Live Review: Y Not Festival 2024 (Saturday)
Saturday
Saturday morning consisted of trying to clear a fuzzy head with some coffee from the camp site trailer and a footlong breakfast baguette, but… Y Not Festival had a secret hangover cure weapon in their armoury, in the shape of Mr Motivator.
Mr Motivator
Photo by – Bethan Miller – bethanmiller.co
Mr Motivator got a big turn out for his legendary morning work out. He was not only getting everybody physically resheshed for the day, but also mentally with some inspirational quotes, it was also hard not to smile and laugh so that’s also a good mental health work out too. There was a couple of people in the crowd in full spandex and Mr Motivtor invited one onto the stage to assist with the workout. It was also fancy dress day too, so it was surreal to see people dress up as all sorts, anything starting with the letters ‘Y’ ‘N’ ‘O’ ‘T’ doing the session.
The Lilacs
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
The Lilacs were the first band we caught on the saturday, these were playing early doors at 12 noon in the third largest tent, The Giant Squid.
Despite it being early, the band filled the tent and it was infact the most full that I saw that tent all weekend, which is pretty impressive and shows the impact these lads are having on the scene at the minute, it must have secured a space on a bigger stage next time they perform there.
The Lilacs opened with ‘Sally‘ with the whole band looking pretty impressed by the turn out too. The only problem with loads of people in a tent is the heat, frontman Ollie Anglesea commented on this and even cracked open a Red Stripe asking if it was too early? For the crowd to respond by holding their drinks in the air.
The band are on the cusp of something brilliant at the minute and with a record deal now secured with Scruff of the Neck, it’s a very exciting time for both the band and the fans.
A new song called ‘You’re Not That Daft‘ was played and this sounds like it could be a cracker when released, cheeky and witty lyrics are always a winner.
Ollie always dedicates ‘Grace‘ to people in the crowd called Grace. Apparently, there were three girls who may or may not of actually been called Grace, but the song was dedicated to them anyway with Ollie saying, three is the most he has had. Finishing with ‘Vicarage Road‘, you could feel the anticipation of what is to come from the band next.
This was my third time seeing The Lilacs this year alone, each time they have looked and sounded bigger than the time before. I can’t wait for their biggest gig to date at o2 Ritz in Manchester, they will take the roof off that iconic building on 1st November.
The Publics
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
Another grassroots band who gathered a big early crowd was The Publics in The Quarry, which is the second biggest stage.
The songs have deep and dark subjects but they created a harmonic atmosphere. ‘Red Flag Verified‘ and ‘Gaslighter‘ were a couple of darker tunes, the dueling vocals were delivered with absolutely perfect timing.
The band plugged their unreleased debut EP by playing ‘D. B. Cooper‘.
At one point they asked the crowd to scream like they were watching their favourite band to entice people walking by in, even though tent was almost full to capacity.
The Publics finished with ‘Karen’s Song’, they got everybody split and to make a circle and also to get down to their knees for one last chaotic moshpit.
The Clause
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
The Clause brought the party to the main stage, these again are another band who are on the edge of something special. It was great to see them on a big stage, they looked so natural, bass player Johnny Fyffe especially enjoying all of the extra space by constantly jumping on and off drummer Niall Fennell’s platform.
Playing infectious tunes like ‘Time of Our Lives‘ ‘Fake It‘ and ‘I Don’t Care‘ saw the crowd growing by the second, some of which may have just found their new favourite band. People were running down the hill to join in with the moshing and dancing.
New tune ‘Fever Dream‘ went down a storm, you wouldn’t have known it had only been out for a few weeks.
Finishing with ‘In My Element‘, the start was mixed with a sample of ‘Renagade Master‘ by Wildchild, this created even more surges in the crowd and produced an impresive moshpit.
This is only the second time that I have seen the band and both times they have been lower down the bill, I’m looking forward to attending their own gig on 8th November, in Hull, getting to see them in a dark and sweaty room will be an experience.
Apollo Junction
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
Funny enough, the only other time I have seen The Clause, is also the only other time that I have seen Apollo Junction too, this was at The Sherlocks gig at Don Valley Bowl, so I was eager to catch these again too.
Apollo Junction were playing The Allotment tent which was hosted by Scruff of the Neck, again, this was far too small with people outside struggling to get in. These full tents show the calibre of the grassroots scene at the minute.
These lads are the perfect band to see live, the tunes have that anthemic festival vibe running through their core. The punchy ‘Two Car Family‘ had the tent bouncing, ‘Are You Happy?‘ Was the big sing along for the crowd inside and out, this also saw the band come into the crowd for the majority of it.
Topping the set off with ‘Forever‘ it was easy to see why these have become a must watch live act.
VLURE
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
Festivals are great to come out of your comfort zone and catch somebody who you wouldn’t normally catch, V ‘fucking’ lure were that act of the day, an unexpected genre busting set which became one of my favourites of the weekend.
the energy from Vlure was absolutely silly, they brung an angry rave to The Giant Squid. I found it to be like a mad punk mix of The Streets and Underworld but loads angrier.
‘This Fantasy‘ was a big hit with the angry verses, then giving a break and turning into an old school rave. Hamish Hutcheson was wearing just a little pair of shorts and baseball cap, doing this mad, bent backwards dancing, when he wasn’t dancing he was staring out members of the crowd.
During a couple of moments Hamish would start climbing up the rigging, on one occasion he was joined by Conor Goldie.
‘This Is Not The End‘ closed the set in an intimidating fashion, the rowdy echos of “This is not the end, this is not the end, this is not the end…” made an intense atmosphere, this was only amplified by Vlure coming into the crowd to shout these lyrics in people’s faces, “This is not the fucking end!!!” Was met with one last dance.
Sometimes, you see a band and you walk away with your breath taken, Vlure, were the act that blew me away the most over the full weekend.
The Snuts
Photo by – Jake Haseldine
From one Scottish act to another, The Snuts were on the main stage. These are a band I’ve always struggled to get into but sometimes, seeing a band live can change that, so we headed over.
It’s one of them things, when everybody seems to be into a band and you can’t figure out why. Pretty much as soon as they came on stage and half way through ‘Glasgow‘, I found myself thinking OK, this is pretty good, by ‘Hallelujah Moment‘, I was fully feeling it and so were the crowd, which was as high as the eye could see, up the hill in the glorious afternoon sunshine.
‘Fatboy Slim‘, ‘Burn The Empire‘ and ‘Millionaires‘ made me feel pretty foolish for binning them off too easily, it was an outstanding set, full of summery, indie goodness and since returning home, I’ve been listening to them a lot.
I guess this is also what festivals are about, seeing a band work their craft rather than just listening to them on record can change your whole mindset.
Shader
Photo by – Marc Whiffen – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
Stoke lads Shader, were in the intimate Hog & Barrel. The band have been on a resurgence with the release of their new tunes. These have gained Records of the Week on XS Manchester.
The band seem to have an extra air of confidence and that showed live as they strutted through new tunes ‘Drop The Weapon‘ and ‘Satellite‘. Album number two is shaping up to explosive.
When COVID stopped the world and halted the band, Shader did a lockdown cover of ‘Don’t You Forget About Me‘ by Simple Minds, this was added to set and got the tent full on dancing, this also pulled in the passer-bys.
This is an exciting time for Shader, they look like they are more than ready to full on attack the music scene once again and I, for one, am all for it.
Shambolics
Photo by – Nikki Wilson – TheIndieMasterplan.co.uk
‘Mon the Shams, Shambolics kept the Scotland flag flying by being the third Scottish act we had seen just that day.
Earlier this year, Shambolics released their long awaited debut album titled ‘Dreams, Schemes and Young Teams‘, the set showcased that album.
Starting with ‘Sharp As A Razor‘ it was clear to see this was a tent full of diehards and not passer bys who had just nipped in out of curiosity.
‘Coming For You‘ turned the pit into a frenzy, with ‘Influencer’ following, this kept the pace high.
It was the duelling during ‘Universal Credit‘ that was a very special highlight though. The tune is Lewis McDonald interviewing Darren Forbes about his Universal Credit claim, if you imagine Spud in Trainspotting it’s not far off that, the timing on the argument is impeccable. The chorus of “I don’t need no money, I wanna be happier than you.” Nearly blew the tent away.
Although they have been on my radar for years, this was my first time catching them live, I wont be leaving it so long next time, I will be attending the Scunthorpe all dayer that they are headlining on 12th October at Cafe Indie.
Jamie T
Photo by – Bethan Miller – bethanmiller.co
‘The Wimbledon Troubadour’ is an hard one to nail down if you want to see him live. He will release an album and then just disappear without warning for years, so when he pops up you never know how long he’s going to be around for, because of this, he has been a big draw to get fans into these medium sized festivals and I guess being offered an headline set is how they bagged him too. Despite not being a conventional headliner, he even said during his set that it was only the second time that he had played while it was dark.
Starting out dressed in a white shirt and shorts, his set was a bit of a slow builder but being a fan of his moodier stuff, I didn’t mind that at all. Jamie started with ‘Limits Lie‘. It was early on that he also decided to dig into his latest album ‘The Theory of Whatever‘, these were with ‘The Old Style Raiders‘ and ‘90’s Cars‘, although his new album sounds more like his 2009 self than his last last two albums, these seemed a little lost in some sections of the crowd.
‘Don’t You Find‘ and ‘Salvador‘ were my personal highlights, two dark and eerie tunes in a row, I like the way the darker tunes set a tense atmosphere.
During the second half of the set Jamie had changed into a 1988 Wimbledon football shirt, the same shirt that they won the FA Cup in against Liverpool, earlier in the set a beach ball went onto the stage with a “whhhaaaAAAAOOOOOHHH” from the crowd trying to encourage Jamie to kick it back, he never did, but now with his football shirt on, he boots it straight down the middle to huge cheers.
After his costume change, not like Madonna or anything, his set upped in tempo too and the crowd started to liven up. ‘368‘ is always a good crowd favourite, an easy sing along for the ones who may not even know the tune either.
Ending the first part of his set with ‘If You’ve Got The Money‘, by this point he had the whole of Y Not captivated and wanting more.
His encore consisted of four big hitters so the crowd would never forgot this headline show. ‘Back in the Game, ‘Sheila‘ ‘Sticks ‘N’ Stones, and ‘Zombie‘ had the crowd singing every word, mospits, moshing, friends hugging and faces smiling.
As Jamie left the stage he was absolutely buzzing, running off the stage, arms around his band and they legged it together to backstage artist area. It was good to see that contrast of performance Jamie and real life Jamie, he looked close to tears.
It’s early on for Jamie T being an headliner, a little mix up in the set to be a bit more crowd pleasing and there is no reason why he can’t be one of the best in the business.
Read the Sunday review here: https://theindiemasterplan.co.uk/live-review-y-not-festival-2024-sunday
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