Brighten The Corners, previously known as Ipswich Sound City, sees the town centre of Ipswich full of music for a Friday and Saturday across four indoor venues and an ourdoor stage. The first few hours of music is exclusively outside on the Cornhill stage which, with it’s Adnams beer truck and deck chairs, couldn’t have been blessed with better weather than this. Opening duo Esme Emerson provide a nice light way into the day with acoustic music covering death, relationships and more. I’m not usually a big fan of acoustic covers but their BTS choice worked excellently, something a bit different. Continuing the afternoon’s outdoor performances, Bridget ramps the volume up significantly as she appears on stage as a three piece alongside her dad (of Ghosts of Men) and Chris Saunders (of, well, a lot of bands). The trio make as much noise as the previous, bigger, incarnations of the band and Bridget proves herself to be a powerful performer, making full use of the stage and the pit while winning over a gradually increasing crowd. Purple Loft then appear as a trio – I’m not totally sure whether Purple Loft are a band or a collective – their set seems to be multiple solo songs with each member backed up by the others during their songs. They’re entertaining either way and seem to go down well with the crowd of people leaving work and heading over for the evening.

My first indoor set is in St Stephen’s Church, a venue which they’ve only just finished converting for live music with a new stage and incredibly new toilets (underrated at a festival like this!). The stage is christened by Three Years Younger – I’m conflicted about their position on the bill; on the one hand they’re the perfect band to open this stage and bring along a good crowd of people who seem to already be well acquainted. On the other hand they could easily have been much higher up the bill! Incredible songs with some great musicianship and real feel for dynamics, I was really impressed! It’s nice for a band of this style to have both great lyrics and well written music but Three Years Younger are spot on. Definitely a band to keep an eye on – they’re going places!

The next artist on my clashfinder are Snake Eyes, who replace label mates Beach Riot – I would say this could have been announced a bit better, I saw the note at the bottom of an instagram post but a few people I spoke too didn’t and were a bit surprised to see a different band on stage. I hope it was a pleasant surprise for those people! In my view they were a great replacement, a grungy but fresh sounding trio with some excellent hooks and some energetic drumming. Another band I’ll be keeping an eye out for! Sticking on the same side of town I then head to The Baths for Ditz. The Baths is another relatively new venue (new to me!) and it’s another winner – the venue itself is somehow dark, smoky and moody (plus the air conditioning was working well – thank you!) Ditz were incredible, one of the highlights of the weekend – a really unique sound, lots of angular sounding guitars and some great vocals.

I head back over to the Cornhill for a bit (it’s the perfect place to listen to music while enjoying a meal deal, what can I say?). Gabrielle Ornate appears on stage as I return to the square, an artist who’s happy to explain the meanings behind the tracks. She’s backed by arguably the most professional band of the weekend although for a solo performer with a band they’re were a few too many predictable sounding guitar solos for my liking. She’s got a great voice though and writes some incredible songs, a performer I definitely want to hear the recorded works of. Lianne Kaye is up next, the stage headliner – I wrote my opinion of Lianne as an acoustic performer recently and the same holds up as a full band; she’s one of the best songwriters around here and, backed by three high quality musicians (familiar faces from the local scene!), she was always going to sound great. What’s interesting to me is how well she adapts the songs to different contexts – songs sound good whether performed acoustically or in a louder, rockier, band.

Heading next door to The Corn Exchange, one of my all time favourite bands, Pulled Apart By Horses take to the stage. I’ll admit, I’m a little disappointed at the crowd size when they initially take to the stage, especially for the penultimate band of the day, although it does fill a little big as they start. Either way, you get no complaints from the band who launch into it and still seem to give it their all. They’re a very different band to the band I first saw as a teenager both in terms of lineup and in terms of style, the new tracks sound really good; loud, big, reverb soaked, energetic. Ditching the guitar has freed up the frontman to dance around the stage. They end the set with a couple of classics, I Punched a Lion in the Throat and High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive which are as fun as ever.

My choice of headliner sees me make the long walk back over to The Baths. I don’t know a lot about Jehst but I really enjoyed the track I heard on the playlist and decided it was worth a go. The first thing I notice is that his DJ, DJ Jazz T, is one of the most highly skilled DJs I’ve seen at a festival in a long time – the transitions are seemless and his scratching is top class, scratched in vocal hooks lead into new songs; I could watch a set of DJ Jazz T on his own! Jehst is an incredible performer in his own right; he flows at a pace that allows you to appreciate the lyricism and delivery and has impeccable timing which becomes obvious when the set falls to an acapella for a couple of minutes, keeping the audience hooked until the DJ brings the track back in. He’s a great wordsmith and gels perfectly with the tracks behind him. Couldn’t have hoped for a better end to the day.

My Saturday starts a little bit later in the day, catching the last 10 minutes of Queen Dogs, a Bury band who have a real captivating energy to their live performances despite their relatively young age. I then head into the Corn Exchange to see another Bury act, Gaffa Tape Sandy. When they played Sound City on a previous occasion their Smokehouse set was so busy that people were queuing up outside to try and get into the sweaty room. The Corn Exchange gives the crowd a bigger space to play in and they get a decent sized crowd despite being the opening band. They’re clearly a much loved band locally and, if they play a future festival, it’d be great to see them higher in the billing. I’ve raved about them before, they’re an excellent three piece with countless wonderful hooks. If you haven’t seen them already you really need to when you get the chance.

Back outside local band Fishclaw are on The Cornhill. This is the best way to enjoy Fishclaw, in my opinion; beautiful sunshine, good size crowd, deck chairs and good beer courtesy of Adnams. Their experimental take on folk music is always a winner – the songs progress wonderfully and people stop at the side of the area to take them in. I then head back to St Stephen’s Church for deathcrash. I’ve never listened to deathcrash before but they’re my kind of music; slow tempo, dynamic and often loud as hell. The songs they create are interesting and moody – a strong festival discovery. I’m sure they sound good on record but I’m glad I got to discover them this way, amps clipping, absorbing the bass playing.

I stop briefly to catch Fleas on The Cornhill – they’ve got a good crowd and they bring a real energy to the stage. Their screamed vocals bellow out around the town centre while distorted guitars ring out. I was surprised to hear one of the guitarists was filling in for the day – you’d never of known as it worked perfectly. I then head back to The Baths for arguably the band of the weekend, Fat Dogs (the Fleas to Dogs transition is not lost on me). They’d been suggested to me on the Friday, what luck then that they’re incredible. A weird start (they get given an introduction and then a two minute warning starts) but what happens next is the most fun, crazy, thirty minutes of the weekend. Their set is incredibly danceable, laced with saxophone lead lines, guttural vocals and an an energetic performance. Their frontman is in the crowd after a few songs, leading the audience with a cult leader like demeanor. He’s got the crowd sat down one minute, he’s got the crowd dancing the next. Someone compared to them to Mr Bungle afterwards – I see what they’re saying but really it’s a unique sound and a unique delivery. Incredible band – the set of the weekend!

The Corn Exchange headliner is clearly one of the artists that most people wanted to catch – this is the most full the venue has been all weekend. The Go! Team point out early on that usually they bring the sunshine but, today, it’s already here. No one’s complaining. They emit a level of joy that most bands can only aspire too. The band, all incredible musicians who rotate instruments throughout the hour set, always look as though they’re loving every moment, playing music that makes you want to smile as much as it does make you want to dance. Some early songs get a huge reaction (Ladyflash gets quite the cheer while Huddle Formation, complete with a slower, more deliberate, intro, instantly gets me hyped up) while the newer tracks get a lot of love too. Ending with T.O.R.N.A.D.O. the bands energy hits an incredible peak. There’s some confusion about an encore – the compare walks out while guitar feedback is still whirring around leading people to chant for more but, really, their job is done anyway and people stream out the venue with smiles on their faces.

So the first year of Brighten The Corners – how was it? It really showed how town centre festivals can work. The use of new venues (and a smaller one on the fringe) at a festival like this really hammers home what Ipswich has to offer music wise. The strongest point for me is the Cornhill and it’s local performances, although free to all – it gave bands a good crowd and a nice sounding stage to present their music. It feels like there’s a lot of walking but then what festivals don’t have a few treks and the payoff is worth it when you’re offered the diverse lineups of The Baths and The Smokehouse. If there was one consistent negative over the weekend it was the sound in the Corn Exchange which, even next to the sound desk, was muddy. Drums echoes around the room but often overpowered vocals and guitars. It becomes more apparent after watching a band at St Stephens which sounded phenomenal all weekend. That aside the lineup was varied and had a lot going for it and the festival ran very smoothly – for a first year under the new banner it couldn’t have gone much better. I look forward to next year!