Well???

[Radgie Gadgie]

6th Kc for us. Took our 8 year old lad for his first festival.

Got there Thursday 9.30 - no problems at Emperors getting in and set up took about an hour.

Craig Charles and Hacienda went down well with our lot, liked the new layout and the larger Calling Out tent.

Friday , we'd seen James and Catfish several times already so went to see William McCarthy(Augustines) who was amazing in front of just a few hundred. Elvana were clearly one of the highlights of the weekend for a lot of people.

I should add that the Red Stars meet was the biggest waste of time this weekend. Walking through the woods to the "compound" to be told it would open at 8pm pissed a lot of people off who had followed their social media and got dressed up in red for it. Felt a right knobhead! 

Loved the new Potabello Road and Russian Standard bars , should be the new standard. Food outlets at "The Pit" were better than the usual you get at KC.

Saturday, enjoyed the Dub Pistols, Argentinian Wine Bar, missed the Fun Loving Criminals as our 8 year old was cold and wet and wanted to go back. (P.s he says the kids area sucks!) He liked the Electronic Showroom(i think it was called) but i thought it was cheap and beneath KC standard and the equipment in the Youth Club was a joke , although they were nice guys running it.

On the kids front , he doesn't want to go back, he didn't know any of the acts and the kids area was shocking. Although he did enjoy the Beat-Sie Boys on Sunday night.

After being told that Glow Tent would be bigger this year it was disappointing to see it wasn't and after seeing the queues outside for Grandmaster Flash , didn't even bother venturing down the hill. . in 6 years i've never seen a headline act in Glow.What a joke. Watched Shed 7 instead and was pleased to see what a good band they were, never thought much of them in  the 90's.

So Saturday was as up and down as the weather, we ended up in the Silent Disco which we thought we'd hate but ended up really enjoying.

Sunday was a write off until about 3 when it stopped raining , most people in Emperors had buggered off, we had been looking forward to Peter Hook who was pretty good, just let your guitarist sing though, Jeez... The Wailers were great , OCS were amazing and i wasn't a fan, great live band. Couldn't get anywhere near the tents for Clone Roses or Basement Jaxx (again sort it out KC, same problem every year man).

Went to see The Beat-Sie Boys who were amazing and a great way to end the festival.

We normally spend most of our time in Chai Wallah , but was disappointed with the line up in there. Also the rubbish from the chair brigade was unreal , made it look a right dump. Line up in Calling Out was a bit rubbish too apart from McCarthy and Grennan on the Friday.

Last moan would be the toilet issue, same amount as last year which wasn't enough then and everyone told them. Nowt done about it.

Line Up was ok for me (a 90;s lad) but not for anyone else in our group. Think we've got KC fatigue , whilst it's a great festival , we'll be taking our lad to Deer Shed next year.

The rest of our group have said we'll try something different next year. We worked out for what we paid to stay in Emperors and the Thursday tickets etc.. we could have done something like The Isle Of Wight festival , which isn't my cup of tea but the acts leave KC's in the dust. Also Glasto and Boomtown look like better options.

[jamj]

Had a really good weekend, although I was hacked off with the way emperors wristband entry was worked from the off, why let people drop all their gear over the fence, to make them physically walk down the field then back up again to pick it up - especially in that heat and I'm talking about when there was no queue (I understand the need for crowd control), opening the barrier for everyone would have been better (we arrived around 3pm Thurs), especially as I seen it be opened for some and not others - totally pointless.  Anyway on from that I didn't use the showers or the vendors but thought the queues were ridiculous, they needed more of both.  Toilets (as usual) as horrendous as shitting into an open wheelie bin from a height can be, how people camp outside of those is beyond me, stench was unreal on the hot days.  Thought it was better laid out with the fire lane running up the middle of the tents on the left hand side of the field from entry.

 Neighbours in emperors were spot on, all friendly and no arseholes shouting and screaming through the night like we've had in some years and I've read about elsewhere.

Spent most of my time between the main stage, calling out, strongbow yard, house party and the wkd place.  Didn't really bother with Chai, The Woodland or Glow this year.

New finds were Shader and Low Island

Pleasant surprises were Lucy Spraggan, The Hotpots (Lochland get back in your box!), OCS

Underwhelmed by Tom Grennan and thought Catfish were crap (I increasingly feel that band are the most over rated I've ever seen), also thought the crowd was a bit flat for Shed 7 - maybe it was the rain.

Thought the food on offer in the arena was good, varied and some reasonable prices too which was good to see.

The Fireworks were fab, best I've seen at KC

Coming from a huge james fan - yes I agree they should have been banging the hits out, I've read about scuffles breaking out too down at the front during their set, that's bad craic that like but I do feel the vibe of KC has changed overall since my first year in 2012.

Didn't take kids as I've found they get bored too quickly in past years, but I work the kids area at another fest so I always check it out at KC, they need more grass roots arts and crafts, workshops etc - and definitely some kiddies rides somewhere in there, the inflatables are good but not when it's lashing down so they immediately lose some of their offerings.  I think with the amount of kids that go - a bigger dedicated area is needed - although I do realise that will have to take something away from elsewhere so maybe I should keep my mouth shut as I'm happy to have a nice 4 day child free break ha!

Be interesting to see which way they go in 2019 line up wise....got my tickets already as have some friends for their 1st time going.

[Pooly JP]

Despite a few misgivings before we arrived had a great weekend as usual.

If there was a capacity increase i really didnt feel it, if anything seemed less crowded than last year so the layout change worked well for us especially moving all  the dance stuff down together.

Stayed in Emperors again but felt we'd basically paid for an entrance that was slightly closer. The food outlets in our field weren't great and the mrs told me the showers were nowhere near previous standards, couldn't confirm as i have never bothered with them.

Weather wise i think the heat affected me more than the rain, the heat Thursday and Friday wiped me out and i was actually relieved tbe rain came to cool me down. Although i wish it didn't hang around off and on for the rest of the weekend.

Really enjoyed Gerry Cinnamon and Craig Charles on the Thursday , Hacienda was not my thing at all and found it extremely boring. Can't believe the hype Libertines have received, thought they were decent but nothing spectacular. Didn't watch the other headliners so cant comment on them.

Massive fan but agree with the general consensus over James should of been so much better, to start with so many new songs killed their set and a festival with so many potential new fans wasnt the time to be so self indulgent.

Shed Seven were excellent as usual and pleased the Sherlocks, Blinders and Life all got decent crowds on the mainstage as all quality bands.

Spent a lot of time up at the Woodlands which gets better every year, Lottery Winners, the Gallerys, the K's, Riding the Low,  elephant trees, 100 Fables and especially Satyr Play were all enjoyed highly there.

increased capacity in House Party yet was still as inaccessible as previous years when it was busy. Undoubtedly needs a larger entrance as it continually houses the most up and coming bands,that the young uns want to see, probably needs an even a bigger tent despite the increase. Only watched a few bands in there but every time it was rammed. Twisted Wheel were class and the Courtbetweeners were unbelievable, for a tribute act, the real deal must be due a headline slot. Possibly my favourite band of the full weekend were Trampolene absolutely smashed it.

Caught a few things in Tim Peaks which is an unbelievable setting, surely needs to be expanded as its way to small for some of the things that they put on, definitely appreciated the free T shirt i was given when i got a coffee though.

We spent less time in Calling Out than we ever had previous years and only caught Tom Grennan and the Marmozets, who were absolutely incredible, i felt the sound in the tent was pretty poor unless you were stood directly in front of the stage which needs adressing.

Special mention to Baggy Mondays and whoever was on Saturday in the Calling Out after the bands finsihed, i know we are all there for live music but my god those indie discos are ace and really add to the overall enjoyment of the festival plus they make us feel young again for those few hours.

Chai Wallahs is definitely my favourite place at Kendal Calling and spent plenty of time just sat listening to exceptionally talented people who'd id nevr normally hear while enjoying a Baileys Hot chocolate. Sound of the Sirens and Emily Cappel were two of the best. 

Just have to mention Felix Hagan and the Family we watched them all 3 times they played over the weekend and loved every one, never thought they'd be my thing but ever since watching them in 2014 ive never missed them whenever they are playing kendal.

I felt the site held up really well, obviously helped by the good weather  leading up to the start but even the torrential rain Fridsy onwarss didn't massively affect anything.

Only negative during the festival was regarding the toilets, the queues after 6 oclock were disgraceful and a few more portaloo sites are required especially if they have thoughts of expanding further.

Overall another extremely enjoyable weekend were i discovered plenty of new music and had a great time thats why our tickets are already purchased for next year.

[paddyclark]

@eFestivals any Kendal Calling review incoming?

[eFestivals]

1 hour ago, paddyclark said:

@eFestivals any Kendal Calling review incoming?

nope, not this year, soz.

[paddyclark]

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