After a wet Friday night at Kendal Calling 2024, Saturday sees the sunshine return to Cumbria. Indie rock rookie Melanie Baker takes full advantage of the balmy weather to deliver a breezy, upbeat performance to a bright and enthused midday crowd.
Kendal Calling boasts a diversity of entertainment, ranging from DJ and unicycling workshops to stand up comics. Famed funny man Russell Howard amuses a good spirited audience onlooking the sun soaked Main Stage. Revellers are reduced to hysterical laughter by Howard’s quips and quick wit.
As the afternoon wears on, Mancunian band Corella are met with a warm reception, vowing to “bring the party” to the Cumbrian hillside. Ensuing cuts ‘Barcelona Girl’ and ‘Puppet’ make good on their promise, inciting an urgent canter to the closest mosh pit. Lead singer Joel Smith takes the opportunity to join the rowdy audience, crowd surfing gleefully.
Tucked away amongst the dense tree line, the Woodlands Stage hosts Irish shoegaze band NewDad. The quartet’s moody, atmospheric aura lends itself to an apt cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’. Bristolian six-piece Home Counties take to the same podium, cleverly utilising cowbell, recorder and synthesisers as the rays of sun begin to dissipate behind the lofty branches.
While the glitzy Sugababes throw a singalong party on the Main Stage, Welsh indie rockers The Royston Club garner a devout following beneath the Calling Out big top. Playing cuts from their debut album including ‘Mrs Narcissistic’ and ’52’, The Royston Club are touted as torchbearers for the renaissance of British guitar music.
Saturday night’s hardy headliner Mike Skinner, known by his moniker The Streets, proves his age to be no object, diving head first into the crowd for his first song. A makeshift wall of death with participants dressed as Pokémon is hastily commanded, no sooner to be dissolved in a melee. Skinner performs an array of high octane garage tracks recalling experiences from his younger days, telling stories of heartbreak and cruel hangovers.
In the wake of The Streets’ colossal headline display, the festivities persist into the early hours, with silent discos and dancing lasting all night long.
Download Feed My City’s Chickpea + lentil curry (preparing rice separately) recipe Featured image: Feed My City Perched on the outskirts of New Islington is Feed My City. Tucked between a chippy and an off-license, their modest unit is one you’d probably miss if you weren’t looking for it, but this small charity is making…
A new “seductive, socially-charged, and slightly rebellious” book club concept is making its debut on Manchester’s literary scene this week, aiming to blend literature with fashion and nightlife. Founded by Kya Buller and Sophia Wild, The Read Room is an accessible, bold and innovative space for book lovers, with monthly book clubs and after-hours literary…
The annual Manchester Translation Series returns to Manchester Poetry Library for its third year, promising three days of thought-provoking workshops, panels and readings. Running from March 18th to 20th, the series will celebrate the power of translation to reshape language and literature, with events featuring award-winning poets, editors, and translators from the UK, US and beyond, celebrating the…
By Megan Levick A new exhibition celebrating female cyclists and tackling issues around women’s safety in urban spaces has launched at Manchester Central Library this month in celebration of International Women’s Day 2025. The aAh! Magazine X Lights Up Exhibition will run from 03 March to 29 March 2025 and showcases a range of multimedia…
Leave a reply