Vic Fest, Aberdeen

The Queen Vic is a name often linked to that pub from popular British soap Eastenders, only this time we’re referring to the cheery pub local to the Rosemount area in Aberdeen. It lies fairly central in Aberdeen but just not central enough to grab onto the local music scene that exists in the city centre. The Queen Vic decided to do something about it and in partnership with 57 Degrees North and with sponsorship from Tuborg they launched Vic Fest, a music festival which was stationed at the Queen Vic itself from 3rd August - 10th August. When speaking with Calum Grant, the manager of the Queen Vic, I asked him what made them decide to launch Vic Fest. It became apparent that they are very passionate about music, bands and the local people and that they wanted to bring that to the Rosemount area.

“We are the social hub of the Rosemount area and we thought that as it’s our job as Rosemount's living room we’d try to bring the music scene to Rosemount to engage more of the locals and bring new entertainment in the form of music. A lot of people that live in this area play in bands and we thought it would be a brilliant opportunity for us to tap into this a wee bit and put a week of live music on for everyone to enjoy.”

Vic Fest saw various local acts over the week, including D.O.C who kicked off the festival on Saturday with classic rock covers, Daniel Mutch, Lizabett Russo, Luna Reklipse, and Los Acousticos Bandidos who call themselves “Aberdeen's jazziest, funkiest, hotclub-iest, poppiest guitar duo,” a statement with which I’d very much agree. Also joining the lineup was Dan Leckie, who was fresh from Belladrum Festival and new post rock band The Same Thing We Do Every Night who I particularly enjoyed. Their music resembled Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. With three guitars being the total current line up, one would question whether they are missing the rhythm of a bass and drums. When speaking to the lads, they said they want to build the lineup of The Same Thing We Do Every Night with the idea of having different members of the lineup play the gigs - they want people to turn up to a gig not knowing which members they are going to hear. An interesting concept and I have to say their music really did make me want to go home, turn my bass amp on full, turn on every effect pedal I have and just go wild.

This was the Queen Vic's first attempt at an event of this size; Calum hoped it would be successful, with the idea of making Vic Fest a yearly event and perhaps utilising some of Aberdeen's larger venues next time. Judging by the pub being at full capacity almost every night, it’s safe to say the week was a success.

BA