a whole lotta Bush

What was simply a plan to put on a handful of bands in a pub’s function room swiftly escalated into a packed bill and the daunting task of squeezing nine bands into just one evening as Bushfest'10 took shape.

Started as the brainchild of 9blind’s Mark Seibert in 2008, this year’s third annual Bushfest took on a new life with the involvement of myself and Rock For Change and evolved into an all-encompassing, 6 hour phenomenom.

With 9 bands performing, there really isn’t enough I can say here to really sink my teeth in and dissect the gig properly, but there were enough people there to experience it that I shouldn’t need to go over the whole thing for them.

Even such an early start, with doors opening at 6pm, wasn’t enough to dissuade the eager crowd that had been gathering outside from as early as 5, keen not to miss a single moment of the action.

I began warming up the audience from behind the decks before the evening’s live entertainment was kicked off by a double whammy of new-comers, Twisted Hearts and Hurricane Season, both recent additions to Enfield’s ever growing list of bands and both attracting enough fans that anyone could quite easily forget how early it was, with another 7 bands still to come.

Deeds of the Dying followed swiftly, along with New Conscience, Room 9 and The Anonymous, all setting the bar high and impressing the throng of people that had continued to gather over the course of the evening with an array of sing-a-longs, moshpits, crowd participation and over enthusiastic dancing between them..

Enemy Planet and Kids Uncanny both held up the high standards that had been set before them, the two female fronted bands on the bill had nothing to prove to their male counterparts whatsoever, as both bands are already well enough known by local audiences to pull out a number of fan favourites and keep the evening moving without losing pace.

And as the night was eventually drawing to a close, 9blind's late headline slot was like an epiphany.

Stood by the side of the stage watching a room of devoted fans sing back every word to 9blind and I realised then just how important tonight was.


Bushfest wasn’t just a gig.


It was a celebration of some of Enfield’s most promising talent.


It was a chance for young fans not to worry about being 18 in order to enjoy a Saturday night out.


It was a landmark occasion that many music fans in our ostracised suburb never thought they would get the chance to see.


Because amazingly, for a town without a legitimate music venue, Enfield has cultivated so many exciting bands, and seeing 9 of our local acts playing back to back it became clear that we have created our own scene without a scene, where enjoying the music is more important than any singular musical tribe, and where we have had to strive to do it all ourselves because nothing has been given to us.



We achieved all this without any light at the end of the tunnel, campaigning for a music venue, asserting that younger fans should be able to get into gigs, and not wanting to travel into Camden or even further afield to see a band that came from our home town when we can't even see them locally, it brought us all to this point.

The fact that a small metal band hailing from Edmonton can inspire such devotion among a fervent fanbase and that a small local festival can breathe life into a backroom-cum-venue might mean that Enfieldians long dark days may finally be drawing to a close.

9BlinD - Promises   stream only

credit where it's due:

photography by Laura Harvey
mp3 stream kindly agreed by 9Blind

BushFest is coming!

2 musicians, a gig organiser and a music journalist walk into a bar.

this isn't a start of a joke, this was the start of planning BushFest'10

Mark Seibert, lead singer of Edmonton metallers 9Blind has been running the annual shindig in a Bush Hill Park boozer since 2008, but this year he reached out to local gig promoters Rock For Change and yours truly, in order to widen the reach of the mini-festival and dig deeper into Enfield's rich musical tapestry.

Initially getting in touch via facebook, a few ideas and band names were knocked about and a meeting and a few jars was planned so we could really bump heads and put the wheels in motion.

Past events held at the Bush Hill Park Hotel have been full on head banging affairs that have seen the cream of the Enfield Underground scene piling into the pub's backroom for a night of supercharged testestorone and relentless riffs while veterans D.Monic held court with a succesful run as headliners.


But since the demise of D.Monic and the uprising within Enfield's musical ranks the repertoire has been expanded this year for a broader listening experience.

Laura and Mehmet from the succesful Rock For Change campaign have built a good track record of putting on gigs within the past year, and my experience and knowledge of up and coming bands within the local music scene make for a well-rounded viewpoint when trying to organise this years one day mini-fest.

so the gears were turning, and a drink and a meet-up was planned in order to thrash out all the details.

and what a meeting of minds that was as....


thankfully when Mark and Joe from 9Blind met up with Mehmet and myself for a couple of pints there weren't too many arguments when settling the bill, if anything the hardest choices were deciding who to leave off.

so you're gonna wanna know what we've got instore for you!!

drafted in to kick things off are young upstarts Twisted Hearts and Hurricane Season, two of Enfield's newest bands, joined by New Conscience and The Anonymous later on in the evening, both alumni of the Rock For Change campaign gigs.

filling out the long evening of aural entertainment are a few names you will undoubtedly recognise from my previous articles and are bands that i will unashamedly champion given any chance.

so if you haven't had the pleasure yet, Bushfest will be a perfect opportunity to acquant yourselves with Deeds of the Dying, Room 9, Enemy Planet and Kids Uncanny before our local bands become too big to play in our fair borough.

and the highly coveted headline slot will be an eagerly anticipated late set by 9Blind, sealing their position as one of Enfield's most loved acts by bringing live proceedings to a close.


the reason for previewing this years BushFest instead of regailing the aftermath is because aswell as providing an input to the nights programming, i shall also be DJing throughout the entirety with my Bubblegum Stomp collective and may very well have little memory of it afterwards.

so, to witness what i may not be able to tell you, get yourself along to this year's Bushfest on Saturday October 2nd at Bush Hill Park Hotel (next to BHP station) St Marks Road, with doors opening at 6 and DJing into the early hours, it's bound to be a messy night.