Bingley Music Live, set in Myrtle Park, featured acts from a variety of genres over the first weekend in September. The festival featured two stages: the giant Main Stage and intimate Discovery Stage which was enclosed in the corner of the site. The family feel to the festival was welcoming and set the tone for what was to be an entertaining weekend.
Model Aeroplanes kicked off the weekend on the Friday afternoon. The summery tunes of Fickle Friends were accompanied by the sunshine, before Rae Morris played a soulful set as the sun went down. Over on the Main Stage, a jolly crowd cheered along to James’ well-loved tracks for the only returning headliners of the festival to date.
On Saturday, Bingley marked one of the last ever festival performances for Funeral For A Friend, who recently announced their split. They achieved their goal of wildest crowd of the weekend, who created mosh-pits despite a different audience to the type they are used to. Acoustic duo Meadowlark charmed the Discovery Stage while over at the Main Stage, Carl Barât & The Jackals performed a range of new tracks and versions of The Libertines tracks. Next up, Ella Eyre, armed with a full band, performed tracks off her debut to a packed crowd, with plenty of banners being waved in the front rows. Nothing fazes Ella, whose bold stage presence shows no boundaries while she runs around onstage. In complete contrast, Ash created atmosphere while people of all ages sung along to their classics. In the final set of the night Labrinth took everyone back to 2011, teasing the crowd with snippets of ‘Earthquake’ before finishing the night with the full version they were all waiting to hear.
A last minute line-up change meant that local band Clay were added to the Main Stage on Sunday, who lived up to expectations and showed exactly why they deserved the slot. Next up, the sweet sounds of Mike Dignam filled the park, with his smooth and acoustic songs, followed by the noisy VANT, with a particular highlight being new single ‘Parking Lot’. In their last performance after a busy summer, Nothing But Thieves played tracks from their upcoming debut album and covered Led Zeppelin’s ‘Immigrant Song’ which went down especially well with the crowd. The evening at the Discovery Stage was one of personality – Kimberly Anne’s bubbly self shone through in her set whilst Adam French’s songs oozed passion. The festival came to a close with Super Furry Animals, a treat for fans after the band’s five year long hiatus.
It was an enjoyable weekend for all ages, but was both a blessing and a curse that the genres offered in the line-up varied so much. Whilst this meant that the festival would appeal to more people and hopefully introduce festival-goers to something new, the variation felt confused rather than carefully planned. However, there were some hidden gems playing Bingley Music Live and you can be sure that many of these artists are going to go on to big things. Overall, Bingley Music Live was a success and incredible value for money – this festival has the potential to be one of Yorkshire’s greatest.
Catherine Dowie
photo: Catherine Dowie