The first week in September is not traditionally a big one on the festival calendar. Just one week after Reading/Leeds and Creamfields, you’d have to do something pretty special to persuade the festival going public to don those still-muddy wellies once again. Luckily for Bingley Music Live, doing something special is what comes naturally. Not only did they attract a sell out crowd, but they treat that 15000 strong crowd to one of the best weekends of the year.
If you haven’t heard of Bingley Music Live, I’ll quickly give you the run down. BML is based in a tiny west Yorkshire town just outside of Bradford. It was first held in 2007, with the aim of showcasing high quality music at an affordable price. Despite growing in both popularity and size, this year’s festival proved they still haven’t forgotten this aim; a weekend ticket priced at £40 gained you access to a sublime 3 days of music headlined by Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Maximo Park and Chase and Status.
Arriving on Friday night, the first band I saw was Welsh heavy metal outfit, Skindred. They grabbed the attention of the whole of Bingley, and refused to let go for the entire duration of their all-conquering set. Despite being a much heavier act than BML is used to, the decision to book them as one of the opening acts of the festival proved an inspired one.
Skindred were followed by possibly the coolest band on the planet, the Fun Lovin’ Criminals. The moshing turned to skanking, and I don’t think I saw a still body in the entire crowd. Scooby Snacks was the highlight of the night, as was the sight of FLC’s Huey’s well stocked drinks cabinet up on stage, like I said, coolest band on the planet.
Saturday had a predominantly indie vibe to it, it also had a bill that most other festivals would have given their right arm for. Dionne Bromfield, Dot Rotten, White Denim and Jon Fratelli all entertained the crowd throughout the day, keeping them warmed up for an evening of some of the finest indie bands in the country. Athlete played a short set of back to back crowd-pleasing hits, closing with their 2006 hit Wires, which took the title of loudest crowd sing-a-long all weekend. Mystery Jets then took to the stage with a whirlwind performance filled with their characteristic energy and enthusiasm that did a great job of getting the BML crowd moving their feet.
Next up on stage were my highlight, Feeder, who delivered an unfaultable set that let everyone know just what it takes to be at the top of your game for over ten years. A faultless onslaught of hit after hit, culminating in the already iconic Just a Day, left the crowd screaming for more long after the band had departed the stage. The crowd didn’t get any more from Feeder, but they did get a headline slot from Maximo Park that carried on exactly where Feeder had left off.
After the success of Saturday, Sunday had a lot to live up to. And here was the master stroke of the organisers, whereas Saturday was indie themed, Sunday was more centred around urban and dance music. Because of this, the vibes of each day were completely different, making it almost impossible to compare the two. Instead, the crowd simply enjoyed each day for the difference in music they had to offer.
My Sunday began with the Sunshine Underground, whose guitar heavy dance tunes really got the crowd going and even managed to tempt the sun out for the first time all day. From then on the sun never stopped metaphorically or literally shining (and there you have the cheesiest line in the review). Eliza Doolittle proved her talent is the real thing, The Coral proved theirs never went away, and Chase and Status closed the festival with a set that had the crowd still dancing to work the morning after.
After spending 3 days at BML for less than £50, it really did make me wonder why I bother spending over £200 for the likes or Leeds Fest or Glastonbury. BML may be small, but it has a big heart and a lot of soul. And one thing’s for sure, it’s only going to get bigger and better next year.
Great piece of journalism. Unfortunately i wasn’t there at bingley music live but was interested to read an article on this years festival as i was there a few years previous. I have spent the summer in Japan comparing japanese and british music festival culture to surprisingly find some stark comparisons of what happens “after the music stops”. However i always felt binlgey music live had a different atmosphere to the major festivals that the area has to offer. I give a big shout out to “dean knapper” although he is unknown to me, I felt his journalism described the festival perfectly. I hope I will be able to quote him in an article I’m writing about UK festivals in a Tokyo english speaking newspaper. Best of luck to BML for next year it would be something great to make it back for.
What an excellent, well written review. Although I only attended on the friday I found the festival crowd to be incredibly friendly, the organisation was excellent and the setting was perfect! What was also nice for a smaller festival was the wide range of music genres on offer, as Dean points out, there was something for everyone.