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).
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.
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
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
