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Kendal Calling Festival - 2/3 August 2014

Despite the weather my first ever trip to Kendal Calling proved to a highly enjoyable experience and well worth the trip down the road from Stirling. From the off, I was impressed with the organisation, friendliness and general helpfulness of those working at Kendal Calling (KC). This was evident from the car parking attendants right through to the security who were friendly but firm (when they needed to be). Indeed, the festival itself had a really nice spacious and ‘friendly feel’ to it and over the weekend I met and chatted to a number of people who raved about previous KCs and commented they loved the fact the festival was not too big (I believe the festival currently has a capacity of 25,000).
Arriving on the Saturday, getting to site, pitching my tent and then getting into the live site took slightly longer than I anticipated and as a result missed Newton Faulkner who I had been keen to see (although I was lucky enough to bump into him later on) and also Jonny Borrell and Zazou. Fortunately, Jonny was also on the bill with his other band Razorlight who played the main stage. For me, catching Razorlight live was a first and whilst I am not a die-hard fan I do have each of their albums and really enjoyed hearing ‘In The Morning’, ‘Golden Touch’, ‘Before I Fall To Pieces’, ‘Somewhere Else’ and the big crowd pleaser the epic ‘America’. I thought Razorlight sounded terrific with Jonny’s vocal living up to my expectation (does anyone else hear the similarity to Bob Geldof) and also looked pretty cool as he left the festival in his vintage Merc following the Razorlight set.

Next up for me was one of the bands I was really keen to see the Happy Mondays. As a teenager in the 80s/90s the Madchester scene was one I embraced at the time and whilst I was always a ‘Roses man’ I also enjoyed the Inspiral Carpets, Mondays, Northside and many of the other acts that emerged at the time (in particular The Charlatans).  The infamous Bez came out first and introduced the band to rapturous applause as the beats to one of my favourite Mondays tunes ‘Loose Fit’ kicked in. Being a festival set, I was never going to hear all the tunes I would have liked however the set did a great job in pleasing the numerous Mondays fans who were present in the crowd and included many of the favourites including ‘Kinky Afro’, ‘Rave On’, ‘Clap Your Hands’, ‘Bob’s Yer Uncle’, and ’24 Hour Party People’. Backed by Rowetta, lead singer Sean Ryder appeared to be happy with Bez leading the way but sounded the business all the same as he clutched his Powerade. For me, the highlights were ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Step On’ and the fantastic ‘Wrote For Luck’.

Following the Mondays set, I had a walk round the site and visited the Calling Out stage and also made a visit to Tim Peaks. For those not in the know Tim Peaks is a log cabin come café selling coffee and Tim Burgess (Charlatans front-man, record label owner come entrepreneur) inspired merchandise as well as providing live music and alterative acts such as magicians and escape artists. Liking (and needing) coffee as I do this would not be my last visit to Tim Peaks over the weekend.

After some refreshments, I made my way to the Glow Tent for the pumping set by Too Many DJs. Granted, this is not my normal type of thing but I enjoyed the atmosphere and bouncing set all the same with the re-occuring ‘Whoomp There It Is’ integrated every now and again. Needing to re-charge my phone I left the Glow Tent but could not resist the energy coming out of the Calling Out tent where the fabulous Augustines were delighting a packed crowd. Despite catching only their last three songs, I was still really impressed and as the Augustines entered the crowd still playing during their finale the atmosphere was something else. One festival goer named Bec informed me the band joining the crowd towards the end of their set is almost the norm and after hearing these few songs I could appreciate her raving about the Augustines for the next few minutes.
Disappointingly after only a few hours’ kip in my tent I awoke relatively early on the Sunday morning to find the rain had not left. However, this did not dampen my spirits as I had a plan of action for the day ahead including Simon ‘Foxy’ Fowler and Oscar Harrison from Ocean Colour Scene, the terrific Gramotones, Tim Burgess and Miles Kane (who I had yet to see live) all awaiting with other spontaneous acts who I would discover as the day unfolded.

First on the agenda was some food and with numerous stalls to choose from breakfast was a treat. As a huge OCS fan it wouldn’t have mattered to me what Simon and Oscar played as I would have enjoyed anything (well almost). For die-hards it was great to hear ‘Magic Carpet Days’, ‘It’s My Shadow’ and ‘Weekend’ from the last OCS album Painting. Fan favourites were aplenty with ‘Better Day’, ‘The Circle’, ‘Travellers Tune’ and ‘Robin Hood’ all sounding good despite the rain and Simon disclosing that he was not feeling very well and struggling a bit. In particular I loved ‘The Circle’ with Simon throwing in some alternative lyrics towards the end from ‘This Is How it Feels’ by the Inspiral Carpets. Likewise ‘Robin Hood’ included some lyrics from ‘Live Forever’ by Oasis. With so much violence and killing of innocent people and in particular children going on across the world presently the lyrics of ‘Profit In Peace’ really hit home and as the rain battered my cheeks I could not help but reflect on some of those images from Gaza in the previous week. The set closed with ‘The Day We Caught The Train’ as I ran for some cover towards the Calling Out tent.

With rain an almost constant the Calling Out tent became something of a dry-out area for me over the weekend and over the course I caught some decent acts in there including Breton, Life, Woman’s Hour and Jess Glynne. Glynne in particular impressed me with her soulful voice and as she belted out the number one smash ‘Rather Be’ the tent erupted.
Next up at the main stage was the colourful Californian outfit Reel Big Fish led by Aaron Barrett. Having heard of Reel Big Fish but not having heard their material before I was instantly entertained with the high energy ska-punk sound and opening tracks ‘Sell-out’ and ‘Beer’. Charismatic and non-stop from the opening chord Reel Big fish also impressed with their take on Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl’.
Following Reel Big Fish, I made my way to the Houseparty tent to see the Gramotones. Gramotones are a band I discovered for the first time last year when they supported Steve Cradock on his Travel Wild Travel Free tour. Hearing them that night I was instantly hooked and have been following them since. If truth be told when I heard Gramotones were playing Kendal Calling, I just knew I had to be here! Clearly word of Gramotones is spreading as the tent was rammed as Gramotones belted into their infectious tunes including ‘M62’, ‘Marjorie’, forthcoming single ‘Corporate Whipping Boy’ before raising the roof off the Houseparty tent with show-stoppers ‘Soldier’s Kiss’ and ‘Old Man’. The only downside for me was the set length being restricted due this being a festival appearance however the Gramotones delighted the rammed crowd coming back on for ‘Little River’ despite shouts from at least one member of the crowd for the reflective ‘Daltry Street’.
Next up I headed over to the Chai Wallah tent and took in a rather usual act that I never quite got the name of before heading for another visit to Tim Peaks and then onto the scenic Woodlands tent. Lumberjack Cowboy Heartbreak Trucking Co who I had never heard of before were blasting out their songs on the stage when I arrived and the energy and passion as they delivered a song called ‘Pony’ suggested they were playing like their life depended on it. Needless to say I hung out for most of the set. Later on I was to return to the stage for another interesting group by the name of Balthazar. Hailing from Belgium Balthazar was another artist I had not heard of but who once again impressed highlighting the quality of acts on all of the stages across the Kendal Calling site.
Back at the Main stage I did catch a bit of Example although it was an earlier artist that I was feeling excited about seeing and hearing live in the form of the much talked about Miles Kane. Kane is an artist I have enjoyed listening to casually over the last couple of years and having heard many people rave about his live performances I was keen to see and hear the man for myself. In the lead-up to Miles taking the stage you could feel the energy in the air and from the moment Miles and his band took to the stage I was literally blown away by the stage persona of the main man. Dressed in a wicked shirt I would have been proud of in my own collection, Miles commanded his crowd with a natural swagger and presence that I have only witnessed a few times before. Tracks such as ‘Inhaler’ and ‘Counting Down The Days’ sounded much more powerful live and the confidence and delivery by Miles and his band ensured I left raving about the performance and wanting more!
My final stop would have been the Tim Burgess DJ set however that was not to be as Mr Burgess was delayed flying back from the Umbria festival in Italy and circumstances dictated that I needed to leave a bit before Tim did arrive.  

Kendal Calling…wow! What a great friendly festival and only a short distance from my hometown Stirling.  Next year will be the 10th year anniversary of Kendal Calling and if you are looking for a 2015 festival experience I would suggest it is one worth checking out!

More photos from Kendal Calling can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazzamills/sets  

Words: Bazza Mills
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