Live Review: Spilt Milk Festival

The buses roll in as the gates open for today's festival punters. Benee draws a massive crowd early on at the Basquiat Stage, amping them up with her hyperactive dance moves and erratic vocal outbursts. We dance along to her funky rhythms, including recent track, Supalonely.

Benee @ Spilt Milk Festival. Photo by Lucinda Goodwin.

Tones & I comes out in front of a graffiti backdrop with "THE KIDS ARE COMING" tagged all over it. She has a quick dance and then moves to the piano for a heartfelt ballad. She belts out powerhouse vocals on Never Seen The Rain, before playing her version of Flume and Chet Faker’s Drop The Game. “Are you guys ready to get down?” she asks before dropping Dance Monkey. “I had no idea this would become a number one song – I just wanted to make people dance!” It’s a highlight of the day and the crowd goes wild, jumping up on their mates’ shoulders to capture the moment. One punter even scales the tent for the best view in the house.

Tones & I @ Spilt Milk Festival. Photo by Lucinda Goodwin.

Before her band comes out G Flip shows off her incredible drumming skills with a solo mash-up of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Fergie’s London Bridge and Kanye West’s All Of The Lights. She’s a one-woman whirlwind with unrelenting energy. The only downside of the set is that the Angove Stage sound is noticeably low, so it can be difficult to hear at times.

G Flip @ Spilt Milk Festival. Photo by Lucinda Goodwin.

The festival atmosphere is vibing and the venue is a great fit - there’s plenty of space for punters to chill out or eat. Whoever’s idea it was to put the set times on the stubby holder merchandise is a genius.

Confidence Man give us just the boost we need in the afternoon with their flashy disco party and synchronised dance moves. With a bunch of hot new songs, front-duo Janet Planet and Sugar Bones work us into a frenzy with their contagious energy while their keyboardist and drummer, Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie, keep their identities concealed under mysterious veils. Bones pops a bottle of champagne over the audience during COOL Party and everyone goes off.

Confidence Man @ Spilt Milk Festival. Photo by Lucinda Goodwin.

Kota Banks continues the dance party over at the Derbyshire Stage with her a new surefire banger Feel Again. Banks’ sound can't be shoehorned in any one – her set surprises us with a mixed bag of electro, drum'n'bass, rap, soulful pop, and even a rawly emotional acoustic track. To round out her set she brings her self-proclaimed “big dick energy” for a song about cutting off fuckboys.

It reaches the part of the day where we need to double back from stage to stage to catch our favourite acts – one downside to this jam-packed festival. Winston Surfshirt bring super chill vibes with an eight-piece band, including a live horn section. They serve up a slice of their latest offering, Apple Crumble, and it’s a mouth-watering blend of groovy beats.

Crowd @ Spilt Milk Festival. Photo by Lucinda Goodwin.

Lastlings share some brand new music with us today – they’ve been busy working on their debut album and they confirm it will be out in 2020. One new song is an absolute powerhouse banger; they play the damn good chorus again as an encore so we can soak up all its glory. 

Mansionair play to a small audience as the sun sets over the festival. Jack Froggatt's soaring falsetto melts our hearts, and they take us on an emotional rollercoaster with hits Violet City, Falling and Easier. Those of us who still have voices left are encouraged to scream the chorus to Technicoloir at the person next to us. Froggatt comments that the band always love to play the demo version of Speak Easy live, but unfortunately this time the delivery is off-key and a bit of a mess. They quickly recover and the lighter, acoustic rendition makes it easy to forgive them.

Chvrches frontwoman Lauren Mayberry is all glammed up with glitter and paint running across her eyes. While their set is short and sweet, Chvrches serve up some of the best tracks from their catalogue including The Mother We Share, Clearest Blue and Recover. Mayberry packs a punch and delivers a hard-hitting performance backed by a kaleidoscope of electronics to keep our blood pumping.

Chvrches @ Spilt Milk Festival. Photo by Lucinda Goodwin.

There’s a long wait before the last round of performances and the temperature drops significantly. Khalid finally hits the Angove Stage with an entourage of dancers moving around him. His performance feels a bit flat and we can’t help but be put off that the majority of the set is played by a backing track, with Khalid only performing some of the live vocals. He continues to power through his hits including Better, Talk and Young Dumb & Broke but has trouble keeping the audience on their feet after a very long day. 

Khalid @ Spilt Milk Festival. Photo by Lucinda Goodwin.

Over at the Basquiat Stage, Golden Features turns the tent into a massive rave cave. He stands before an altar of candles lit up and flashing to heavy, dark and twisted beats. He plays many crowd favourites including his latest EP Raka, and although The Presets couldn’t join him to sing live vocals, it’s a highlight nonetheless. The vibration filters through our bodies and we use every last bit of energy left in us to dance under his mysterious spell.