Kendal Calling 2024 Festival Review

I had the pleasure of getting a press pass for the latest instalment of one of the best, friendliest and most entertaining festivals in the UK, Kendal Calling.

It is the only Cask Ale accredited festival, with the Lancaster Brewery and others doing a sterling job of providing a fantastic selection of real ales alongside a number of vendors providing a huge selection of other drinks and food. With a top line up of music and comedy this really is the best festival you’ve yet to go to if you haven’t already been.

If you have been you already know what I’m talking about.

Lasting four days I’ll review each day individually. For the most part over the weekend the weather was excellent and the parking arrangements, which I was less than complimentary about in my review of last years festival, were much better.

Thursday 1st August

Kendal Calling, when it’s on, becomes, on a temporary basis, the third largest town in Cumbria, with 40,000 people paying to be there with an army of security staff, caterers, bar staff, cleaners etc etc keeping the whole thing running and a huge number of bands (look at the line up for 2024 and you’ll see what I mean).

It’s also set in a lovely location south of Penrith with a fantastic vibe and a really friendly atmosphere. How many other festivals have buzzards calling to each other of a morning! You wake up, look out to the hills and, on a lovely sunny day as this one was, you conclude that there are not many better places to be.

This was my third year in a row going to review Kendal Calling, something I’d been looking forward to since the last one and a musical highlight of the year. I knew from the past one of the best things about Kendal is the sheer variety of music on offer and the knowledge if you didn’t enjoy whoever was on the main stage, find another stage, there would be something excellent somewhere else.

We’d learned from missing the first few acts on the Thursday night last year and all of us had set off much earlier (some a lot earlier than others). It meant we were all in, tents pitched, unpacked and in the arena well in advance of the first act.

The press tent had been moved this year to behind the main stage which turned out to be an act of genius. It meant more interaction with the acts as the weekend went on. Gala PR took over Kendal two years ago and this year they really upped their game, brilliant from start to finish they made the whole thing much more enjoyable, and it was all so well organised.

If you have been before but don’t go for the Thursday night you’re missing out. It’s usually one of the best nights as nearly all of the acts are on the main stage meaning there is no need to get between the various venues and you can just chill out, relax and enjoy the music unless you want to explore and catch some of the other acts.

Thursdays main stage line up was an eclectic but exciting one. Hardwicke Circus, Beth McCarthy, The Hunna, Declan McKenna and Paul Heaton with Rainne Downey.

Before I arrived both the Hunna and Paul Heaton/Rianne were on must see list as I’d missed the Hunna, a band I love, the previous year and I loved the Housemartins. Neither disappointed but more of that later.

Hardwicke Circus, a local band from Carlisle, opened the festival on the main stage, they weren’t a band I’d heard before, but they really didn’t seem overawed by what they were doing. They were confident, had swagger, some decent songs and opened up Kendal Calling in a really enjoyable way.

Beth McCarthy has come a long way since her television start, she has clearly worked out who she wants to be, what she wants to sound like and what she is and isn’t. She put on a really enjoyable, lively set which got people dancing, got them swaying and got them singing along. She has excellent stage presence, some upbeat songs and a very confessional style. She also clearly had a lot of people there who were already fans of hers.

Next up were the Hunna, a truly excellent band who took the whole thing up a notch. They have brilliant songs, are fantastic live and blew the crowd away. Everyone around us was clearly enjoying them. They put on a set which made them an early contender for band of the festival. If you didn’t find yourself singing and moving along then perhaps you should have stayed at home with a cup if Horlicks.

The main support act was Declan Mckenna. An always excellent live act with bags of attitude and songs to match. Personally, I don’t think he quite matched the intensity of the Hunna, but he gave it a really good go. He was clearly a crowd favourite and the interaction livened up the audience even more.

Headliner for the Thursday night was Paul Heaton with Rianne Downey taking on the role of Jacqui About. Rianne played Kendal last year on the Woodlands stage, a much smaller venue, I was lucky enough to see her last year and knew she was a talent so had no doubts she would rise to the occasion. This was a big step up but one she easily took in her stride, she’s going places!

Strolling out to a back projection stating welcome to Heatongrad Paul, Rianne and the band proceeded to put on the performance of the night. As headliners go, they fully lived up to the billing. I’d go so far as to argue that Kendal got this one wrong, they should have been the headliner on the Saturday night they were that good.

With a back catalogue of Housemartins and Beautiful South songs to draw on as well as his own solo material and the songs he’s released with Jacqui he had a huge selection of material to draw on and he delivered from all of it.

'Caravan of Love', 'Old Red Eyes Is Back', 'Happy Hour', 'A Little Time', 'Song for Whoever', 'Perfect 10', 'You Keep It All In' etc etc this was just a joy of a set to be there for. We all sang along, danced our hearts out and joined in the acapella version of 'Caravan of Love'. He even threw in 'Build', a personal Housemartins favourite of mine. New songs were brought into the mix and didn’t sound out of place. Everything about this performance was perfect. There was only one problem, the headliner bar for the weekend had been set incredibly high, could everyone else live up to it? One to wait and see as the weekend went along.

We wandered off into the night to our tents hoping for a decent sleep after what had been an excellent first day. I’m not sure it could have been any better, well done to whoever booked the acts, you nailed it!

Friday 2nd August

Day two, after a surprisingly good sleep (I’m not much of a camper) we headed off to the arena for the first full day of Kendal Calling. I was still on a high after Paul Heaton and was hoping for someone to be equally as good. After a breakfast of Himalayan Dumplings (Kendal is nothing if not diverse in its food choices) it was time to work out who to see.

One of the biggest problems with a festival of this size and scale is trying to fit in as many bands as possible while realising you can’t see everyone, and you can’t spend as long as you’d like with some acts as there is always someone else to go see.

Every day is a marathon, not a sprint, but there are definitely times when getting a sprint on helps!

It’s probably easier to list everyone I managed to get round then focus on the highlights rather than write up every band individually. I didn’t see a bad act all day though, everyone I saw I enjoyed.

In order of seeing them I saw The Empty Page, Oliva Fern, Dead Letter, Cucumaras, Dead Pony, CMAT, Henge, The Snuts, Keane, Pip Blom, Hot Wax, The K’s and Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds.

A lot to fit into one day while also factoring in food, drink, comfort breaks, talking to each other and having some down time.

The Empty Page and Oliva Fern were two acts I’d never seen before. Seeing the Empty Page was pure chance as we passed a stage on the way to see Oliva Fern, heard them, they sounded great, so we stopped for a while and enjoyed a great show. Oliva was also great in a totally different way. Dead Letter and the Cucamaras also put on excellent shows and clearly had devoted followings.

Then came Dead Pony, they were one of the acts I’d been really looking forward to seeing, having seen them two years ago at Kendal I knew they’d be good, I didn’t realise they’d be this good! They have come on leaps and bounds since I last saw them. Their debut album came out this year which is excellent, but their stage craft, presence and audience engagement have all gone up several notches. They put on an eviscerating show which left no-one present in any doubt we’d witnessed an early contender for set of the day.

Off to CMAT, who was also on my pre-festival list. Again, she didn’t disappoint, fantastic stage presence, a willingness to be herself and not care what anyone thinks, brilliant songs, a great backing band and an amazing voice. The audience loved her and rightly so.

Something a bit different next, Henge are an acquired taste, not to everyone’s liking but if you open your mind, let them in and join in the madness that is a Henge set then you will really enjoy yourself. They are from another planet and are here to entertain us earthlings, why don’t you go along sometime and let them. They lived up to their usual lunacy and I left with a smile on my face.

The Snuts blew the crowd away, they are a great live band and they made sure everyone at Kendal knew it. They are going to move up the bill quite soon, I think.

Keane were one of the big surprises of the weekend for me, I’d been 50:50 on going to see them not having been a big fan first time around but I was genuinely surprised by how good they were. Probably one of the most professional and polished appearances on the main stage I’ve seen in a while, the crowd for them was huge and they put on an excellent performance.

Time to leave the main stage again, firstly for Pip Blom, who were excellent as expected then Hot Wax who I’d heard of but didn’t know a huge amount about. This won’t be my last time seeing Hot Wax, this is clearly a band on the rise. If you didn’t get to the Woodlands stage to see them keep your eyes out, they are touring soon.

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was the K’s. I’ve seen them a few times before and their headline set at the Parklands stage was well worth squeezing in to. They are a band that get better and better every time I see them. I’d also seen them in the press tent earlier that day and had a chance to speak to them. Despite knowing it might cost them a good spot for Noel Gallagher the tent was packed, the audience knew all of the songs and the sing and dance along commenced.

Headliner of the night was Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds. With a back catalogue with his current band which is almost as extensive as that with Oasis we knew we were going to be in for rock and roll heaven. Noel does like to display a bit of attitude to his audience, noising up Newcastle and Leeds United fans in particular and making it very clear where his own football allegiances lie. He gave us all the best bits of his recent career and many highlights from his Oasis days. One of my colleagues reckoned it’s one of the best versions of the 'Masterplan' he’s heard. We sang, we danced and generally had a great time.

We were tired by now so fought our way through the crowds of youngsters coming into the arena to get their night started wondering what tomorrow would bring and hoping for another good sleep.

Saturday 3rd August

Unfortunately, our sleep wasn’t quite as good on the Friday night thanks to some people who arrived on the Friday.

Between one of them throwing up and the others shouting between their tents from 3.30 – 6.30am it wasn’t the best sleep I’ve had in a tent. They had managed to invite some women they’d met back to their tents, and I really wish they’d followed through on their repeated assertions they were going back to their own tents. If you are George and you read this, next time maybe think about someone other than yourself and actually go back to your own tent?

So, a bit tired, we had some breakfast beers and geared ourselves up for the coming day. One that would throw up a few surprises and wouldn’t end up where we necessarily expected it to.

The PR had produced a list of artists who might be available to interview in between gig so I put my name down for a few, more in hope than expectation and planned my day. A more traditional breakfast of a baguette and sausage consumed I was starting to feel ready to face the day, probably helped by one other members of the press bringing in their excellent homemade cookies.

I had a plan for who I wanted to see that I didn’t manage to complete for very good reasons but I did manage to see Harvey Jay Dodgson, Russell Howard, Shelf Lives, Heather Small (briefly) Home Counties, Sugababes, The Royston Club, New Dad, Peace and the Untold Orchestra performing Stevie Wonder. I had a roughly two hour gap in the middle of the day which meant I missed a few acts as I was interviewing Shelf Lives, Houne Counties and Heather Small, all of which interviews will be published on this site as soon as I finish writing them up.

Harvey Joy Dodgson is a real talent; he is like a cross between Sam Fender and Alex Turner. He is going to go far, the stage wasn’t packed for his early show but, if he stays as good as he is, it’s just a matter of time until he’s playing bigger stages with bigger audiences.

Russell Howard played the main stage very early during the Saturday and had tears of laughter streaming down my face while also manging to make a few poignant comments as well. His description of the difference between out and down is still making me laugh. He didn’t care who he offended but he was consistently brilliantly funny. Bill Bailley played the main stage two years ago, Russell Howard this year, hopefully this is something Kendal might do more of? It put a massive smile on my face!

Shelf Lives were a band I first heard while preparing for Kendal, I was intrigued and wanted to see them live. This Canadian/British duo did not disappoint. They are a mix of electronic, pop and punk. Their energy and exuberance are fantastic and, as I found out later when interviewing them, they are also really nice people. The crowd was a bit sparse to begin with but quickly grew.

Heather Small had a lengthy journey to Kendal, having driven from London that day, but it didn’t lessen her voice or her impact. Lots of singalongs to some of the best loved songs of the last 20 or so years ensued.  She still has it; the voice is not diminished in any way.

Home Counties are another new band to me, having interviewed them I was keen to see them play. They were on the Woodlands stage and, getting to see them, I realised they should have been on a bigger stage. They are quite a large band with a very audience friendly sound while just being the right side of quirky to keep it all interesting. One to definitely watch.

Sugababes were as good as ever, their comeback continues to gather momentum, as the coolest girlband of their time along with All Saints they have the back catalogue to liven up any audience, which they did here in spades. I can see why there was such a crush to see them at another well-known festival.

The Royston Club are an excellent live band, another one to keep an eye on as they will start to move up the bill. I really enjoyed the part of their set I saw. New Dad were also as good as I expected them to be, one who were on my list I was glad I was able to fit them in and I will definitely make the effort to go see them again.

Peace were tremendous, I was really impressed with them, they played Calling Out like they owned it. A band totally on top of their game, great music, great voice, great songs!

We decided we weren’t going to try and fight our way back into the main arena for the Street and instead made our way back to The Untold Orchestra does Stevie Wonder. I’d heard snatches when they’d played the main stage the day before with their Abba set and was really looking forward to this. Sound issues meant they were delayed starting but that just meant by the time they came on the crowd was the biggest I’d ever seen for the Woodlands stage to the point I don’t think they could have fitted anyone else in. It was worth the wait, they are excellent, I danced, I sang and when I left if was with a massive spring in my step and smile on my face, now would I get any sleep?

Sunday 4th August

The final day, a much better sleep and we were ready to face the final day. I’d marked out the Thursday and Sunday as being the two days I thought I would enjoy most before going so was really looking forward to the day. Having packed up, taken down our tents and packed our cars we were free to concentrate on the day ahead before driving home that night.

More Himalayan Dumplings for breakfast (they were that good) set me up for the day.

I asked for interviews with Red Rum Club and Lauren Hibbard and waited to see if either happened.

Plan for the day was simple, start with the Kendal tradition on the Lancashire Hotpots, then Red Rum Club, Rats, Pale Waves, Glasvegas, Lauren Hibbard, Feeder, Venus Grrrls, The Lottery Winners and the Reytons before seeing if we had enough left in the tank to stay for Mr Nutini.

The Hotpots were as brilliant as ever, lots of dancing along, congas, arm swaying and some drum and bass, The perfect way to start a Sunday, my only complaint is they’ve stopped singing I fear Ikea, bring it back, also Shop Mobility Scooter!

In a happy and cheerful mood, it was time to move on, Red Rum Club were next, I saw them two years ago at Kendal and knew how good they were. They didn’t disappoint and played to a big crowd. Another excellent appearance at Kendal, some sensible record company needs to do the right thing and sign them very soon!

I went back to the tent to interview Lauren Hibbard, while I was waiting to interview her, I ended up interviewing Sugarstone, a new band for me who I’d been talking to all weekend over a beer. They turned out to be great guys, even the guy from their local pub who has decided to adopt them joined in the interview. As this was happening somehow Lauren wandered off and couldn’t be found, so I didn’t get to interview her.

Instead, I went to watch Rats, a top quality band from Liverpool who blew away their crowd, they were excellent, well worth going to see, one to add to your must see list. They have the songs, the audience interaction and the attitude. They will get bigger.

The failure to interview Lauren was made up for though as I managed to get an interview with Red Rum Club over a game of swing ball. An experience I won’t forget in a hurry! Genuinely lovely people, read the interview on here soon, I think you owe me that as I nearly took a swingball in the face several times while trying to ask questions.

Back to the music, there was only one choice, Pale Waves on the main stage who didn’t disappoint. They are a band who continuously get better and better. They are brilliant musicians, have a fantastic lead singer and amazing songs. They blew the crowd away. The new album is out soon (read the review on here shortly as I’m listening to it right now) which is a must buy!

I then went on a run of seeing Glasvegas, who were excellent, the fugitive Lauren, who clearly knows how to get a crowd going and has some excellent songs, Feeder who blew me away with how good they were despite the gremlins in their equipment which delayed the start of their show and who were one of the highlights of the weekend, the Venus Grrrls who were way too good to be on the Woodlands stage and perennial Kendal favourites the Lottery Winners who were, as they have been every time I’ve seen then, outstanding. Every time I see the Lottery Winners play it makes me look forward to seeing them even more, they are a brilliant live act with a charismatic frontman who clearly still can’t quite believe how well things are going for them.

We popped over briefly to watch the Reytons, but the lack of sleep was catching up on all of us and we still had a two hour drive to get home so we decided to call the weekend there.

Kendal 2024 you were as brilliant as ever, my highlights were Paul Heaton with Rianne Downey (the best headliner), Shelf Lives, Dead Pony, The K’s, Red Rum Club, Pale Waves and the Lottery Winners but there was so much amazing music and such a great vibe that the whole weekend was excellent.

Kendal 2025 is already on sale, what are you waiting for, it’s one of the best festivals in the UK and apparently, they already have one headliner booked (lots of speculation as to who it might be but no clarity).

Get yourselves to Kendal, you really won’t regret it!

As they say, See You In The Fields!

Review - Iain McClay

Photos - snapagig.com