The Mic's Maia Gibbs attends Y NOT Festival, Derbyshire's heart-of-the-peak-district musical event of the year. She documents the highs and lows of the experience, watching the muscular lineup of indie and alternative rock's best.
Located in my home turf of Derbyshire, Y Not has proved itself to be one of the fastest-growing festivals in the UK in recent years. Its unusual demographic proves it to be an interesting experience, as I’m as likely to bump into forgotten secondary school classmates as I am my parents’ friends. Both eventualities end up with a slightly-too long, definitely unwanted, drunken ‘catch-up’ as I try to harmlessly make my way to Yard Act or Stereophonics.
Sports Team’s Alex Rice certainly noted it, on Friday night, directing me on which side to avoid as I ventured through the crowds “There seems to be a bit of a divide?”, noting the age segregated audience. (Unfortunately, this was the only note-worthy moment of their set, as I left the tent disgracefully early for a cheap cigarette and cheesy chips, hoping not to bump into one of my mother’s Facebook pals. The Peak District can prove to be an exceedingly small place).
"...the mauve flares were lit in the audience, showering those front of stage in lilac mist. The production was visually remarkable, with visuals projected onto an astronomical sphere centre stage"
My Thursday kicked off with a surprisingly calm set from The Kooks, the audience obviously tired from the mammoth trek from car park to campsite, or not yet indulging on the over-priced lager. Or, perhaps annoyed that the band came on way before their app-scheduled time, which meant one disgruntled journalist missed Seaside, Sofa Song and She Moves in Her Own Way. Maybe the band needed an early bedtime. That could explain how why recycled many of their crowd interactions from Truck Festival the previous week. Maybe they thought no one would know, as who would do two festivals back-to-back? Me, The Kooks, me. What at Truck had sounded like witty self-awareness, as Luke Pritchard said, “Don’t worry, we will play Naïve”, sounded like annoyed pandering the second time round. Please come up with some new one-liners Luke Pritchard, I will be watching.
Friday’s jaunt started over at the Big Gin stage, with Sundara Karma. The set left me wondering what purple shampoo Oscar Pollock must use for his peroxide mullet, as it dazzled under the stage lights. Their set perfected the balance between the new and old, crowd-pleasing with 2000s indie classics She Said, and crowd-intriguing with newer tracks like Oblivion!. The audience were certainly pleased even with the tracks they didn’t know the lyrics to – drinking and dancing till the last second of the set.
Headliners Stereophonics brought an apathetic crowd. Not being many people’s personal favourites but rather a band people say, “yeah they’re alright?” - they certainly didn’t inspire pandemonium. Their twenty-five plus years together is clear, with a clean-cut professionalism and musicality. Yet, room for spontaneity and impulsivity seems to be behind them, as they relied upon on their hits to hype up the crowd up.
Saturday was a treat for local visitors, as The Quarry saw an array of smaller local bands: a few of which I have already had the pleasure of seeing in some of Derby and Nottingham’s smaller venues. This was enough the case, so that my fellow campers and I got up early, had our nutritious breakfast of a mini pork pie and cider to make our way to The Public Eye:a four-piece indie rock band, formed only late last year, consisting of Joey Greener, Jacob Radford, Cavan Brody and Zack Bednail. Their debut single Twister wowed crowds, their unity as a band, even in their junior years, already self-evident. The best is certainly yet to come for them. I’ve never seen a mosh pit that early in the morning, I will be honest with you. I wished I’d lined my stomach abit more – maybe two mini pork pies next time.
"...the whole set was a kind of storytelling. But the kind of storytelling that made me want to neck a pint, not lull me to sleep."
Our next visit was our good friends Shadows of a Silhouette (music journalism is never without bias, and anyone who says otherwise is lying). Made up of Nathan Brown on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Reece Carter on backing vocals and lead guitar, Fergus Murtagh on bass guitar and Tyler Henderson on drums, the band have no formal musical education, describing their music formulation as free and unrestrained. Their origins are also humble. They take major inspiration from the likes of: The White Stripes, David Bowie, Nirvana, The Beatles and Kings of Leon. Brown once described Arctic Monkeys, who are a record-collection staple for any self-respecting indie youth in this neck of the woods, as ‘pure sex’. But most importantly their main route of inspiration is themselves, their music becoming a reflection of them, their past works and emotions to grow as greater musicians. Each track becomes a rumination on themselves, learning something new with each lyric and vocalisation. This mantra came to full fruition, to play at Derbyshire’s musical event of the year – it was certainly the returning of the prodigal sons.
In the evening, Sea Girls certainly out-did themselves: their recipe of indie guitar pop and anthemic catchy choruses came into its own in front of a crowd. The Big Gin was packed, with a noticeable sense of anticipation in the air. The crowd erupted as the band walked on stage highlighting the distinction between mere acts and headliners - Sea Girls cementing themselves as the latter.
Nothing But Thieves offered a different vibe to the tried-and-tested indie guitar of YNot main stage, but they were a treat, nonetheless. Opening track Futureproof and follower Everybody Going Crazy let crowds know of the band’s heavier characteristics (if not the pounding guitars, the brutalist mosh pits let them know), and the relentless thumping beat, guitar riffs and nearly-melodramatic vocals got everybody moving. Their pacing was flawless throughout, yet when the band left space for slower ballads like Real Love Song and Particles, they got some of the biggest reactions from the crowd, and when the confetti shower hit mid-way through the set, even the pit-shy got involved.
The building grey clouds that had been threatening all day opened as Courteneers entered the stage, almost cinematically with opening track Cavorting. Acrylic follows, as the mauve flares were lit in the audience, showering those front of stage in lilac mist. The production was visually remarkable, with visuals projected onto an astronomical sphere centre stage. It seems that their songs are made for these occasions. Liam Fray was an excellent frontman, balancing indie spontaneity and aged festival familiarity. The Courteeners knew how to organise their set and were in a dominating position, comfortably easing into their more keyboard dominated, slower and atmospheric tunes of their newer works, instead of hiding behind their well-known anthems. The atmosphere never stumbled, the audience staying with them for every nuance and every word.
This was so much so that when I escaped to Kelis for some respite from the rain, the sparse crowd suggested they had successfully captured enough people’s attention, despite the showers. (My cagoule was obviously not as waterproof as advertised). Kelis played an attractive set, with a live drummer, DJ, and a backing singer. She was a wonderful stage presence – with personality, voice and dance skills to boot.
Sunday was a drizzly and tired day – as visitors wished for dryness, a home-cooked meal and a warm bed. And because of this it was a more lethargic day – silently eating an overpriced burrito whilst staring, dead-eyed at a set of indie bands that you don’t know the name of. From what I remember every band was good, fine and okay – but it wasn’t till the evening that I broke out of this hungover-while-still-drunk haze.
The voyage to Everyone You Know at The Giant Squid was a dangerous affair, as my boyfriend and i happened to take the path by where the port-o-loos were being cleaned out. I don’t know if any of our readers have experienced such a scent – I personally wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I never knew a smell could bring a grown woman to her knees, but it nearly did. I thought it would never end – I can still remember it sometimes as I try to fall asleep. Maybe that made for the incredibly small crowd. “We played to about two people the other week,” joked lead singer Rhys Eyk, leading to much confusion in their obviously avid fan base. Obviously, an unusual experience for the band, but I hoped the crowd at YNot reassured the band that small audiences are just an unexplainable blip.
They wowed.
The muscle of Rhys’s voice was overwhelming. The emotion behind his singing was evident as if he were still coming down from the raves or events depicted in his lyrics. Along with the instrumental backbone of their tracks, the whole set was a kind of storytelling. But the kind of storytelling that made me want to neck a pint, not lull me to sleep. Fortunate, considering my sleeping bag was now full of water.
Underwhelmed by the Blossoms set, I headed over to the insanely popular Noasis. None of them look like Oasis – apart from the bold fringe of LG on the lead singer – yet the swagger and bravado of the brit-pop band was clear in every track. The atmosphere was palpable. A rowdy crowd to say the least. This was so much so that when we went to leave the tent for a trip to the loos, the barricade outside the tent was crushed and a bunch of teenage boys stormed the crowd, a young man in a baby blue top and Adidas Hamburgs inadvertently elbowing me in the neck as he went. Maybe Carling has testosterone pumped into nowadays, because – ouch.
It wasn’t a perfect way of ending a festival – I must admit to you. But I think getting into a scuffle with an overzealous Liam Gallagher fan is a rite of passage for any indie-lover. I have earnt my parallel stripes, and maybe a free Pretty Green Parka. It was still a wonderful weekend though – something to make a Derbyshire lass proud. Even if my lagers were slightly painful for the rest of the night.
Maia Gibbs
Edited by: Caradoc Gayer
Cover and in-article images courtesy of Y NOT Festival via Facebook. In-article videos courtesy of YouTube.
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