Northwest Festival Watch – September 2014

The festival season's last hurrah

Preview by Laura Swift | 01 Sep 2014

It’s pretty much official. Festival season is over. It’s likely that this column, muddied, maladjusted and marble-less, will creak off into retirement from next month – but until then, my faithfuls, one last bender.

Festival No. 6 (5-7 Sep) is probably the most accessible for those of you looking for a final lost weekend. Set in the hallucinatory Italianate village of Portmeirion, dreamed up in the 1920s by architect Clough Williams-Ellis (and the set of 60s TV series The Prisoner, from whose main character, known only by a number, the festival takes its name), this big-boutique weekend balances its highly civilised main-bill offering with a sly ‘dubs’ programme – a three-hour set from Michael Mayer and a live one from Nordic king of the airwaves Todd Terje among the highlights, plus the ever reliable Justin Robertson. Don’t miss Jon Hopkins, either, especially if he brings his outsize luminescent ball pit.

To coincide with the Manchester Contemporary art fair, Golden Lab Records are opening up their studios on 26 Sep for their Underground Art & Music Festival, showcasing the work of all the folk who use and make exciting things in their space. Live music from Human Heads, Chalaque and The Piss Superstition punctuates an exhibition featuring Lab head honcho Nick Mitchell, Detroit artist Thelonius Bone, Hannah Mort, and more. Golden Lab have been digging up and supporting the truly leftfield and defiant in dark, heavy and experimental music for many years now, remaining fiercely DIY and defined; we understand this is the first time they’ve opened their doors in this manner, so go down and investigate.

The jolly Ramsbottom Festival (19-21 Sep) is a family friendly affair but the Saturday offers a decent trio at the top of the bill in the form of British Sea Power, Doves’ Jimi Goodwin playing solo, and chirpy Glasgow lot Admiral Fallow. Folk aficionados will want to stick around for the Sunday and Irish heart-stealer Cara Dillon, who may well be joined by husband and brother of Seth, Sam Lakeman.

Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia – or Psych Fest for short – brings the month to a close in scything, searing, strung-out style; the lineup brings unto the fold of Camp & Furnace and the Blade Factory an international who’s who of mind-melding magi (Goat, Suuns), as well as lesser-known acts (Younghusband, Barberos, Plank!) who, such is the joy of Psych Fest, are able to really go hell for leather on a big stage to a rapt, dedicated audience. For further reading, you can check out our interviews with the guys behind the event’s distinctive visual identity on page 26, and find a chat with the shamanistic, hypnotic Grumbling Fur online.

Festival No. 6, Portmeirion, Wales, 5-7 Sep, weekend from £160, day tickets from £50, www.festivalno6.com

Manchester Contemporary Underground Art & Music Festival, Golden Lab Studios, St. Werburgh’s Road, Chorlton (search ‘Golden Lab Studios’ on Facebook), 26 Sep, 10am-5.30pm, free

Ramsbottom Festival, Ramsbottom Cricket Club, 19-21 Sep, £66 adult weekend, day tickets from £24, www.ramsbottomfestival.com

Liverpool Psych Fest, Camp & Furnace and Blade Factory, Liverpool, 26-27 Sep, £50 weekend, £25 Friday £30 Saturday, www.liverpoolpsychfest.com