Festival Review: Kendal Calling 2024 – How To Do Festivals Reyt In The North

Kendal Calling, my favourite Northern Festival, in fact outside of Glastonbury my favourite festival anywhere in the world, a picturesque location, friendliness and general feel good vibes everywhere, it’s about a 10% slice of Glastonbury without the flags and it is the only Cask Ale accredited festival, with the Lancaster Brewery doing a sterling job of providing a fantastic selection of real ales alongside a number of vendors providing a huge selection of other drinks and food. Two of the Indoor stage tent ceilings are dressed like no other festival I have ever been to, huge flowers in Parklands and the Calling Out Stage is dressed in this years theme of The High Seas. Oh…….It didn’t rain either (other than for Paulo Nutini)

Special mention to Alex Sutton and her Gala PR team, as they moved the press to a different area this year, and made it even more enjoyable and very well organised. With a top line up of music with some heritage acts alongside the up and coming or local artists and comedy, this is how to do festivals reyt. They don’t do day tickets, so you have to stay for the whole weekend but they do offer an extra Thursday cheap ticket as an add on – and with Paul Heaton and Rianne Downey headlining, it is a must to get there early on the Thursday.

Thursday 1st August

Kendal Calling becomes the third largest town in Cumbria, with 40,000 people paying to be there with an army of security staff, caterers, bar staff, cleaners etc. keeping the whole thing running and a huge number of artists playing (look at the line up for 2024 and you’ll see what I mean).

How many other festivals have buzzards calling to each other on a morning! You wake up, look out to the hills and, on a lovely sunny day as this one was, you conclude that there are not many better places to be.

This is us several years in a row now going to review Kendal Calling, something I’d been looking forward to since the last one and a musical highlight of the year. I knew from the past that one of the best things about Kendal is the sheer variety of music on offer and the knowledge that if you didn’t enjoy whoever you were watching, go find another stage, there would be something excellent somewhere else.

We’d learned from missing the first few acts on the Thursday night last year, so we set off much earlier which meant a better parking spot, less lugging your gear around, and we were pitched, unpacked and in the arena in advance of the main acts.

Thursdays main stage line up was an eclectic but an exciting one. Hardwicke Circus, Beth McCarthy, The Hunna, Declan McKenna and Paul Heaton with Rianne Downey.

Hardwicke Circus, a local band from Carlisle, opened the festival on the main stage, they really didn’t seem overawed by what they were doing. They were confident, had swagger, some decent songs and opened up Kendal Calling in a really enjoyable way. Beth McCarthy has come a long way since busking on the streets of York and then her break on X-Factor, clearly no crisis of confidence here – with her shocking pink hair and outfits, she put on a really exciting, lively set which got people up and dancing, we even got a few covers thrown in, her Pink cover went down a storm. Plenty of fans down the front singing the words.

Next up were The Hunna, a truly excellent rock band who took the whole thing up a notch. They have brilliant songs, are fantastic live and blew the crowd away with their rocking vibes, some noisy guitars already, thats what we want. The main support act was Declan Mckenna. An always excellent live act with bags of attitude and songs to match. Personally, I don’t think he quite matched the intensity of The Hunna, but he gave it a really good go. ‘Brazil’ was clearly a crowd favourite and the interaction livened up the audience even more.

Paul Heaton with Rianne Downey (taking on the role of Jacqui Abbott) were next. Rianne played Kendal last year on the Woodlands stage, a much smaller venue, I was lucky enough to see her last year and knew she was a talent so had no doubts she would rise to the occasion. This was a big step up but one she easily took in her stride, she’s going places! Strolling out to a back projection stating ‘Welcome to Heatongrad’ Paul, Rianne and the band proceeded to put on the performance of the night and possibly the festival. As headliners go, they fully lived up to the billing. With a back catalogue of Housemartins and Beautiful South songs to draw on as well as his own solo material and the songs he’s released with Jacqui, he had a huge portfolio and he delivered from all of it.

‘Old Red Eyes Is Back’, ‘Rotterdam’, ‘Happy Hour’, ‘A Little Time’, ‘Song for Whoever’, ‘Perfect 10’, ‘You Keep It All In’ etc etc. This was just a joy of a set to be there for. We all sang along, danced our hearts out and joined in the acapella version of ‘Caravan of Love’ at the end. He even threw in ‘Build’, a personal Housemartins favourite of mine. New songs were brought into the mix and didn’t sound out of place. Everything about this performance was perfect. There was only one problem, the headliner bar for the weekend had been set incredibly high, could anyone else live up to it? One to wait and see as the weekend went along.

Friday 2nd August

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 its 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!

We saw Empty Page by pure chance as we passed their stage on the way to see Oliva Fern, heard them, they sounded great, so we stopped for a while and enjoyed a decent show. Oliva was also great in a totally different way, much more laid back and folky. Deadletter on the main stage were incredible, playing some new stuff from their eagerly awaited ‘More Heat’ EP although I’m sure shirtless singer Zac Lawrence wanted to be in the audience more than he was allowed, but they were a bit further away than they normally are. Nottingham’s The Cucamaras put on a great post punk show in the Calling Out Stage more fierce guitars and shoutalong harmonies.

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, They have come on leaps and bounds since I last saw them. Their debut album ‘Ignore This’ 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 the set of the day. Anna Shields is everywhere on that stage, doing kung fu moves and jumping around the pit barrier, ‘MANA’ and ‘Rainbows’ were superb. Their tour in December will be sold out soon – so get those tickets bought.

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. At one point collapsing to the floor and still singing, she wins gurner of the weekend with her face and body poses. 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 with their rave like anthems in another language, they lived up to their usual lunacy and I left with a smile on my face.

The Snuts blew the crowd away with their Oasish songs, they are a great live band and they made sure everyone at Kendal knew it. Plenty there on the big hill to watch them.

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. Suprising how many of their songs you actually know as it felt a bit like “Hit after Hit” towards the end of their set and Tom Chaplin wins ‘nice person of the weekend’ award. It was a bit Radio2 safe though, so we headed firstly to the Parklands for Katy B dance pop, then Calling Out stage for some Pip Blom and then to The Woodlands for Hot Wax who were stiring up some fierce rock/punk as headliners of this small stage in the woods. Having seen them a few times now their performances are getting better and better, and for a young 3-piece they make a great noise.

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. As always with Noel shows, it’s a game of two halves, you have to wade through the solo stuff before he hits you with the Oasis classics, and he did deliver one of the best versions of the ‘Masterplan’ I’ve ever heard. Although highly annoying that he really only sings the opening line of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ and leaves the rest of the song to the crowd, still we sang, we danced and generally had a great time.

Saturday 3rd August

With a more traditional breakfast of a sausage and bacon baguette consumed I was starting to feel ready to face the day, I had a plan for who I wanted to see and Harvey Jay Dodgson was a really great start. He is without doubt a real talent, like a cross between Sam Fender and Alex Turner with a gravelly voice not far from Kelly Jones and he can play guitar too. We got the feeling we were watching someone who will potentially go far, the stage wasn’t packed for his early show but we stayed for the whole set and if he stays as good as he is, it’s just a matter of time until he’s playing bigger stages with bigger audiences. We can say we were here first though! Andrew Cushin was trying to do the same on the main stage but came out pretending he was a big rock star – you need a bit more humility mate !!

Russell Howard played the main stage very early during the Saturday and I had tears of laughter streaming down my face while he also managed to make a few poignant comments as well. He didn’t care who he offended, dropping a C-Bomb on the main stage early afternoon, well before any watershed, but he was consistently brilliantly funny. One or two parents were ushering their kids away but most learned a few knew words or the comedy just went over their heads. Bill Bailey played the main stage two years ago, Russell Howard this year, hopefully this is something Kendal might do more of? It put a massive smile on my face!

Shelf Lives were a band I first heard while preparing for Kendal, I was intrigued and wanted to see them live. This Canadian/British duo did not disappoint. They are a mix of electronic, pop and punk. Their energy and exuberance are fantastic and, as I found out later when chatting to them, they are also really nice people. The crowd was a bit sparse to begin with but quickly grew.

Heather Small had a lengthy journey to Kendal, having driven from London that day, but it didn’t lessen her voice or her impact. Lots of singalongs to some of the best loved songs of the last 20 or so years ensued. She still has it; the voice is not diminished in any way and she must be a keep fit fanatic as her abs were on show and she kept tensing them and wiggling the hips at the same time. ‘Proud’ and ‘Movin on Up’ clear favourites of the day but hers was a short 30 minute set. Kate Nash followed but didn’t quite have the same audience, she did spend a lot of time down at the front and organised a sing song of Happy Birthday to someone. Eventually at the end we get ‘Foundations’ but I think she had lost the audience by then who were off for food before returning for The Sugababes.

We disappeared to The Woodlands to catch Home Counties, another new band to me, but I was keen to see them play. They are a six piece from Bristol, so they only just fit on the small stage, very audience friendly dance sound with a good mix of synths and guitar and just the right side of quirky to keep it all interesting. One to definitely watch, their debut album ‘Exactly As It Seems’ came out in May this year.

Sugababes were as good as ever, their comeback continues to gather momentum, as the coolest girlband of their time along with All Saints, they have the back catalogue to liven up any audience, which they did here in spades. However, we decided to catch a couple more newer up and coming bands instead. Wrexham’s The Royston Club were excellent, another one to keep an eye on as they will start to move up the bill. I really enjoyed the part of their set I saw. Fan favourite ‘Mrs Narcissistic’ (try saying that after a few Lancashire Blondes) was a rocking highlight. Perhaps its their support slots with the likes of Two Door Cinema Club or The Wombats that have gained them quite a big audience but there were plenty in here to watch them perform.

New Dad were also as good as I expected them to be, on a very small stage for them as they were last seen at Glastonbury on the former John Peel stage, but the shoegazey indie sound is the perfect antedote to the manic haphazard The Streets performance about to take place on the Main Stage and their version of The Cure‘s ‘Just Like Heaven’ is as dreamy as it sounds. They also boast the smiliest bass player I have ever seen.

The Streets did deliver an iconic set, and just as well as Mike Skinner had developed a habit of pulling out of the festival previously, exactly how many tracks other than ‘Dry Your Eyes’ and ‘Fit But You Know It’ the thousands who saw them knew is hard to say, but Skinner didn’t hold back with his audience participation, frequently dropping into the crowd to deliver his rap poetry to the faithful that gathered. Still for my money the best headliner was still Paul Heaton.

Sunday 4th August

Final Day and there are two trains of thought here, pack up your tents early and get them in the car ready for a quick getaway that night, or, have another night at the festival and then pack up everything in the morning. We favour the former, so early doors we trot off to the car with our gear. Plan for the day was simple, start with the Kendal tradition of The Lancashire Hotpots, then Red Rum Club, Rats, Pale Waves, Glasvegas, Lauren Hibbard, Feeder, Venus Grrrls, The Lottery Winners and The Reytons before seeing if we had enough left in the tank to stay for Paulo Nutini.The Hotpots were as brilliant as ever, lots of dancing along, congas, arm swaying and some drum and bass, The perfect way to start a Sunday with this legendary (at this festival) comedy troup, my only complaint is they’ve stopped singing ‘I Fear Ikea’ and ‘Shopmobility Scooter’ but we did have time for a ‘Chippy Tea’ at the end.

In a happy and cheerful mood, it was time to move on, Liverpool’s Red Rum Club were on next, I saw them two years ago at Kendal and knew how good they were. They didn’t disappoint and played to a big crowd with many wearing RRC T-shirts. Love the brass sections of their songs, ‘Eleanor’ still a firm favourite. This was another excellent appearance at Kendal, some sensible record company needs to do the right thing and sign them very soon!

Another Liverpool band –  Rats were on the Calling Out stage and blew away the crowd there, ‘Figure it Out’ and ‘Weekend’ absolutely top tunes, now on This Feeling records they were well worth going to see, one to add to your list if you like a mixture of Blur, The Clash and a bit of rap sung in a scouse accent. They have the songs, the audience interaction and the attitude. They will get bigger.

Next there was only one choice, Pale Waves are on the main stage . Consistently great live and unusually in the sunshine today, Heather Baron-Gracie is still wearing her trad glam goth outfit with the biggest boots you’ve ever seen. ‘Television Romance’ is a blissful 80’s inspired pop dance tune that I can’t get enough of. Their new album ‘Smitten’ is out soon and they did manage to fit new track ‘Perfume’ into their set which culminated with the excellent ‘Jealousy’. Set of the day for me.

I then went on a run of seeing a bit of Glasvegas, who were still superb after all these years, Lauran Hibberd, who clearly knows how to get a crowd going and anyone that has a song with the lyrics “Get Back In Your Honda Civic” is alright with me. Then Feeder were having some serious technical problems that halted their set before it got going and they probably cut a number from the list. Ended up starting with ‘Buck Rogers’ which was ballistic and got the crowd back on their side. Many had ventured to Parklands as there was a bizarre coupling of Tim Burgess and Gary Neville DJing. Neville looking completely out of place and mouthing the wrong words to ‘Sally Cinnamon’ was at least amusing.

Leeds band The Venus Grrrls were way too good to be on the Woodlands stage and provided some much needed rock vibes – next year they should be on Calling Out. Then the clash of all clashes happened, who in their right minds puts The Reytons up against The Lottery Winners, they have a similar audience. Even Thom Rylance said it when he walked out and jokingly said “Hello We’re The Reytons, We Didn’t Think Anyone Would Be Here” of course it’s packed for them in Parklands. Both bands should have been main stage really, The Reytons had some pyro on the main stage “All we’ve got is a blow up unicorn” Rylance continues with his part stand up routine. They perform brilliantly, songs with a smile on your face – exactly what was needed. they have such history with this festival that on the 20th anniversary next year I’m sure they will be main stage.

We do catch part of The Reytons from the back of the main stage arena, and yes we didn’t bother with Paulo Nutini having witnessed the horror show of his performance at Tramlines the weekend before, we took an early bath and dissappeared back down the A66.

Kendal 2024 you were as brilliant as ever, there was so much amazing music and such a great vibe that the whole weekend was incredible and we can’t wait to return to the fields in 2025 for the 20th Anniversary.

Kendal 2025 is already on sale and 50% of the tickets have already sold before any line up has been announced – what does that tell you !! What are you waiting for? Get yourselves to Kendal, and we’ll ‘See You In The Fields’ next year.