KENDAL CALLING 2024 - FRIDAY // LOWTHER DEER PARK, PENRITH
NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS HEADLINE FRIDAY AT KENDAL CALLING 2024
★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS HEADLINING FRIDAY AT KENDAL CALLING 2024
PHOTOCREDIT: JOHN HAYHURST
Day two, after a surprisingly good sleep (I’m not much of a camper) we headed off to the arena for the first full day of Kendal Calling. I was still on a high after Paul Heaton and was hoping for someone to be equally as good. After a breakfast of Himalayan Dumplings (Kendal is nothing if not diverse in it’s food choices) it was time to work out who to see.
One of the biggest problems with a festival of this size and scale is trying to fit in as many bands as possible while realising you can’t see everyone, and you can’t spend as long as you’d like with some acts as there is always someone else to go see.
Every day is a marathon, not a sprint, but there are definitely times when getting a sprint on helps!
It’s probably easier to list everyone I managed to get round then focus on the highlights rather than write up every band individually. I didn’t see a bad act all day though, everyone I saw I enjoyed.
In order of seeing them I saw The Empty Page, Oliva Fern, Dead Letter, Cucumaras, Dead Pony, CMAT, Henge, The Snuts, Keane, Pip Blom, Hot Wax, The K’s and Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds.
A lot to fit into one day while also factoring in food, drink, comfort breaks, talking to each other and having some down time.
The Empty Page and Oliva Fern were two acts I’d never seen before. Seeing the Empty Page was pure chance as we passed a stage on the way to see Oliva Fern, heard them, they sounded great, so we stopped for a while and enjoyed a great show. Oliva was also great in a totally different way. Dead Letter and the Cucamaras also put on excellent shows and clearly had devoted followings.
Then came Dead Pony, they were one of the acts I’d been really looking forward to seeing, having seen them two years ago at Kendal I knew they’d be good, I didn’t realise they’d be this good! They have come on leaps and bounds since I last saw them. Their debut album came out this year which is excellent, but their stage craft, presence and audience engagement have all gone up several notches. They put on an eviscerating show which left no-one present in any doubt we’d witnessed an early contender for set of the day.
Off to CMAT, who was also on my pre-festival list. Again, she didn’t disappoint, fantastic stage presence, a willingness to be herself and not care what anyone thinks, brilliant songs, a great backing band and an amazing voice. The audience loved her and rightly so.
Something a bit different next, Henge are an acquired taste, not to everyone’s liking but if you open your mind, let them in and join in the madness that is a Henge set then you will really enjoy yourself. They are from another planet and are here to entertain us earthlings, why don’t you go along sometime and let them. They lived up to their usual lunacy and I left with a smile on my face.
The Snuts blew the crowd away, they are a great live band and they made sure everyone at Kendal knew it. They are going to move up the bill quite soon, I think.
Keane were one of the big surprises of the weekend for me, I’d been 50:50 on going to see them not having been a big fan first time around but I was genuinely surprised by how good they were. Probably one of the most professional and polished appearances on the main stage I’ve seen in a while, the crowd for them was huge and they put on an excellent performance.
Time to leave the main stage again, firstly for Pip Blom, who were excellent as expected then Hot Wax who I’d heard of but didn’t know a huge amount about. This won’t be my last time seeing Hot Wax, this is clearly a band on the rise. If you didn’t get to the Woodlands stage to see them keep your eyes out, they are touring soon.
One of the highlights of the weekend for me was the K’s. I’ve seen them a few times before and their headline set at the Parklands stage was well worth squeezing in to. They are a band that get better and better every time I see them. I’d also seem them in the press tent earlier that day and had a chance to speak to them. Despite knowing it might cost them a good spot for Noel Gallagher the tent was packed, the audience knew all of the songs and the sing and dance along commenced.
Headliner of the night was Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds. With a back catalogue with his current band which is almost as extensive as that with Oasis we knew we were going to be in for rock and roll heaven. Noel does like to display a bit of attitude to his audience, noising up Newcastle and Leeds United fans in particular and making it very clear where his own football allegiances lie. He gave us all the best bits of his recent career and many highlights from his Oasis days. One of my colleagues reckoned its one of the best versions of the Masterplan he’s heard. We sang, we danced and generally had a great time.
We were tired by now so thought our way through the crowds of youngsters coming into the arena to get their night started wondering what tomorrow would bring and hoping for another good sleep.
