‘SIXFEST’, the College’s biggest annual music festival, returned to the Prospect Theatre at the beginning of May. This year, the event was held in aid of Music For All and Cancer Research UK.
The music and music technology department’s students and staff organised the event that showcased some of the College’s greatest musical talent. An extensive range of genres were covered, from punk and alt-rock to acoustic folk, atmospheric indie rock and latin-infused contemporary rock. High-energy bands, skilful acoustic solo artists and dynamic headliners featured on the night and provided a fantastic platform for the musicians to perform some of their original songs with musical creativity and stylistic flare. The majority of the line-up was made up of students currently studying music and music technology courses here at the College.
The night kicked off with enthusiastic punk band Pending, who awakened the audience with a series of powerhouse guitar riffs that got everyone moving. A more down-tempo acoustic set was then performed by Hagen & Healer, who dazzled the crowd with delicate covers and even inspired a singalong to John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’. The energy ramped up once again with rock band Knowhere, who brought a heavier tone to the stage, sending the crowd into a wild frenzy. In contrast, an intimate acoustic set was then performed by Matt & Melissa, whose stripped-back covers by the likes of Amy Winehouse and John Mayer utterly transfixed the audience.
During the second half of the evening, Until Dawn took to the stage. The band played an impressive array of original rock material featuring more contemporary indie-rock tracks. They were closely followed by an incredible set from up-and-coming Guildford band Laulia, who really impressed with beautifully atmospheric lighting and exhilarating alternative rock music. The evening reached its pinnacle with the popular and well-established Reading band Valeras, who are playing a multitude of festivals this summer, including Reading and Leeds, Sound City and Lollapalooza, where they are supporting the Foo Fighters!
Recording Studio Manager at the College and Festival Director, Maisie Richards, commented, “This event gives our students a fantastic platform to perform and showcase their incredible talent. Each artist/band that performed this year demonstrated true professional musicianship and amazing energy; we’re really proud of everybody who was involved in the organisation of the event. Every year that we put on this festival, the bar gets raised higher and higher and I am excited to see if we can top this year - it will definitely be hard to beat!”
Curriculum Manager for Music Technology, Matt Prudente-Poulton, added, “This event is getting bigger and bigger and, with well-known local bands looking to perform here, it will only continue to do so. Both student and professional bands played some wonderful sets, giving the brand new and very powerful College sound system a good work out!”
Matt Lloyd-Mostyn, a student at the College and a member of Matt & Melissa said, “It was fantastic to perform at SIXFEST. We had a great audience and the atmosphere was brilliant.”
John Costa Oliveira, a student at the College and a member of the band Knowhere commented, “Everyone who took part thought this was one of the best moments at college! We gained a real sense of community and had a whole lot of fun playing and listening to the other bands!”
Keep an eye out for future SIXFEST dates!
