It’s day one of the Birmingham very own grassroots Music Festival, The Sanctum! Located at the Dead Wax in Digbeth, the festival is set to host over 16 bands over 2 days, with an extra special guest as well. Let’s get into day one
Stitched
Up first is Stitched, the Heavy Metal 5-piece band from Black County. What a powerful start to today’s stellar lineup. Within seconds of starting their set, they are moving and bouncing. The strong audience, which has already formed, is filled with smiles as the lead singer “blank” asks who likes “happy songs.” The audience nods back with deep growls and perfectly hit notes, setting the bar high for today’s bands set to follow. Dedicated their next song to the prince of darkness and Aiden’s girlfriend’s dad, “Symptoms Of The Universe”; they have the crowd under control, banging their heads. With whoops and cheers, they have very much won today’s crowd, and I’m sure they gained a few new followers too!
Grove Warden
Let’s talk about Grove Warden. The stage couldn’t keep these guys contained with the lead singer blank getting straight into the crowd. Their high-energy set was the perfect mix of being loud and powerful. Getting the audience to join in and their heads moving brings fast-paced sounds. The five-piece from the south west UK brought the heavy sounds to their perfectly performed set! Final song with phone lights waving around it, completely there, set.
Aleya
Manchester big hooks and bigger breakdown hardcore band Aleya takes to the stage after a small technical difficulty (would it be a festival without one), but that doesn’t stop them from bringing their high-powered set to the stage with jumps and audience anticipation of screaming back off when the lights go out. With our first mosh pit of the afternoon and joint onstage vocals from Blank, the festival
Recall The Remains
Recall The Remains have been a little band who has always popped up in my Instagram stories and after having my first taste of them at Hammerdown Last week and less than 6 days later my second taste of the Nu-metal band has only grown stronger for them they have a fun and grunge style to them which just fills the stage with there presents being strongly received by The Sanctum crowd today. Recall The Remains just captures you and keeps you locked in their set. Thanking the late Ozzy Osbourne throughout their set, they kick into fever dreams, their perfected sound just complements each member of the band! Getting another mosh pit going, they showcase why they are one of the best up-and-coming bands on the scene
Overthrown
Birmingham’s very own Overthrown have dedicated their set to the late Ozzy Osbourne tonight with “Mama I’m coming home” as they’re walking on song. Their high-energy set has the crowd up and jumping along with mosh pits and complete clapping along, and Overthrown bring our first wall of death of today’s festival. They are loud, in charge and have the crowd under their power. Bringing in multiple moshpits throughout their set, and they sound incredible while doing it!
InRetrospect
My home town band of this evening, InRetrospect from Leeds! Their high-performance set pulls in the crowd and keeps their eyes locked on the stage. Their incredible sound has just continued to grow since I last saw them for their album release of Aggro last year. Bring in the two-steppers, their power to control the crowd, keeping everyone pulled into a locked trance. They know what they want from their set after taking over Europe; they have come home!
Pixie Rocket Burlesque
Having never seen a burlesque show in real life, it was an extra special treat for tonight’s show, with the 10-minute slot, Pixie Rocket showed us the fun and crowd-capturing dance. All eyes were on her, and it was a fun way to bring the crowd in!
Assurance
Now, the band everyone has been waiting for, Assurance, the band of The Sanctum organiser Joe. Even though they had a few mic issues throughout their set, it didn’t stop them from smashing their set. Kicking off with the brand new single “Entropy” showcases the band’s brand new singer. The amount of love that assurance fans gave to the band was intense, and with pits opening, their strong crowd brought the show home for them this evening! Not only support the band, but the brand new festival too!
Exist Immortal
On to our final band and headliner of this evening, Exist Immortal, the five-piece progressive metal band, brings in the crowd and entrances them with their guitar crowd surfing antics and beautiful lit stage. They power through and show why they are the perfect headliners of today’s first-ever day of The Sanctum.
Day One Overview
The Sanctum brought together every element of a festival you would expect, from friends, family and high support. To bands catching up together after long touring/festival periods. It was the little details that brought the festival together from the moment the email dropped into Metal Junkbox email, I knew this festival was gonna be special. Joe and his team have created something unique, and honestly, in my top 3 festivals of this year.
From having collectors’ items and merch bundles, to showcasing each band on social media, to having the social media information and set times of everyone posted around. The Sactum have thought about every detail and made it a wonderful experience! I am looking forward to seeing what Day two brings to us today!
