Billed as the sister festival of the US based Cruel World, Forever Now welcomed fans to Milton Keynes Bowl for its inaugural event here in the UK. The whole day proved to be very enjoyable; the weather played its part, the atmosphere was welcoming and inclusive, and there were some terrific performances all around, including from headliners Kraftwerk and Death Cult. Across the two stages were some of the very best of the post-punk and alternative scene, and with numerous iconic songs including ‘Pretty in Pink’, ‘How Soon Is Now’, ‘Rise’ and ‘Rebel Yell’ performed throughout the day. As with many festivals not everything went exactly according to plan. There were some technical issues that led to delays on the second stage, a source of frustration to bands and audience alike, but these teething problems aside, everyone we saw around the site appeared to be having a great time.
Forty years to the day Kirk Brandon was here with Spear of Destiny as part of U2’s Longest Day celebration. Today, he kicked off the second stage with Theatre of Hate, delivering most of 1982’s Westworld and unsurprisingly attracting a large crowd. Still featuring original bassist Stan Stammers, ToH were in good form, no doubt aided by the fact that Brandon seems to be consistently on tour and clearly still gets a kick from playing live. An energetic ‘Incinerator’ and powerfully atmospheric ‘Do You Believe in the West World’ closed out what was a hugely engaging set.
Over on the main stage were Berlin, a band who rarely play on this side of the Atlantic. Everyone knows their “big song” of course but outside of that they had little further success over here. Terri Nunn wasted no time in getting the audience on side as they launched into ‘Masquerade’, showing plenty of passion and enthusiasm and leaving no doubt that she still sounded incredible. Going for a walk through the crowd on a roadies shoulders during ‘You Take My Breath Away’ was an inspired move, and following this with a raunchy cover of ‘Highway to Hell’ was even more remarkable. Berlin were one of the genuine surprises of the day. Next up were The Chameleons who delivered a typically hard hitting set, Mark Burgess & Co running through epic versions of ‘Soul in Isolation’ and ‘Swamp Thing’, with the former managing to incorporate snippets of ‘The End’, ‘Be My Wife’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ amongst others.
“This is PiL…if you don’t like it Fuck Off”. Fortunately the crowd seemed to love it. John Lydon remains in irrepressible form, even if he was distracted at times by the wind playing havoc with his lyric sheets. A hypnotic ‘Warrior’ formed the centre piece of their set, with Lydon flanked by the impressive pair of guitarist Lu Edmunds and bassist Scott Firth. ‘Rise’ had everyone swaying along and, after apologising for the “karaoke Sex Pistols”, Lydon was all too soon leading PiL into closing number ‘Chant’. Back over in the main arena, The Psychedelic Furs were very well received, the very suave Richard Butler making good use of the large stage and playing the part of dapper showman to perfection. Their slot seem to flash by in an instant, being a perfect balance of heart warming favourites ‘Heaven’ and ‘Love My Way’ and celebratory sing-a-longs ‘Pretty in Pink’ and ‘India’.
Johnny Marr proved to the ideal choice for that late afternoon pick, just when everyone in the crowd needed to find that extra bit of spark he turned up and delivered. The set was an ideal blend of songs from throughout his career, from ‘This Charming Man’ and ‘How Soon is Now?’ to solo gem ‘Easy Money’ and the melodic high of ‘Getting Away With It’. An amiable front man, Marr knows just how to put together a crowd-pleasing show, and there was a burst of euphoria when he closed with ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’. He returned to the stage an hour or so later, joining The The to help out on ‘The Beat(en) Generation’ and ‘Dogs of Lust’.
Numerous costume changes, an Elvis sneer and first pumping anthems…Billy Idol offered all of the aforementioned and much more besides. A smattering of new songs drew polite applause but the crowd were here for the “Hits”. And with long time guitarist Steve Stevens bringing the sights and sounds of the Sunset Strip to Milton Keynes, the whole thing was outrageously cheesy and at the same time utterly brilliant. Closing the show with ‘Rebel Yell’ and ‘White Wedding’ left the crowd in a state of delirium. Over on the (by now) very dusty second stage it was evident all was not going to plan as The Jesus and Mary Chain started their set at the time they were due to be finishing it. Apparently, the plug had been pulled on The Damned and the same was due to happen to Jim Reid & co which left everyone holding their breath. They battled on for half an hour, with fired up versions of ‘Some Candy Talking’ and ‘Reverence’ proving they still have much to offer.
It was somehow fitting that the oldest band of the day performed a set that was the most innovative and relevant of the entire festival. The audio-visual experience that is Kraftwerk is simply breath-taking and, unless experienced first hand, is hard to fully appreciate. The pioneers of robo-synth pop simply turned up behind their laptops and keyboards and took the crowd on an impressive journey through their fifty-something years, the quartet remaining statuesque and letting the music and visuals do the talking. ‘Numbers’, ‘Computer World’, ‘Autobahn’ and ‘The Model’ and the rest were highlighted by bass-thumping rhythms, pulsing electronica and a fully immersive visual feast. The machine that is Kraftwerk simply continues its relentless charge to challenge and delight audiences around the globe.
Hopefully the event did well enough for the promotors to run it again next year. It caters to an audience not particularly well served by the UK summer festival scene and, as the line-up this year proved, offers something a little different. They are certainly plenty of bands still active that could easily find a place on the bill in future years, and fingers crossed Forever Now can become an annual fixture on the festival calendar.
