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| Spirit of John |
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| Small Words |
The Raise The Roof stage and the Musicians Centre Stage are quite close together and the timings have been set so one stage is playing while the other is on changeover, that way there is very little chance of one drowning out the other. The bands on the Musicians stage have been hand picked by the musicians centre from a large number of bands requesting a slot. The sound is being provided by Jam on Top studios Keighley, also renowned for their support of local musicians. I'm in time to catch the latter part of Small Words set, they have a great following there singing along - its wonderful to see support at this early stage for the local band stage. Great set from Small Words, a band I will definitely check out again.
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| Matt Belmont |
These two new stages are near the new kid zone and the catering areas. There seems to be a lot more choice and better quality than last year. I opt for paella which is excellent. There is a wide variety of cuisine up here though, I'm sure everyone can find something they like. Only problem on this first day is the rain - I'm having to wolf down my food to stop it getting wet!
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| Ballyhoo/Eventide |
Back to the Musicians stage to see Ballyhoo/Eventide, these are one of my favourite live bands, its good to see them on a large stage where they have plenty of room to bounce around and swap sides and instruments. Great set.
Next I head back to The Raise The Roof Stage to where I catch Sadie and the Hotheads do a very nice set. There is so much going on here that I've not seen anyone on the main stage yet. I am on my way down when I am distracted by All Too Human on the Musicians Stage and stay to watch their very good set.
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| Skinny Lister |
As with all festivals there is a time when you want to be in two places at once, mine is on Friday when I want to see Bearfoot Beware and Martha Reeves, I planned to watch a couple of songs by Bearfoot Beware and then walk down to see Martha Reeves but end up staying for all the set and missing Martha.
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| Bearfoot Beware |
I think that one of the things that has most amused me today is that Soreen are sponsoring the festival, it seems funny to be given malt loaf at an outdoor event. I head back to the train as I want to be here in really good time tomorrow.
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| The Scandal |
The opening slot of main stage on Saturday is for one of the battle of the band winners, young Leeds band The Scandal. Its a tough slot for a band but they do a brilliant job. I have seen them quite a lot this year and am surprised to hear a couple of new songs, I thought they might have played it safe with songs they were used to but this is a band who are constantly wanting to improve. They have been going a relatively short time to have got together a good tight bluesy influence rock. They will be the subject of a separate blog as I did a backstage interview with them.
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| Down The Machine |
After an early start I am in the press area for a while catching up with some friends. It's quite a distance from mainstage to the 2 other stages so I'm thinking about the right time to head back up. I watch The Jim Jones Review on mainstage and really enjoyed them. Next I head back to the Musicians Stage to catch my good friends Down The Machine. Very good set as usual and through them I also find out that with my press pass I am able to "fast track" up down the stairs from mainstage, This is going to save me a lot of time! They also share their meal tokens with me :)
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| Dan Audio |
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| Deadwall |
The headline act on the Raise The Roof Stage is The Lancashire Hotpots, and there is a large crowd gathered for them. I catch some of their set before heading down to mainstage to see the headliners Razorlight. I think tiredness is setting in, their set really isn't doing it for me so I head off as tomorrow is another early start.
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| Marsicans |
Also did a backstage interview with them which will feature in a separate blog.
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| Me and My Friends |
After I saw solo performer Joe Tilston, excellent performer, also joined by friends for a couple of the songs. Hmmm hungry, time for food again! Oops prorgamming error, I've managed to miss Katzenjammer, was really looking forward to them as well.
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| Foxes Faux |
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| Ellen and The Escapades |
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| The Coopers |
I ended the evening watching a couple of songs by The Idiot Bastard Band, and by this time I was totally shattered but in a good sense. I think it is brilliant that Bingley Music Live have vastly improved the additional stages and given a chance to so many local bands and alternative performers. A good number of people found their way there this year and I'm sure these stages would be well supported in the future.
