett has played in his rise to popularity. The promoter, who booked Turner at the festival early in his career while he was touring the music from this very album, has come under plenty of fire recently for the inclusion of the controversial band Kneecap.
Turner was keen to have his say on this, dismissing the idea that an artist should be silenced for sharing their personal political opinions and applauding Scarlett for sticking to his guns and backing the artists.
The performance came to an end, as they often have, with a rendition of Photosynthesis. I doubt there was a single member of the crowd who did not join in with the joyous sing-along.
This was not a performance but a shared celebration of the wonderful moment that we find ourselves in, and the many that got us here, and may there be plenty more.
Hevenshe
Having mentioned the name ‘Hevenshe’ to many people about the site, it was clear plenty did not realise the magnitude of this performance. While the name of the act may be unfamiliar, the artist certainly is not.
Jenna McDougall has been away from the UK for quite some time, and when she was last here, you would have seen her more recognisably fronting the famed pop-punk band Tonight Alive. Now spreading her wings on her own, her solo project goes by the new name of Hevenshe and is a slight turn of pace from what we have traditionally come to know the iconic Australian artist for. 
Hevenshe takes a step back from the pop-punk roots of Tonight Alive and follows much more of a folk and Americana sound to pair nicely with the reflective new songs dreamt up by McDougall. With this being said, the music has far from lost its roots in rock, with the artist offering up some wonderful full-bodied electric guitar and confident vocals to the fortunate Forest audience. 
The slowly growing solo project feels like it is starting to gather some speed, especially now we have finally seen it on our own shores, something which McDougall insisted we manifested by repeatedly insisting she belonged on the Forest stage.
In just a week’s time, Hevenshe will be taking to the Omeara in London for her first headline show of the UK, before heading home to Australia and I hope from this festival performance alone that it is not long before she returns for a full UK tour.
It is clear that this seasoned performer is far from done with music, and the fans are far from done with her.
Coheed And Cambria
After a much more relaxed meeting in the Forest earlier today, Coheed And Cambria finally had the opportunity to take the full force of their epic prog-rock back catalogue to the mainstage, bathed in golden light, which lead vocalist Claudio Sanchez jokingly complained always seems to blind him wherever he plays.
The band has a sound that could appeal to many, with a hybrid sound that finds itself balancing the tightrope between emo and classic rock. You could find sonic similarities in both co-headliners, Taking Back Sunday and Led Zeppelin, so they are sure to attract a crowd of all ages.
There was little time for conversation during the packed set, but the vocalist made sure to keep it meaningful and fun when he addressed the 2000trees crowd, making lighthearted jokes about the trees of the festival and his current sunlit view.
He was also keen to point out that they would be returning this autumn for a full tour, which I am sure will be highly sought after.
When you’ve got 30 years’ worth of material in your locker, there are no problems picking out a hit-laden setlist, which was fortified by the introduction of a double-necked guitar, something that any discerning rock fan loves to see.
The show was a gracious and engaged sighting of Coheed And Cambria whose unwavering cult following is not lost on them. I am certain plenty in attendance tonight will be catching them again in the autumn, and I can hardly blame them. Coheed And Cambria have most definitely still got it!
Million Dead
This time last year, if you were to say you had hopes of Million Dead reuniting in 2025, you would have been laughed out of the room.
Well, the joke is on us all because it is happening right here at 2000trees.
I caught up with the revived band earlier today, and you can read the full article here.
Taking Back Sunday
Closing out day three of the festival were emo legends, Taking Back Sunday. There was no denying that the legendary New York band were a great fit for the emo-forward festival, and I doubt there were many who were not familiar with their work, which soundtracked the noughties.
Sonically, the band were in excellent form as they ripped through their extensive back catalogue with the bright lights of the main stage engulfing the focused crowd.
Taking Back Sunday are clearly a well-toured machine who know precisely how to execute their tracks with a near studio level of quality. 
Unfortunately, whilst their polished performance can be applauded for its musical quality, it was also the downfall of the spectacle. The show felt rehearsed almost to a fault and lacked any noteworthy layer of personality and rapport with the fans.
From my point of view, it felt like you could have dropped the band in any field, anywhere else in the world, and the performance would have been exactly the same.
While the performance was far from a bad one, I would even go as far as to say it was good, the overwhelming feeling is that it just did not quite land as we had hoped.
The show closed with the band’s most popular hit MakeDamnSure, offering a beautiful emo sing-along to wrap up an excellent day of music.
I am looking forward to another great 2000trees tomorrow!
2000trees Festival is being held from 9–12 July 2025 at Upcote Farm, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. You can read all of MetalTalk’s 2025 coverage here.
