Kendal Calling 2009
Friday 31st July to Sunday 2nd August 2009Lowther Estate, Kendal, East Cumbria, England MAP
£70 - SOLD OUT
Last updated: Mon 27th Jul 2009
In it's fourth year and third home, Kendal Calling is shaping up to be a wonderful little festival, and a definite highlight of the North West music scene. After apparently biblical conditions at last year's event, the festival relocated to Lowther Deer Park, on the outskirts of Penrith, and it may just prove to be one of the best ideas in this young festival's short history.
Kicking off on the Main Stage were brass orchestra with attitude, Riot Jazz, who's bold takes on jazz and funk standards were the perfect way to kick off the festival in the early evening sunshine.
The close proximity of the stages meant that sampling a little of everything the festival had to offer was by no means impossible, and it was this proximity which led me to drop into the We Are Calling Stage to find Mazzoni playing to a packed tent, and for good reason. Their ballsy, bluesy indie had the early crowds dancing, and with tunes such as 'Dont Look To Me For Your Answers' under their belt, the Whitehaven fourpiece were an early treat.
Striving to be as big as Razorlight could be seen as lofty ambitions, but where Out From Animals have gone wrong is that they have strived to simply look and sound like them. The resultant below par knockoff of a below par knockoff left your humble reviewer, and most of the crowd, cold, and when the time came to head back to the Main Stage for the headliner, there was an almost audible sigh of relief around the We Are Calling Stage, such was the dismality of this performance.
What I found was Fight Like Apes, a neo-Goth, synth driven electronic-indie wonder which may well have been the most exciting thing of the whole day. Frontwoman Maykay led her band through a fan-pleasing set which got the entire tent dancing, and ensured that the Main Stage abomination was quickly forgotten.
Singles 'Lend Me Your Face' and 'Something Global' were tonight's highlights, with the front row screaming along with the band whilst Maykay terrorised the pit photographers. It was hot, it was sweaty and it was exactly what we all needed. Rock and roll to the core, Fight Like Apes could be something of a shot in the arm for a stagnant industry, but if they remain our little secret, that's just fine by me.
review by: Tommy Jackson
photos by: Tommy Jackson
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