I had heard about this indoor festival through its quite heavy promotion on a certain social network, and arrived with some trepidation that it was going to be a poorly organized and poorly run shambles – this due to having attended a number of “all-dayers” that have suffered from lots of promotion, but just a terrible sense of when and where bands should be playing. However, I was to be proved wrong. I had zero trouble getting my wristband sorted from the people at the front desk who were extremely helpful in telling me where I couldn’t and couldn’t go with my VIP pass.
Rock City was packed out when I arrived just after 2pm, the atmosphere around the four venues was excitable and people seemed in a good mood.
I started my day off watching The James Cleaver Quartet, who were a sortof bluesy metal band. They had a lot of energy and I would recommend anyone checking them out, if thats your sort of thing.
Next up were Blit Kids, Atlas and I and Hydro Da Hero. Maybe it just means I’m out of touch, but I’ll be honest and admit that these lesser known bands were playing in very busy rooms, which normally puts me right off. However, I had a pleasant surprise in the form of rap/rock combo Hydro Da Hero who had the main room wrapped round his finger for the entirety of his set.
After that were a band who I have a lot of time for from Michigan – The Swellers, who have had trouble with attendance in Nottingham in the past. However as usual they put on a brilliant show and were the highlight of the day for me – the atmosphere was great after the first couple of songs, when people gave in and started singing along and bouncing around. The band eased up and seemed to enjoy themselves a lot more! Most of the audience were familiar faces, but the room was busy and hopefully they won over new fans.
I decided to try get a decent spot for Young Guns, however this was foiled by a gigantic queue coming from Rock City Basement. So upstairs I went, to wait patiently for the day’s headliners, Tampa FL’s Underoath. The band played well and the atmosphere was great, however the room wasn’t that full. I’m not quite sure why but presumably it was after the 10pm bedtime of the majority of the festival-goers. Anyhow, the band played well and I for one fully enjoyed them.
Overall, I’d declare Hit The Deck fest a success and think that it was enjoyed by everyone who attended. I heard a few grumbles about people not seeing the bands they wanted to, but I think that happens at every festival. Hopefully the organisers will be able to do something similar next year and address these problems so people can see as much as possible. However at the end of the day, I felt that for the entry fee, you definitely got good value for your money
Ryan Clayton
Tags: Atlas and I, Blit Kids, Hit the Deck, Hydro Da Hero, nottingham, rock city, The James Cleaver Quartet, The Swellers, Underoath, Young Guns
