Words and photos by: Lucy Williamson
On Saturday 23rd July, we were lucky enough to go to Chagstock Festival in Dartmoor, Devon.
Let’s set the scene…
As we walk into a humongous field which overlooks stunning views of Dartmoor in the haze. The weather is cloudy with a dash of Devon drizzle, but what’s a bit of rain when you know this is going to be a festival to remember.
We are greeted by several stages dotted around — the Big Top Stage on the right, the Main Stage at the bottom of the field, and the Live Lounge tent a shorts walk to the left.
A selection of food and drinks vans, small business clothes and jewellery stalls (I did love the second-hand shop), are all packed in, and of course, there is a bar tent perched right in the middle! After all, who doesn’t love a locally brewed tipple?
With a fun-filled afternoon of exploring the festival, listening to some incredible music from the likes of The Native, Saff Juno, The Set and Mim Grey, browsing the brightly-coloured stalls, and tasting the different food, it’s just about to hit 7 pm.
We grab our AAA press wristbands and head around to the back of the Big Top stage to greet the lovely guys in the band — Alex, Ben and Ben. Can I just say, some of the loveliest people you will ever meet!
They start their set at 7:15 pm. The crowd are gathering together for what is about to be a Pattern Pusher extravaganza…
The retro-pop band, who are based just over 30 minutes down the road in Exeter, absolutely packed the tent with a big crowd of people ready for some summer tunes and great times.
The light show begins and Pattern Pusher enters the stage with none other than an absolute bop (I mean, they all are).
Alex is on keyboard with his blissful vocals and groovy dance moves, Ben is on bass literally jumping into the crowd and still somehow absolutely smashing his bass playing skills, and Ben is on the drums with some seriously good dynamics and rhythms, all while beaming his massive smile across the venue.
The audience is discoing, clapping, cheering and dancing to the band’s tracks, they even did a cover of Fat Boy Slim’s Praise You — now that was magical. Another highlight was the whole crowd getting down low to Pattern Pusher’s “Tonight”, waiting for the riff and then going absolutely wild. The Big Top tent was filled with such positive energy, it was certainly a wow moment!
Now let’s get to the merch, first of all, Pattern Pusher have branded tea towels, what?! When I was chatting to the host, we were saying how we had never seen that before; but it works! Let’s say, we are big fans of this genius idea.
I’m really looking forward to seeing where Pattern Pusher takes them next. The Chagstock performance was like one I’ve never seen before. And being able to photograph and cover it, makes me excited to see what they have planned in the future.
Instagram: @patternpusher