Live Review: Y Not Festival 2024 (Friday)
Friday
2024 was the first time I had ever attended Y Not Festival and being a long term attendee of both gigs and festivals, I feel sad that I have missed out on this gem for so long. From the second I set my eyes on the site in the picturesque countryside of Debyshire, I fell in love, a love affair which ran for four days. The vibe, the people and the music was outstanding.
We used the Thursday as a warm up day to get a feel for the place and learn the layout before properly getting stuck in on the Friday. The layout is a simple plan that works really well, the main stage at the bottom of the hill giving a fair view to everybody where ever they choose to stand. The rest of the stages are in tents and it’s basically a giant circle of stages, bars, food vendors and toilets.
Now for the bands…
Spangled
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
Spangled, on the main stage were the first band we caught, and wow what a way to start. The whole band were a bunch of lunatics, especially frontman Ben Johnson who’s timing was also impeccable with his points to instruments in perfect sync. By far the best dance moves of the weekend too, swimming across the stage, spinning around and even giving the professional camera man some hip thrusts during tracks like ‘CHARLIE HILLS‘ and ‘Horizon’s Glance‘, the crowd was captivated and mezmorised.
The drummer looked well out of place in his 1998-1999 Man City shirt with the rest of the band looking like they had just crashed a BMX into Oxfam.
Finishing the set by saying, “We’ve been Spangled… You’ve been spangled” at the end of the closing track ‘Little Tom‘, it’s easy to see why their fan base it growing at a rapid rate.
Balancing Act
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
Not knowing alot about Balancing Act before hand, they had become one of my most listened to bands in the run up to the festival. I was going into this blind performance wise though. The frontman Kai Roberts definitely smashes the gym in, he looked like he was gonna snap in his guitar in half during opening track ‘Before I Shoot‘. For the rest of the set, he almost turned into Mick Jagger with his turkey struts and huge dance moves.
They describe themselves “Dark, sexy and sick” and with the set combining ‘Laylow‘, ‘She Plays The Theremin‘ and ‘All Yours‘ they certainly hit their own brief there.
Black Honey
Photo by – Georgina Hurdsfield – Tiny Raindrop Photography
Back on the main stage at 4pm were Black Honey. These are a band I’ve listened to for a long time but never caught live, I was eager to catch them and they didn’t disappoint. Issy Bee Phillips is an amazing frontlady, mesmerising, angry, beautiful and fragile. Backed by a cool as fuck band, the cinematic songs packed even more of a punch live, you could feel every bit of emotion that was being radiated from the stage. ‘I Like The Way You Die‘ was spitting with venom whilst in contrast, ‘Beaches‘ was played in a more fun way and then ‘Out Of My Mind‘ showed the vulnerability side.
A rollarcoaster of a set in the afternoon sunshine.
The Outcharms
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
These cheeky Yorkshire lads are from Doncaster, unfortunately… Haha, I had to say that being from Grimsby. Despite that hindrance, these lads have quickly turned into one of my favourite bands, i’m a massive fan of cheeky lyrics and The Outcharms are poetically full of Wit, optimism, charm and a bit of heartbreak.
Opening with ‘Big Sky‘ it was clear to see from the off that the Hog & Barrel tent was too small for them with people having to peek in from the outside. No doubt next time they are there, one of the bigger stages awaits.
Finishing with two big hitters ‘Mr Rags to Riches‘ and ‘(Who’s Making You) Smile?‘ You could see on the stage that the band were enjoying the set as much as the crowd were.
The frontman Curtis Cooper looks a geezer but his vocals are pretty gentle, this a bit mind bending, like, how is that voice coming out of somebody looking like that, but it works so well.
I’m a big fan of the grassroots scene and these lads are high up on my list of bands that I will now be following, next stop for me will be at the iconic Leadmill in Sheffield, on 27st September.
Soft Play
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
Soft Play, more like soft cunts, who were formally known as Slaves, were on the main stage, in the crowd and even on top of the crowd at one point.
It was an angry, high octane set which was mainly filled with newer tunes from their latest album ‘Heavy Jelly‘. Opening with ‘Punk’s Dead‘, it was never going to be a friendly moshpit kind of gig. ‘Fuck The Hi-Hat‘ saw both Issac and Laurie come into the crowd, with Laurie getting picked up by the crowd and surfing off while playing guitar. ‘Act Violently‘ came next and kept the energy raw.
There was space for a beather though, when the band played their mandolin and emotionally driven tune ‘Everything and Nothing‘. This is an ode to Issac’s friend Bailey, you feel his hurt as he shouts every line over the beautiful music. There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd or on the stage during this tune, by far one of my single musical highlights of the weekend, it’s just so pure, so to witness it live felt like an honour.
The Lottery Winners
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
It was time for a clash as The Lottery Winners overlapped with both The Kooks and Snow Patrol, The Quarry tent was absolutely heaving for the band and they poked fun at the clash by saying “Hello, we are The Kooks” when they entered the stage starting with a cover of ‘Naive‘ by The Kooks before bursting into ‘Worry‘.
‘Letter To Myself‘ is always a big moment in the set and it didn’t disapoint, the narative is beautiful and the chorus is sang by Frank Turner on the record but live they more than pull it off without him, this is a moment when you could see the looks of wow on people’s faces who have never seen the band before.
By the time they came to ‘You’re Not Alone‘, Snow Patrol were on stage so they started with a cover of ‘Chasing Cars‘, this was started with the line, “We don’t need, Snow Patrol, anymoree” and Thom shouting, “We can do it ourself“.
Thom Rylance is full of banter and runs around the stage blurting random sentences out, leaving the crowd in stitches, I can only descibe him like a kid on Christmas morning who is finally aloud to see what Santa got him or even a puppy when you shout, “Walkies.”
The band ended with the bouncy ‘Burning House‘ and gave bass player Katie Lloyd the centre stage, this got the tent absolutely bouncing. When they finished, it was hard to see how Jake Bugg could follow after such an electric set.
Jake Bugg
Photo by – Jake Haseldine
Jake Bugg played a crowd pleasing set of greatest hits, starting with ‘Simple as This‘, it was a tender and a beautiful opener, a big contrast from The Lottery Winners but this is how Jake Bugg would follow, by, well… Just being Jake Bugg.
His vocals are strange and kind of hypnotic, he holds you on every word and with no gimmicks, that is pretty astonishing to be able to hold the crowd so captive in that way is an amazing talent. Following with big hitters ‘Trouble Town‘, ‘Slumville Sunrise‘ and ‘Seen It All‘ these got the crowd in full swing.
Jake played two new tunes from his yet to be released sixth album ‘A Modern Day Distraction’, these were ‘Zombieland‘ and ‘All Kinds of People‘. Despite being new tunes, these are crafted in a similar way to his earlier stuff so they are perfect additions into the set without breaking stride.
‘Lightning Bolt‘ and ‘Two Fingers‘ straight after each other were Jake’s biggest flex though of the night though. The crowd were a bit more boisterous then anybody had anticipated, with Jake having to stop a couple of times due to pyros being set off which look like it had actually nearly set the tent on fire at one point and somebody also decided to climb up the rigging.
Bugg gave the crowd a chance to dance by finishing with ‘All I Need‘, leaving the crowd carrying on the song after Jake had left the stage.
It was a mixed set that showcased what Jake Bugg is all about, it showed every side of him musically. I couldn’t help but feel though, that him and The Lottery Winners should have been swapped, finishing on The Lottery Winners vibe would have been the perfect curtain closer.
Read the saturday review here: https://theindiemasterplan.co.uk/live-review-y-not-festival-2024-saturday
I don’t charge any publishing fees.
If you would like to buy us a pint, then kindly donate using the link.
Thank You.
https://paypal.me/theindiemasterplan
