Day two in the Forbidden Fruit field:

The opening salvo of Forbidden Fruit gave us the chance to compare and contrast Irish hip-hop with international hip-hop and Grime acts, and Ireland came out on top – in fact it was surprising to see how much more stage craft and presence Irish hip-hop acts had for the most part in comparison to these “known acts”. Day two continued in the same vein with Irish acts in the ascendance.

Soule

The hip-hop songstress may have over 860,000 streams on Spotify to her name, but she was starting from 0 making her festival debut at Forbidden Fruit, informing the crowd that she’d never been to a festival before. The Love No More singer was clearly nervous at the unusual surroundings, but her witty personality quickly got the crowd on her side and as the nerves subsided Soule got into her stride, delivering quality hip-hop pop tunes in the form of Heartbreaker and Good Life. There’s clearly a lot of development required here to ensure that Soule maintains a sufficient standard across an entire set, but as festival debuts go you could do a lot worse.

Ships

Irish duo Ships’ latest release, ‘Precession’, has been much lauded by critics, but today’s performance was hit and miss; marred by a procession of errors, with errant vocals and guitar parts from Sorca McGrath the norm far too often throughout.  However, Simon Cullen delivered some impressive basslines and synth parts, and when Ships clicked onstage it was easy to see why they‘ve piqued the interest of so many critics. Maybe it was just a bad day at the office, but from this performance Ships need to put a lot of work in if they are to mix it with bigger Irish acts going forwards.

Mura Masa

Over on the main stage Mura Masa made the most of the summery vibes, with an up-tempo performance of hits such as Lovesick and What If I Go. The Channel Islander mixes live drums with processed beats, samples, and live keys. The set list, which saw singers come and go, kept the set fresh and interesting throughout, but his work with Dublin-raised Bonzai was the highlight, more than proving that she’s ready for her own main stage appearances. That’s not to say she overshadowed Mura Masa himself – there’s enough here to suggest he’ll have a long career making hits for himself and others.

Bad Bones

Sal Stapleton’s gender fluid pop baby Bad Bones continues to impress, getting better and better each time we see her.  One of the things that sets Bad Bones apart from other solo electro projects is her striking visual persona, both onstage and throughout her videos, which instantaneously sets her apart from being just another person standing behind a bank of machines creating music. She also utilises dancers to interpret her music, all of which combines to stimulate the senses in a much more human way than an over-the-top light show ever could. Musically, Bad Bones’ set is equally brave, dispensing with best known track Beg in the opening number and subsequently taking the audience on a journey through the unknown. Luckily for Bad Bones it’s a thrilling ride.

The Innocent Bystander

The clang of an electric guitar seemed to draw in the crowd like a safety blanket as The Innocent Bystander took to the stage. Though a 5-piece live, The Innocent Bystander is effectively the moniker of veteran songwriter/producer Mark Healy, whose credits include composing the score for Irvine Welsh’s Nuts (2008). Joined by Daniel Hoff on vocals, Healy has stage presence in abundance – imagine a 21 year old cross between Jarvis Cocker and Fergal Sharkey with added falsetto. The Innocent Bystanders output takes its cues from the likes of New Order and LCD Soundsystem, and singles Waster and Electrocute are well received. Things go slightly awry when Healy encourages a stage invasion that has security slightly flummoxed, with the band eventually asking people to get off of the stage. At times Healy’s exuberance comes at the cost of his vocal delivery – if he can sort that out he’ll be an interesting prospect for the future.

Aphex Twin

Aphex Twin’s brand of intense acid house electro is as divisive as his birth issue. Is he Irish? Is he not? Who gives a fuck, does it matter when you’ve got tracks like Windowlicker in your bag.

Aphex Twin’s stage setup was in terms of production value – the undoubted highlight of Forbidden Fruit 2017. 13 giant screens hung from the stage pumping out Aphex Twin’s trademark visuals, with the accompanying lightshow insuring the production crew and light techs earned their wages. You could even go so far as to say that they headlined the festival, as Aphex Twin was invisible to most of the crowd perched behind one of the screens.

Of course Aphex Twin dispensing his art to a crowd beside the Irish Museum of Modern Art was the perfect setting. Where better to push boundaries sonically and/or visually in Ireland? Where better to unleash the unorthodox techno feast of often difficult soundscapes which challenge the perceptions of what music is?

Twink, Dustin the Turkey and Ryan Tubridy all got Aphex twin makeovers while the audience got their minds rewired by the overpowering visual and sonic stimulus. Nevertheless it’s an experience that will have divided opinion. For some it will have been a life-affirming experience for others a bewildering screech of noise. But everyone would agree it was worth the time to see Irish celebrities mocked and Leo Varadkar openly get his comeuppance.