And thus we come to the final day of the music festival. The trains were different times, as expected, but this did mean I missed several of the opening acts, but the weather was beautiful (at least in Bingley, Bradford not so much), the grounds re-strawed and the drinks flowing freely.
It was a much quieter atmosphere for the most of Sunday morning with the earlier acts not getting as big a crowd as on Saturday, which was a shame for some of them who were corking. I imagine there were many hangovers being nursed that lunchtime.
Before I move onto my words about each of the acts I want to elaborate on what I said in my previous post. After being highly critical of the previous day’s performance artists for interrupting one of the acts inappropriately, today’s were much better, a pair of grannies, or should I say people dressed as grannies, riding motorised shopping trollies playing out modern dance music and pretending to grind on spectators, whilst also doing some synchronised dancing. It sounds weird written down and, trust me, it was weird watching it but it worked and they were the best artists of the three days, from both set-up to concept and though it is weird the idea of people getting paid for doing this, the crowd loved them. They’re called ‘Granny Turismo’ and can be found at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Granny-Turismo/293834726359. Very funny and even worth missing most of one act to watch.
Main Stage
Marsicans + L Marshall
Sorry, I missed you both!
Citizens!
Citizens! delivered some catchy, indie tracks with some nice strong bass and synth effects. Their tracks sounded great even if the keyboard riffs were a little repetitive at times but kept the crowd up to and including their final hit ‘Trademarked Long Song’. (5.5/10)
Clement Marfo and the Frontline
This was the first act of the day that I really wanted to see having enjoyed their previous singles. They gave a very energetic performance and it was a shame not that many people were up at the front to see them. They had the songs that got everyone going, from their three singles to other tracks and the lead singer certainly got the crowd going with his enthusiasm and love for the music. He got down into the crowd on final song ‘Mayhem’ which was really cool even if it gave security a few nerves, and their sound was clear and the mix on top form for this act. Even with the smaller numbers involved there was still a mosh pit. It was certainly one of the most well-rounded performances of the night and the only time they really slipped up in their set packed with singable, bounce-able hits was when he referred to the festival as Bangley. (8/10)
Katzenjammer
I didn’t see them on the main stage, but caught them on the other later – see below.
Hard-Fi
Another act that I really wanted to see, Hard-Fi perhaps didn’t quite match up to the energy of similar band ‘The Pigeon Detectives’ and their mix was much more muffled compared to the clear one that Clement Marfo had, but the lead singer with his look of Hugo Weaving from the Matrix delivered a cracking set including hit ‘Cash Machine’, cleverly mixed in with some Aloe Blacc “I Need A Dollar” and Simply Red “Money’s Too Tight (Too Mention)” instead of the ‘hole in my pocket’ bit, and the energetic ‘Suburban Knights’, which was preceded by a spot-on acoustic cover of Pet Shop Boy’s ‘Suburbia’. Though the set was peppered with tracks I wasn’t familiar with – including first album title track ‘Stars of CCTV’ – they were all delivered with great gusto so it didn’t matter, but big hits like ‘Hard To Beat’ and set closer ‘Living For The Weekend’ delivered the goods. The crowd weren’t perhaps as into this act as others, but it was a good set from the London lads and the only group to whip out a mouth-powered keyboard. No ‘I Shall Overcome’ though. (7/10)
Maverick Sabre
Another artist I’ve enjoyed the singles of, ‘Maverick Sabre’ perhaps wasn’t the live act I was expecting. Very soulful and talented with his backing singer Chantelle, he didn’t really grab me until he kicked up the pace with his singles ‘No One’ and ‘I Used To Have It All’. The crowd, though, loved it, but I felt the first half of his set was a little bit samey for my liking. But after about half way through he seemed to gain his footing and got the crowd involved and some speedier versions of his songs came across well. (6/10)
White Lies
Another band I wanted to see, ‘White Lies’ started off on a potentially bad foot by starting with two of their most famous songs, ‘Farewell to the Fairground’ and ‘To Lose My Life’ which were delivered brilliantly, the latter weirdly, but effectively, slowed down in the chorus. Like ‘James’ before them, starting off with the only songs you know is a dangerous move but they pulled it off to a degree and, though the band with their songs about death could never be called uptempo, they kept the crowd and though they weren’t as good as I’d hoped, other big single ‘Death’ was excellent though, it was still an enjoyable set and well brought to the festival crowd and the band was tight, and sounded great. (6.5/10)
Nero
Onto the final headliner and, though I dabble in this sort of music, this was a little bit too clubby for my liking. With a set almost rivalling that of last year’s ‘Chase and Status’, with a huge DJ booth and projected images on the screen as before, and some live singing from a singer, it didn’t grab me as much as C&S and quickly got quite repetitive. A lot of the crowd began dissipating at this stage just leaving the younger end in the mosh pit. For fans of the genre it was great but as an end to the festival it was a bit of a let-down to my tastes, but it was another box ticked for a festival that has to please a lot of musical tastes. (5/10)
Raise the Roof Stage
Nico Cara
Didn’t see – sorry!
Me and My Friends
Sounding like the soundtrack to Nandos, this was some well put together music with some neat strong clarinet, drums and base. Definitely the soundtrack to the sun and a great set to hear arriving at the festival. (6/10)
Coco and the Butterfields
Didn’t play.
Juan Zelada
The first act on the stage that I wanted to see and he didn’t disappoint with some great summery tunes including the electrifying ‘Breakfast In Spitalfields’. Very Paul Simon in his delivery, the summery tunes were well delivered by the live band, including ‘What Do I Know’ and ‘The Blues Remain’ which sounded as good as the live version but with much more energy from the trumpet, guitar, drums and two keyboards. Zelada also threw in a nifty cover of Muse’s ‘Hysteria’ as the penultimate track which was a cracking interpretation. (7.5/10)
Ellen and the Escapades
Sorry, missed them!
Yes Sir Boss
Sorry, missed them!
Katzenjammer
A very catchy East European group with an eccentric stage presence and some catchy on-stage tunes. An acquired taste though and not sure why they got two bites of the cherry, but fun enough summer tunes. (6/10)
The Idiot Bastard Band
A band including Ade Edmondson, Roland Rivron and Phill Jupitus was always going to be special and though they didn’t match the energy of Saturday night’s headliners their mix of comical songs – including an Ian Jury and a John Hegley number – were well received but they never really went beyond calm, casual delivery so didn’t really set the crowd alight. Some great material, delivered with a smile, with some genuinely funny lyrics but not the energetic headliner it could have been. (6.5/10)
Musicians Centre Stage
Den Miller + Lunar Coup
Sorry, missed you both!
Joseph Tilston
Tilston brought some enjoyable, laid-back music to the stage with some neat added violin. I only got to hear a smattering of his set but enjoyed what I heard. (6/10)
Tom Savage and the Hash Mafia
The Hash Mafia delivered some smooth guitar-based indie tracks with some attitude. Clear, well put together tracks, they also threw in a great cover of ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ from Disney’s ‘The Jungle Book’ which really captured the sunshine. (6.5/10)
It was also at this point I noticed that someone had painted a pentagram on the kid’s den building thing, to which someone had added a peace sign on top. I don’t know whether that was more amusing of the singing of ‘Killing In The Name Of’ next to it the previous day. Or the man with two ciders who got chased by a clearly thirsty wasp all the way from the stage down the hill and back again. I’m not sure.
Foxes Faux
‘Foxes Faux’ were a great, uptempo band specialising in barn-dance type music. There were a few people up to dance but more should have been to their fast-paced, catchy, great sounds. (6.5/10)
The Simon Pollard Band
Delivering some fiddle-based tunes, I only caught the end of the set but what I heard was great from a clearly party-based band. (6/10)
Eskimo Fandango
Again I didn’t get to hear a lot of them but their rock tunes were good to hear but I didn’t get a big enough taste for them to stand out. (5/10)
The Coopers
Sorry, missed you!
In Summary
Overall Sunday night was a great range of artists. I didn’t get to see as many acts on this day as I would have liked, mainly down to tiredness and wanting to be in one place for a bit, but also as there were several artists I wanted to hear all the sets of. The headliners weren’t as good as the previous nights but the acts lower down the rank were great.
Overall
Well that brings my mammoth three-part review to an end for another year. Though I don’t think the headliners were as strong as in previous years – it is all down to taste though, of course – and I feel some of the lower down artists could have been higher up.
The expansion to three stages was, overall, a great idea and though it did mean I missed a few bands that I would have liked to have heard more of, it did allow me to see a wider range of artists and the ‘Raise The Roof’ stage in particular was a joy.
Any qualms, though, can be set aside the bargain £45 price for 61 bands which, including a chance for smaller bands to get a crowd, was great. Throwing in a fantastic kids area, a wider selection of non-burger-based-food and some great weather, and it’s difficult not to have enjoyed the three day festival. Did making Friday paid-for and expanding to three stages pay off for the festival? Yes, it did. Another great year and line-up and roll on 2013!
(I saw at least some of 47 acts, missing 13, 1 didn’t play)
Highlights
Main Stage: Driving Lolita, Stooshe, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Space, The Pigeon Detectives, Clement Marfo and the Frontline, Hard-Fi, White Lies
Raise The Roof Stage: Sadie and the Hotheads, Skinny Lister, Miles and Erica, The Milk, Lilygreen and Maguire, The Lancashire Hotpots, Juan Zelada
Musicians Centre Stage: Ballyhoo Eventide, Control Is Dead, Dan Audio, Tom Savage and the Hash Mafia, Foxes Faux
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