Festival season is upon us again as we move through 2014. There definitely are some exciting new entries into the fold for your consideration and your hard-earned dollars. Even more than being a gathering of music fans, festivals lately tapping into a call from our collective unconscious, a plea for something pleasing to the ears as well as nourishing to our minds. We are of course discussing the inaugural Beyond the Redshift. Taking a page from the mighty Roadburn, BTR has one band of high exalt, in this case, Cult of Luna, curating the music and overall aesthetic of the festival. Slated to take place on May 10^th at the three different venues simultaneous (all staggered stage times with little overlap), this promises to be an exciting, must attend annual event.

Not just a mere concert either, the fest promises a feat for the senses too with audio-visual/new media elements and installations. Cult of Luna themselves has been forging a singular path in progressive music for sometime, with a fandom that teeters on the brink of fanatical. Last year’s Vertikal and Vertikal II (the former ranking #2 in our 2013 Best albums poll of our staff) attained instant clout among fans and critics alike, a rare occurrence in these times of over-saturated bland music. The presence of CoL themselves leads one to think this fest will have an air of heavy progressive music and experimental ideals pushing the envelope, which it will. Representing different forms of underground music is the high-minded ideal of this fest. Top of the bill acts such as Godseed (on tour with CoL in Europe now) God is An Astronaut, Jesu, Amenra, Amplifier, are all inspired selections, with any of them being capable of heading up this fest in later years. Jesu and Amplifier have been incredibly hot of late.

The rest of the lineup has no holes, and owing as much to the headliners, presents a little something for the sub-genre snob in all of us. All of the a fore mentioned bands except Amplifier will play The Forum Venue, with Amplifier heading up The Dome. All of those bands will play one-hour sets, with CoL playing for two. Joining Amplifier at The Dome will be Bossk, The Old Wind, Esben & the Witch, Blueneck, pg.lost. Over at The Boston Music Room we will see Greg Haines, Sleepmakeswaves, Thought Forms, Dirk Serries, Hark, Further Down, Petter Carlsen, Abraham,Shield Patterns, Atlantis, Canaya all perform in what promises to be a killer experience. All of the venues are withing a ten minutes walk, making this concentration of artists, at one low price, possible the best value for true music fans this year.

The following manifest can be said to be guiding concept of the fest itself:

“The cosmological redshift is caused by the expansion of space. The wavelength of light increases as it traverses the expanding universe. Unable to assume that we have a special place within this universe, the redshift suggests to us that everything is moving away from everything else…

We may not be able to go beyond the redshift, but we can certainly think beyond it. We are bringing together artists who expand within their space – artists who create something special within this space.”

Tickets are priced at £30 + booking fee. 3 venues, 1 wristband, 12:00 pm doors.

Cult of Luna on Facebook

Tickets to Beyond The Redshift

Beyond The Redshift on Facebook