Waking up to the sound of pouring rain on Saturday wasn't the best of feelings. It was so wet for about an hour we couldn't bring ourselves to leave the tent, it was absolutely chucking it down, the wellies were a definite for today. When a break in the rain finally came, we dashed up to the festival site. The Acoustic Cafe in the morning was pretty full so we found ourselves waiting around until one when the first act on the main stage began. After all the rain, the area around the main stage was getting muddier and muddier and was only going to get worse- perfect festival conditions!
That first act was Gaggle, a 22 piece female indie choir. I decided to go and see them after reading the description of them in the programme, I thought they'd be unlike anything I had seen before and, oh boy, was I right. At first, I found myself somewhat scared by this enormous, seemingly angry force of loud and powerful voiced women accompanied only by drums and electronic sounds. Their colourful and fully fringed costumes added to what became an unusual yet fascinating performance. It sure was completely different to anything I'd ever seen before.
Following Gaggle, we headed into the indoor stage to see Dog is Dead, a band from Nottingham that I was really eager to see after hearing their single 'Glockenspiel Song'. The five piece played a fabulous set and the use of saxophone added a unique twist to their indie style sound. Their set was lively, upbeat and vibrant- I cannot wait until they release an album. 'Glockenspiel Song' which is one of my favourite songs at the moment and every time I listen to it, it sends me singing along, dancing around in my room. I hope this band grow in success as I love their sound and would definitely want to see them again.
We saw both We Show Up on Radar and Isbells in the Rising Stage, and in both sets found ourselves just chilling at the back listening to the music. We Show Up on Radio reminded me a bit of one of my favourite bands, Stars, due to the use of electronic sounds and male and female vocals, however, they didn't quite enthral me as much as Stars do. As for Belgium band Isbells, I like their soft sounding songs however they were still more of a sit down band, although I did stand for 'As Long as it Takes', the only song I know by them.
Arriving to the main stage, I managed to catch the end of The Moulettes' set. I was intrigued by their elaborate costumes and use of bassoon, cello and violin, it's so rare to see a bassoon in any modern band. I really liked their upbeat, summery sound and couldn't help but bob along to their songs.
After a quick trip back to the tent to dump our rain stuff as the sun had finally come out, we found ourselves in the packed musician stage waiting for the son of Paul Simon, Harper Simon. He received a warm reception from the crowd (a reception that was much better than when the name Diana Vickers was mentioned before the set which caused an eruption of 'boos', I'm guessing she wasn't too popular). It was a pleasant performance, perfect for the musician stage playing songs that didn't sound too dissimilar from his famous father.
Before heading over to see Tunng, I grabbed something to eat and began to watch a bit of Turin Brakes on the main stage but then the ultimate down pour came, oh my did it rain! I just legged it inside and stayed in the indoor stage, allowing my to get a front row position for Tunng.
I love Tunng's recent album, '...And Then We Saw Land' and I was really looking forward to seeing them live. They're performance didn't disappoint. Front man, Mike Lindsay, had a fantastic stage present marching at the front of the stage to numerous songs and then dancing around with band mate, Becky Jacobs. I loved their interesting arrangement of percussion instruments including wind chimes and various other things that were occasionally played using feet. Tunng have a really unique sound and after this performance I am desperate to see them again.
As soon as Tunng finished I dashed outside to catch up-and-coming band Stornoway on the main stage. The rain had died down a bit and turned into a drizzle, the sunshine we had seen earlier sure hadn't lasted long. Stornoway's début single 'Zorbing' has had a lot of Radio1 play and Ellie Goulding expresses to be a huge fan in her tweets. I have listened to their début album 'Beachcomber's Windowsill' and I do rather like it however, I found their performance a wee bit boring although I did really enjoy the final performance of 'Zorbing' and their more upbeat songs.
Before the festival, quite a few people (whose music opinion I trust) had recommended going to see Caribou. I was somewhat hesitant as their music isn't really my cup of tea, although I went along anyway as I thought it'd be good to see something a bit different to my usual love of acoustic guitars and folk sounds. The indoor stage was completely packed so I had to go and sit upstairs which luckily provided an excellent view. I ended up really liking the set and couldn't help myself moving to the laid back electronic, house music.
The penultimate act of the night was The Go! Team. It was impossible to properly understand a word the singers were saying but they still got the crowd going, getting everyone to join it was 'Ladyflash' and 'Doing It Right'. Chi Fukami Taylor had so much energy it was unbelievable, I had no idea how she kept going. At times she looked like she was doing an aerobics exercise video. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the music but it was a really fun set and the crowd seemed to love it.
I honestly really wasn't too keen to see Saturday's headline act, Tinchy Stryder, as I really do not like his type of music. Therefore, me and my friend spent the first half of the set grabbing some food and just having a wander and chat. Earlier in the day whenever Tinchy Stryder was mentioned there was an outburst of boos, however when we walked back to the main stage the sight before me was incredible. The whole crowd had their hands in the air moving as one huge unit, clearly loving every minute of it. We stayed to watch the rest of the set and by the end, the whole crowd, including myself, was filling in with the lyrics to hit single 'Number One'. I had a few friends who were right at the front and they loved it. Nonetheless, I still feel that both Diana Vickers (who had played earlier, not one I wanted to see) and Tinchy Stryder seemed somewhat out of place in a line up made up of mainly folk artists, though, I can understand that it makes the audience of the festival wider.
Saturday had been another fantastic day even if I was constantly dashing between stages to try and see as many bands as possible, but isn't that the whole point of a festival? My highlight of the day was definitely Tunng who gave a truly memorable performance.
I apologise for the long post but pretty much all the bands I saw were great and I wanted to give them all a mention :)
