Our second visit to this fantastic micro festival held in the grounds of The Lake District’s Muncaster Castle, and curated by Sea Power. With only 1500 people in attendance the event has a wonderfully intimate feel throughout and seems to punch above its weight in term of bands on the line up, which includes Sea Power playing two full sets as well as a session of Jonathan Richman covers through their side-line ‘The Modern Ovens’.
The reputation of Lake District summer weather held good, so a stop en route to purchase welly boots proved to be a wise move. But a bit of dampness doesn’t impact the unfettered joy at the core of this festival which sees all bands playing in a large cow-shed, surrounded by excellent other areas serving excellent beer and a great selection of food.
Arriving on Thursday afternoon we were able to take in the full beauty of the grounds and the superb views over the estuary and sea. Friday morning, before the music began, we enjoyed a tour of the castle by Peter Pennington-Frost, head of the family that occupy the castle, followed by a meet and greet with the band including helpings of free Krankenhaus beer which, at 6.2% gave a lively start to the music proceedings:
Friday
Teeth Of The Sea – telling stories through their music. Think PSB but 10 times heavier
Mozart Estate - 5 piece. Giving a good airing to songs off their 2023 album ‘Pop Up! Ker-Ching And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping’ Mostly catchy pop tunes, sometimes getting a little bluesy. “we love playing these songs and don’t get a chance to do it very often so thanks for coming”
Nadine Shah – superb 12 song set , kicked alive early with a singalong to Topless Mother followed up with a mid-set acapella version of Stealing Cars. Showed her versatility with set closer Out Of The Way with a deliciously out-of-kilter time signature
Sea Power – The band in full force and on equally good form for a rockin greatest hits set with a few rarities thrown in, notably ‘Zeus’ (my favourite) and for the
diehards of SP’s live performances ‘Sprit Of St Louis’. Encored with ‘Waving Flags’ and a joyful ‘Great Skua’
Goat Girl – should have been on earlier in the day but travel problems delayed their arrival. So fair play for pushing through that anguish and delivering an energetic (albeit necessarily curtailed) set featuring numbers from their latest album ‘Below The Waste’
Saturday
Hector Gannet – indie guitars all the way – band of 4 accompanying this excellent north east songster. The gentle intro to the last song The Haven Of St Aidan’s was beautifully interrupted by a small dog barking (only at Krankenhaus !) heralding the beginnings of a masterpiece, morphing into a rockin tune putting all the guitars into full fledge.
Genn – in usual style the guitar, bass and drummer kick off the set with a moody instrumental piece before being joined by the beguiling Leo who blasts into the set proper with slightly screechy vocal and energetic dancing throughout; all with the backdrop of guitars with plenty of scuzz thrown in. Amusingly, Leo was somewhat less beguiling when she tripped over a monitor, handling the moment with superb deadpan humour “Welcome to the Genn experience ….. where we trip over everything”. With 3 of the 4 hailing from Malta this sound presents a melting pot of influences from Brit Pop to Rap to Middle Eastern beats…. And into sprechgesang mode on Rohmeresse
Plantoid – 1980s moustaches are the order of the day for this band. Only the lead singer lets the side down (but we’ll let her off as she’s a girl). First song gave us a heavy riff leading to some gentler balladry in the second number with an excellent guitar lick middle eight. It’s the lead guitarist on the left who is the sonic focal point of this band, delivering a guitar sound in Santana style in the closing number
Butch Kassidy – full on guitars but of a different ilk. This is psych rock turned up to 11. Only their drummer snorts/grunts the occasional vocal…… this is guitar mayhem underscored with keyboard sounds that moves tectonic plates and drums at a thousand beats per minutes. We’re all delightfully rinsed by the end.
Holiday Ghost – a super antidote to the previous band. This band's tunes are pop-infused and simply lovely; shades of Ramones in places My only wish is that they would put standout song Vulture deeper into the set.
Islet – the most quietly bonkers band of the weekend. Commenced the set by strolling through the audience playing hand-bells and chime bar. This is crazy, gentle indie rock. Bass, drums and two keyboard players, the second making frequent forays to his percussion armoury consisting of assorted sounds including cymbals being dropped to the floor or struck mid-air.
Hey Colossus – a return to full on shouty tunes. Noisy in a Murder Capital kind of way, with shades of Echo & The Bunnymen in places. Indeed there was plenty of echo on the best song which they saved til last ‘Oktave’ which fully showcased their musical prowess
Lanterns On The Lake – Had Phil Selway guesting on drums – a classy performance, but rather than replacing the existing drummer LOTL had two drummers. Now, some bands we know (and love) were made with dual drums in mind. LOTL don’t readily fit that category but this was a captivating performance nonetheless.
BC Camplight – took things to the highest possible level. Despite his natural retiring nature Brian is a performer par excellence. A pleasure to witness this set again, built around his 2023 ‘Last Rotation Of Earth’ album, with other classics thrown in. ‘Ugly’ remains one of my top 5 songs of the last 5 years. ”Yes it is” responded Brian after someone shouted ‘Fuckin’ Tune !”
Sunday
The New Eves - weaving incantations rather than singing. 4 females in line: cello, guitar, bass and drums. Vocals shared between them all in folk style. The talented guitarist also turned her hand to violin and expressive dancing. The drummer meanwhile showed her versatility with flute in a couple of numbers
Man/Woman/Chainsaw – a comparison I sense the band are uncomfortable with but I’ve got to say it anyway …… this is a youthful Black Country New Road. The six strong line-up are violin, guitar, bass, keys, guitar all along stage with drummer behind. As in the style of such troupes, vocals are shared. My find of the weekend, their live performance presenting a less spiky sound compared to their recorded material.
Whitelands – categorised as a shoegaze outfit (supported Slowdive on recent tour) but this band is unafraid to wander into indie guitar mode with style, as in ‘The Prophet and I’. Highly self-deprecating: “We are a bunch of musically divergent idiots who play music for half an hour then fuck off back to London”
The Eccentric Research Council feat. Maxine Peake – the synth, keyboard and drum accompaniment gave a perfect surreal backdrop to MP’s reciting of various dream-infused stories. Joined on stage by John Doran for a number later in the set.
The Wave Pictures – easily accessible guitar tunes with a country tinge. Nice intro to the evening’s proceedings and provided my best festival moment with drummer Jonny taking the mic to sing ‘Now You are Pregnant’
Lias Saoudi – from Fat White Family and fresh from Judging the festival dog-show. A tortured genius, interspersed songs with stories centred on his obsession with excrement or as he called them ‘Essays on shit’. His songs also featured interesting lyrical contact as in “you would sell your daddy’s c**t to open doors”. On announcing at the end of the set ‘I’ve got time for one more …. I’ll play the hit” the audience laughter was met with the riposte “…. That’s my life you’re laughing at”. Proceeded to go into closing tune ‘I’m Bored Of Life’
Sea Power – We’d been tipped off by guitar tech, Paul, that we were going to be treated to a special set and he wasn’t wrong. A more laid back vibe than Friday’s set, tonight featuring rarities and tunes that feature on their Disco Elysium soundtrack, with an outing for ‘Smallest Church In Sussex’ and an appropriate dip into latest album ‘Everything Was Forever’ with ‘Lakeland Echo’ titled after local newspaper from the very locality we were enjoying ourselves in.
Snapped Ankles are these the Banksy of indie psych? It could actually be anybody under those strongly plaited head-dresses. Thoroughly enjoyed this set through a beer-infused haze.
Simon