Supersonic Festival 2023 – September 1st – 3rd Birmingham UK
Supersonic Festival is where the odd little website you are reading now came from. The photographer and I, well before we were either a photographer or writer went to see a reformed Godflesh in the Custard Factory in Digbeth. Alongside Godflesh was a wealth of bands that I had never heard of, never even thought might exist yet captured me entirely. Melt Banana for one, Blue Sabbath Black Fiji for another. Music the like of which I had not even imagined. Fast forward to now and the music that Supersonic Festival puts on either in individual gigs, curated events at other festivals or especially at the three day event itself is part of our DNA. I’m not overstating this, it’s just the way it is. Read below for this years line up and day splits for their latest edition.
This year is a celebration of twenty years of the festival, Artistic Director and Co-Founder Lisa Meyer says this about it “My mission is to create a line up that champions the most significant artists from the underground, artists that challenge us to think about injustices of the world we are currently living in and those that are pushing the boundaries of adventurous music. These indescribable links bind the programme together to make a festival which makes a space for those with open ears and hearts. Over the last 20 years our aim has been to provide a means for unity, for escapism, camaraderie; for belonging and most importantly for unrestrained joy.”
Deerhoof
On FRIDAY the 1st of September you have
The beautiful bright indie of Deerhoof
The spectacle and wonder of an Ex Easter Island Head performance
The single minded focus of Hey Colossus
The uncompromising hip hop of Infinity Knives x Brian Ennals
The rapid flow and rugged beats of MC Yallah + Debmaster
The supergroup coming from members of Vanishing Twin,HARRGA and Yama Warashi – Ondata Rossa
The excellent Total Luck who have just supported Gnod
And the strange jazz stylings of un.procedure
Godflesh
On SATURDAY the 2nd of September you have
The intense industrial metal pioneers Godflesh
The horrorcore hip hop of Backxwash
The strange avant gardism of Ashenspire
The pure noise of Divide & Dissolve
The aberrant beats of Elvin Brandhi
The infectious grooviness of Horse Lords
The menace and majesty of the fantastic Oxbow
The Black Metal of Ragana
The righteous hard core of Taqbir
The quite bonkers set from DJ Bus Replacement Service
And more To Be Announced
Lankum
SUNDAY the 3rd of September you get
The dark folk of Lankum
The circling groove of 75 Dollar Bill
The frenetic Sound world of Avalanche Kaito
The free jazz noise of Blacks’ Myths
The emotionally rending sound of Big Brave with violinist Jessica Moss
The folk storytelling of Josephine Foster
The composer and saxophonist Matana Roberts
The working class traditions of Shovel Dance Collective
The supergroup stylings of Silver Moth
The different folk textures of Širom
But alongside that you can expect workshops, artists, dj sets and the wonderful marketplace. As well as the usual samosas and cakes.
It’s an absolutely vital festival and the line up for their twentieth year is as good as it can be. Go and find your new favourite band.
Supersonic Festival’s website is supersonicfestival.com, they are on Facebook and Tweet as @supersonicfest.
For all information about the festival please go to the website, supersonicfestival.com.
All words by Adrian Bloxham
