Simple Things 2017 review: Daphni, Wild Beasts and Leftfield play Bristol's eclectic day festival

Bristol's annual leftfield day festival welcomes actual Leftfield for a run through their 1995 album 'Leftism', but the it's the weirder, forward-facing artists that steal the show

Wild Beasts play Simple Things festival on the first leg of a victory lap before they call it quits. (Chris Cooper)

Storm Brian does its best to put the dampener on Simple Things, Bristol’s annual leftfield day festival, in its seventh year. But even the world’s worst-named storm can’t diminish the strength of the 2017 line up.

John Maus’s set at the O2 is delayed by a broken DI box. In his earlier days, John Maus looked like he might break something himself during his sets - perhaps one of his own ribs. He’s never looked more comfortable on stage than he does at the O2, dressed like Centrist Dad in a collared shirt and baggy faded jeans and singing "Quantum Leap" from his last album We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (2011), with his eyes squeezed shut.

This American outsider artist used to be known principally for collaborations with Ariel Pink and Panda Bear from Animal Collective. His comeback this year is been celebrated with two albums and a boxset, released over the next six months, that will cement his transition from curiosity to cult figure.

The nearby Colston Hall has always been the de facto centre of Simple Things. It isn’t long now until the historic hall shuts its doors for a four-year renovation and a name change to rid it of slave trader connotations. Also bowing out, for presumably different reasons, are Wild Beasts, who are on the first leg of a victory lap before they go their separate ways. They face an indifferent crowd in the auditorium. “Big Cat”, devoid of the lights that flanked stages on their most recent album tour, seems heavier and less predatory. There’s a nostalgia to old favourite “We’ve still got the taste dancing on our tongues” and “Bed of Nails”. But you can tell they are getting ready to call it a day.

Omar Soleyman drives a crowd crazy with a tiny flick of his hand (Ro Murphy)

In The Sportsman, a terrible pub over the road, Bristol’s own Spectres are getting renovations underway early by ramping up the cheap PA system loud enough that actual parts of the ceiling start falling on the crowd. At the entrance, the bouncers are being stingy with ticket-holders, not letting people in even though the venue is almost empty. By the end, we’re wondering if they are secretly crusading to save people’s hearing. Spectres trade off glorious noise and tonight they are bolstered by the addition of Robin Stewart from Giant Swan. The ceiling doesn’t stand a chance.

The festival highlight follows at the O2, where Clark is presenting his latest album Death Peak live. Arguably the most accessible of all of his albums on Warp, Death Peak also comes with a fully realised live show (you can even watch the trailer for it online). Two dancers in white baseball caps with fake black hair obscuring their faces move perfectly in time, on opposite sides of the stage, in front of stacks of horizontal lights. Clark is shrouded in darkness behind decks, imparting maniacal synth choirs and chopped up beats on a crowd getting ready for the night time.

Dan Snaith eases the crowd in super slowly with reworks of Stevie Wonder and Afrobeat tunes, peppering his set with cuts from his new album, Joli Mai. (Tom Ham)

Marie Davidson takes a little time to adjust her equipment before her set in the exposed lobby of the Colston Hall, where ticket-holders lean over a spiral staircase watching from above. “Louder, it needs to be louder,” she tells a distracted sound man. In the auditorium, Leftfield are trading off former glories with a rendition of their album 1995 album “Leftism”. Downstairs, Davidson is facing forwards, giving her own take on Detroit techno for future fans.

Daphni’s five-hour set gets moved forward by one hour. Dan Snaith, a man of many monikers, eases the crowd in super slowly with reworks of Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Afrobeat, peppering his set with cuts from his new album, Joli Mai. We check in with Omar Souleyman on the way out the city for the late night entertainment. This tiny Syrian wedding singer, eyes obscured by trademark black glasses, can drive a crowd crazy with a simple flick of his hand. His sets of electrified Syrian Dabke music have been working festivals for the best part of a decade now, but the music tonight seems wilder and more frenzied, and the crowd responds in kind.

Clark plays his album Death Peak in full at Simple Things festival in Bristol (Rebecca Cleal)

The night ends at the Lakota in Stokes Croft, where Amsterdam selectors Dekmantel Soundsystem bring Latin disco and a lot of saxophone to this crumbling rave venue in a car park. It looks like the Sportsman might if Spectres are allowed to play there too many times. Juan Atkins, one of the original Detroit techno pioneers, finishes up the night with a slightly chilly set in the mainroom, which turns into a thoroughfare for attendees stumbling through from bars to hidden rooms.

Once, asked how they pick such an exciting line-up, the Simple Things promoters said they just chose artists they like. It’s a testament to their taste and Bristol’s reputation that each year the festival gets a little weirder, but still pulls the big crowds.