Forever Now Festival

When I first saw an advert for Forever Now, I really thought it had to be a festival of alternative 80s cover bands.

The line-up was for someone like me, who lived through the 80s as a teenager, quite incredible. Death Cult, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The The and Johnny Marr were all heroes of mine growing up, and here they were, bought together at the same festival, 30 minutes-drive from my house. Incredible. The inclusion of The Damned, Happy Mondays and Kraftwerk just made the whole things seem even more fantastical.  

And it was an amazing day. Hearing Johnny Marr (who has really worked on his vocals, sounding great on the day) was the first of many highlights. Kicking off with 'Panic' and ending with a beautiful version of 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out', Marr and his band were brilliant throughout, properly bringing lumps to throats with that closer and an achingly beautiful version of 'Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want'. 

Marr reappeared a couple of hours later for the next big highlight of the day, The The, joining Matt Johnson and his bandmates for 'The Beat(en) Generation. It was the first time they had played together since 1990 and it was a wonderful moment, but in fairness, so was the entire set. Johnson inevitably got the poignant 'Armageddon Days' and 'Sweet Bird of Truth' in early, reminding us that the dire situation in the Middle East hasn't exactly moved on a lot in 30-odd years, but didn't dwell on the politics too much, instead swiftly delivering a series of highlights from his brilliant career. This included 'Icing Up' from his first album 'Burning Blue Soul' as well as more obvious standouts like 'This is the Day', Uncertain Smile, Slow Emotion Replay and Infected. It was exceptional. 

Amidst all this, Billy Idol delivered pure entertainment, PIL and Psychedelic Furs were OK and what I heard of the Jesus and Mary Chain was top quality, although some issues on 'the other stage' meant that their set and the Damned's ended up being a lot shorter than expected and behind schedule.        

The headliner choice was a toughie: Kraftwerk or Death Cult. For me though it was Death Cult all the way. I never got the chance to see the original Death Cult, or the Cult at the time of Dreamtime, so this was something special. And my word, did they deliver. They belted out Resurrection Joe, Moya, 83rd Dream, Horse Nation, Dreamtime, Spiritwalker, She Sells Sanctuary and more and it was magical. You'd never believe Ian Astbury was 63 given the way he bounced around the stage, and it was clear that he was reveling in the occasion. 

And then it was all over. One can only hope that this was an inaugural event, returning bigger and better next year. Hat's off to the organiser's - you made a lot of people very happy.