Supersonic Festival 2024 – Sunday

Sunday, day three of Supersonic Festival was always meant to be chill, but Digbeth is just one of those places where noise is everywhere. In other words, my kind of ‘hood. But this did not mean that Supersonic wouldn’t have great things to offer – far from it – and here are my thoughts about the artists I could see.

The first act of the day on my radar was the North Carolina native Mary Lattimore at XOYO. As previously mentioned, I came for the peace and quiet but stayed for the biggest harp I have ever seen in my three-and-a-half decades on this Earth. The whole set was a beautifully suspended moment in time where nothing really mattered, and everything felt like a dream. I must admit that seeing Ms Lattimore genuinely happy to be there was also great to witness.

Every now and then, she would tell us stories about how her pieces came to life and what inspired them, including the one time she met Big Bird on the set of Sesame Street when she was a kid or that one time when Scott Kelly (nope, not that one, she meant the famous astronaut) liked the piece she composed for him after he went back to Earth. Mary Lattimore gave us an incredible and wholesome set, she definitely gained a new fan. Also, Goodbye, Hotel Arkada is one hell of a record I cannot wait to own on vinyl. An absolute hidden gem which deserves so much love.

In between sets, my friends and I hung out at the rooftop of XOYO, sipping cocktails (or in my case, an ice-cold coke with lime) and enjoying the various DJ sets and interval acts, including the all-female Morris Dancing troupe, Boss Morris (which got me thinking ‘who’s Morris?’ a few times until I realised much later on that it is the dance that is called ‘morris’, oh the things we learn) and a DJ set by actress-activist-social campaigner Maxine Peake… that I did not see because I went downstairs to see Matana Roberts instead.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Matana Roberts from friends who previously attended the festival and even if I have a very hard time getting into jazz thanks to an ex who used to play in big bands in Brighton (he still does, and he also knows Matana Roberts’ work), I enjoyed this set mixing spoken words, saxophone riffs and soothing chants, which they made the audience sing in unison.

I particularly enjoyed their warmth and generosity, about how their political beliefs are important to them, just like their identity as a Black non-binary neurodivergent artist. This is the indie DIY shit I love to see and there’s no better place than Supersonic and Birmingham to see this, nut it’s an acquired taste for sure.

But the main event for me was ØXN at the Institute. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, the name of Lankum certainly will as it is the side project of Lankum’s vocalist, Radie Peat. Accompanied by Percolator’s rhythm section – Eleanor Myler on drums, John ‘Spud’ Murphy on bass and Katie Kim on organ. A beautiful and haunting set, the type of dark folk that doesn’t delve too much into the morbid side of things. There are not enough words in the English thesaurus to describe what was happening, but if I go with the rest of the audience, a lot of flies were swallowed by inadvertence because everyone’s jaws were on the floor. Needless to say, their confirmed presence at Roadburn next year is going to be the talk of the Dutch town in 2025 and with that, I made my way back to my B&B as I needed to wake up very early for going back to Brighton.

My final thoughts of this festival: HOLY SHITSNACKS CAN I COME BACK NEXT YEAR?!! But seriously, the whole team put their hearts and souls into making Birmingham the coolest place on Earth, curating the best programme with the most experimental alternative acts from all over the world. Supersonic is also a wonderful place where community is more than a word, I mean, there were so many off-festival activities to choose from: zine-making, doom yoga sessions, upcycling workshops, make-your-own-noise box (I am definitely signing up for this next year if they do it again). And of course, allowing collectives like Decolonise Fest and Outlands to showcase their talents and make a lot of joyous noise.

I could not have asked for a better time to fall in love with Birmingham, with the Brummies and with Digbeth. It was an honour to represent The Sleeping Shaman for a sweet summer weekend and I hope my humble thoughts and photos can do justice to the incredible festival that Supersonic is. Let’s do it again, same time next year?

Many thanks to Lauren and Rosie at Rarely Unable for making it happen, a huge shout-out to all the fellow toggers who seemed to have the times of their lives, and to everybody who work very hard to make Supersonic happen year after year.

Matana Roberts

Mary Lattimore

Words & Photos by: Nessie Spencer