THIS year’s Y Not Festival sold out, and for a good reason. The Derbyshire music event which once started a small party has proved its success yet again as this year boasted a strong line up with major headliners like Editors, The Hives and Madness – all of which exceed the expectations of a medium sized festival.
This year’s site saw a slight expansion that allowed fans to enjoy new perks such as hammocks in addition to the two new tents The Neon Coconut and Malibu Club, both acting as suitable after-party tents for people who wanted to dance through the night. Despite the subtle increase in size, the weekend still held the intimate and friendly atmosphere that keeps the crowds returning annually.
Faers. Image by Will Ireland
London-based Faers set the bar high for the weekend as they kicked off the festival with their summery riffs on Thursday evening. The Coral were an added bonus for campers who arrived that day, as they played an energetic set on the Big Gin stage.
Friday got off to a rocky start as fans were met with a no show from Kelis however performances from Yak and The Cribs quickly made up for this as they sent the audience into mosh pit frenzies reinforcing the power of indie music just in time for the Editors’ headline show.
Four-piece Francobollo treated the Giant Squid with a short Italian lesson teaching the audience “Francobollo means postage stamp”. Their energetic set switched between woozy pysch to grunge, keeping the audience on their toes for the set.
Noel Gallagher of The High Flying Birds . Image by Luca Bailey
Guitars dominated the weekend with the Jack Daniels stage acting as a hub for the best new rock bands around. Babystrange, The Shimmer Band and mod rockers The Spitfires were particular highlights. Noel Gallagher himself even took out a moment to address the vast talent featured on the stage during his epic headline performance. The High Flying Birds played an impressive set that included six Oasis classics as well as newer hits such as Riverman and If I Had a Gun from his two solo albums. Noel finished the show with singalong Don’t Look Back In Anger leaving day two of Y Not with a healthy air of ‘90s nostalgia.
The Hives. Image by Luca Bailey
Kagoule kickstarted Sunday on the Big Gin stage waking up tired festival goers with their Britpop-esque riffs and harmonies. The Hives played a notoriously rock and roll set with lead singer Pelle running around the stage encouraging the crowd to match his pace. This warmed the audience up for the final headliners of the weekend as most of the evening was spent skanking to a string of endless hits from legends Madness.
Ska never sounded so good and the band made sure to put on a good show with the help of Suggs’ charming anecdotes between songs. Our House and Baggy Trousers sent beers flying into the air whilst the slower Must Be Love saw lighters in the air as another brilliant year of Y Not came to an end.
by Katrina Mirpuri
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