RADAR FESTIVAL
VENUE Corner houSe, Guildford DATE 02-03/08/2019
The first thing you notice about Guildford’s Corner House are the nine giant chandeliers dangling from the ceiling. Every wall is covered with mirrors. Downstairs, there’s a circular lighting rig that clearly used to illuminate a pole. But today this former casino and strip club is home to the first-ever Radar festival – a 1,500-capacity progressive music event with a line-up to rival Tech-Fest’s.
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There are two alternating stages – the main room with the chandeliers, and a smaller basement, where we catch Shattered Skies. They’re battling the stifling heat and difficult sound – problems that recur all weekend – but are in high spirits, singer Gerry Brown dancing with the crowd.
Upstairs, French quartet Uneven Structure are a bassist down, but still command the room. Downstairs, Eschar struggle to hold attention with their instrumental post-rock, but lock into a satisfying groove. They’re also confused by the loud, lupine ‘Wooooo!’s that punctuate the weekend, apparently a hangover from Tech-Fest. Sümer sound brilliantly accomplished, while Toska build to widescreen, heavy crescendos.
Predictably, headliners Monuments are today’s stars. Temporary new singer Andy Cizek is insanely good, flawlessly switching between clean and unclean vocals during the likes of Leviathan and Mirror Image as his bandmates grin in delight. Fingers crossed he becomes permanent. There’s still time to get the last train home, but many stay on for a raucous afterparty.
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Day two, and there’s a busier weekend party vibe. Downstairs, Mexican/US instrumental trio Kaguu are nervous about their first show here, but Rafa De la Garza’s twinkly, videogame-inspired noodlings shine through.
On the main stage, Sithu
Aye’s upbeat playing is ridiculously technically impressive.
There’s not a lot to watch unless you’re a guitar geek, but it’s great to see Radar providing a big forum for this type of music.
Denmark’s
VOLA blow everyone away, the likes of
Alien Shivers, Ruby Pool and
Stray The Skies sounding massive and showing off their skilful songwriting.
Meanwhile, Valis Ablaze are the catchiest band on stage two, coming over like a baby TesseracT. French five-piece Kadinja are far too big and loud for it – they can barely squeeze on the stage – but are fun, guitarists Pierre Danel and Quentin Godet jokingly strumming each other’s instruments.
But today’s band are Iceland’s Agent Fresco. “We’re having major technical difficulties, but that doesn’t matter because I’ve put on my Hawaiian shirt, my stretchy pants and my dancing shoes, and we’re going to have the best night,” says nicest-frontman-in-prog Arnór Dan Arnarson. And we do. Wait For Me and I See Hell are slick highlights, and their new material is promising, his gentle operatics hitting the spot.
With such a strong line-up, and the masterclasses across the weekend that include showcases on everything from sound engineering to guitars, from members of bands like Monuments and Animals As Leaders, Radar proves to be a welcome addition to the progressive calendar. If they can solve the heat and sound issues, it’ll be unmissable.