LIVE: 2000Trees 2026

2000Trees weekend only comes once a year, and nothing as trifling as a heatwave is going to hold us back from the (other) Happiest Place On Earth. Today brings up last-minute line-up changes, a crowd of thousands who never knew they could love Mariachi music, and a whole lot of brand new acts scorching their way across the Cotswolds for day one of Trees.

Words: Kate Allvey // Photos: Penny Bennett and Paul Lyme

Ashaine White

We’re kicking off today with dreamlike chords and driving passion from Marshall Records’ newest signing. From the sophisticated whispers of ‘Lock and Key’ to the grunge rawness of ‘Party’, we love what she’s brining to the table, but its ‘Wasting Away’ – which combines her love of rock with her vocal heroes like Nina Simone – that’s the most impressive with it’s tough delivery, honest delicacy and conversational lyrical twists.

Saint Agnes

Saint Agnes are an emotional firework and “here to have a bad time.” Water fights kick off during the Joan Jett realness of ‘Bloodsuckers’ before ‘Good Boy’ channels our face into what has to be the first big pit of the weekend. They’re not a band to shy away from the tough stuff while still brining supremely danceable tuns at the same time, and we’re left with the gorgeously wrenching distortion from closer ‘The Beast’ before we’ve even been able to process just how cool they are.

The Skinner Brothers

‘XL Bully’ draws the crowds to the viral sensations who are channelling Capdown, The Streets, Soft Play and all our favourite things at once. Sampling ‘Seven Nation Army’ and dropping ‘Nothing On Me’ to their growing hardcore fans, the rude boys are winning us over, one eclectic track at a time.

Mariachi El Bronx

There’s an absolute stampede of “rockers, rollers and English Mariachi enthusiasts” to catch one of the most hotly anticipated bands of the weekend. ‘Forgive and Forget’ is so clear and self-assured, the brass as crisp as the grass beneath our feet, and we’re whisked away by ‘48 Roses’. ‘The Takers’ and ‘Ortega Lights’ assure us that they’ve entered their storytelling era before ‘Revolution Girl’ brings us to a cinematic close. This is going to be the set that a lot of people will look back on as the moment they realised they loved Mariachi El Bronx.

Tigercub

Tigercub’s lightning fuzz draws us in as much as their Placebo-influenced drama on ‘Fall In Fall Out’ and ‘I.W.G.F.U.’s glitching dance wrapped around a core of growling classic rock. Every show seems to mark a step on Tigercub’s journey towards increasing sophistication and world conquest. They deal in piercing daggers of guitar on ‘Swoon’ and slinky, echoing bass solos…in short, just what we need to turn our sunny afternoon into darkest night in the best possible way.

Bad Nerves

Are Bad Nerves the illegitimate descendants of The Ramones? ‘Baby Drummer’ as a set opener seems to prove it. ‘Don’t Stop’ is a perfect mid-afternoon refreshment in the former of biker energy with a tough of boyband sweetness, and the candy-coated riffs of ‘Palace’ hearken back to an easier time before we were all dealing with effects of climate change. ‘Plastic Rebel’ could easily be our new summer anthem, and their new “pretty fucking heavy” new song, ‘Networks’, pushes both us and their amps to the absolute maximum.

The Bronx

The hottest ticket of the day, The Bronx have returned without their mariachi uniforms to “fuck shit up” and make music like a tidal wave. The iconic baseline of ‘Shitty Future’ kicks off an eruption, and ‘The Unholy Hand’ is a kill-or-cure experience to make it through the pit. They accuse us of only making “Two Hundred Trees” worth of noise before the rich grit and flaming wall of guitar that is ‘Heart Attack American’, but we’re putting in several million trees worth of passion for their packed out set.

Delilah Bon

If The Bronx appeal to our punk legacy, then Delilah Bon is looking towards the future. Her provocative vocals roar and skip through ‘Brat’, and somehow she makes ‘I Don’t Listen To You’, her song “about shaking ass and showing skin,” feel like an inflammatory and rage-filled choice, her screams filled with feminist rage. ‘Chop Dicks’, its groove striking a chord with her devoted fanbase, proves she’s either an act to watch out for or one to watch over your shoulder for.

The Dirty Nil

Delightfully broken-down rock music draws crowds of equally broken rockers as a picnic atmosphere descends for The Dirty Nil’s set. It’s been a long day, but the solos on ‘That’s What Heaven Feels Like’ are healing our souls… until we’re brought back to life by the rolling drumbeats of ‘No Weaknesses’, that is. Their easily relatable and very independent energy feels very necessary as they dispense lo-fi life lessons and derelict beauty. Their set gives us a lot to appreciate and even more to inspire us.

Don Broco

“This time last week, we did not know that we were gonna be here,” confesses Don Broco’s vocalist, Rob Damiani. The last-minute swap-in to replace Alkaline Trio works in Don Broco’s favour though. Away from their gimmicks and graphics, they deliver a surprisingly personal and back-to-basics set that puts their music at centre stage. We’re forced to appreciate what they can pull out of the bag at a second’s notice and that makes their set even more impressive and oddly intimate considering the size of the arena.

‘Gumshield’ was always going to bring a riot and there’s never a set where ‘Come Out To LA’ doesn’t sweep us away, but tonight’s all about their latest record, ‘Nightmare Tripping’. ‘Cellophane’ makes for a colossal opener, and the dark flow of ‘Euphoria’ lights up the night sky after ‘Disappear’ somehow hits each one of us personally. ‘Hype Man’ closes us out, but the sight of thousands whipping their shirts in a circle for ’T-Shirt Song’ brings the kind of Trees magic that we’ve been longing for.