By Glen Screeton
FOLLOWING the Winter Music Festival at Parr Hall in January, ‘Culture Warrington’ have done it again with their Summer version held in the town centre on May 25, only this time it was bigger and better than last year!
Let’s be honest, we were extremely lucky with the weather and Saturday dawned with a very promising high of 21 degrees which is ideal for music festival goers, music lovers and families alike and many turned out for a superb day of well organised entertainment. With the main stage in Golden Square and a second located in Time Square there was plenty of music on offer, ranging from Ukulele bands, Blues, Acoustic acts, Keyboard acts, Rock and Indie and something to suit everybody. Sadly and unlike the Marvel Character ‘ Mister Fantastic ‘ I couldn’t stretch to being in two places at once so like a ‘Glastonbury stage trotter’ I noted who I hadn’t seen before (or reported on in Warrington Worldwide previously ) and flitted between the two stages as best as I could.
It proved to be the best strategy and I witnessed some excellent performances from the early 12pm slot on the Golden Square music festival stage , namely ‘Barstaff’ from Wigan who I hadn’t seen before and the Summery, funky sound of ‘Isla Rico’ who proved very popular in the sunshine. Some of the bands like young up and comers ‘Freight’ had agreed to do an early 1.30pm slot at Golden Square and a later 6.45pm slot at Time Square with their teenage fan club and merchandise table in tow throughout . What a great idea, and this enhanced two exciting performances from the lads who have an average age of just 17!
The Time Square music festival stage opened at 1pm and when it was time to move down there mid-afternoon it meant I had to miss some main stage acts although my fellow writers and photographers informed me that ‘The Odeens’ in particular played a strong set and have come on enormously since I first saw them live as a Youth Zone start up back in August 2023 ,and with their own band of EMO Rock teenage followers I was delighted to hear it .On arrival at Time Square I found it basked in sunlight and plenty of people were clearly enjoying themselves. Surrounded by so many bars and food outlets there were lots of families being entertained by the quieter electro-acoustic sets and I was reliably informed by a fellow musician that The Ukulele Uff Trio with a guest appearance by renowned and local Blues musician Pete Price gave a well received performance.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before I was feeling the effects of the sun and without a hat I headed for cover into the welcome shade of The Hop Emporium and a quick Pacifico before taking stock and catching up with a few other revellers. I also noticed that The Pink Leaf Cocktail bar had set up their mobile trailer with a fenced enclosure and deck chairs, a bit of well planned optimism which looked brilliant!. However, back to the music and in this game one ear is always open to the stage and the sound of electro-acoustic guitar performer Matty Hignet drifted in on a very pleasant breeze . Matty’s set was mixed and very good indeed, his playing and vocals were solid but as always on this stage with many families present, covers were going to be more popular and it wasn’t long before people were joining in with his excellent renditions of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus and ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana, cannily captured on video by editor Gary in our earlier Warrington Worldwide report. So, hat’s off to all the solo performers of the day , it’s certainly not easy following a band and can be quite unnerving as the audience goes quiet for a time as you tune up and start.
Indeed, up next at the music festival and following a very short changeover ( kudos to the sound team ) , keyboard player Joseph O’Brien took to the stage. Now I’m going, to be honest here readers and say it’s not usually ‘my thing’ , but that’s the beauty of music, someone will always change your mind and in this instance it was Joseph. As a guitarist at least you can move and jump about, but as a keyboard player you are sat in the same position and if you are singing as well there is nowhere to hide! This was another good performance and well done to the organisers for getting Joseph on for something different. Apologies to the next act – Oopsacat as I was invited to head back up to Golden Square to take a quick peek inside the future & temporary Pyramid venue (ex Viola Beach shop) where a lot of hard and exciting work is taking place. Many thanks to Chris for showing me around.
Now, time marches on as they say and after more photographs and catching up I heard that the last performance on the Time Square stage had finished and revellers started to appear at the Golden Square stage where they would have been in time to catch the remaining acts and here are some brief notes about a few of them . In the interest of brevity and column space I’m afraid I’m not able to deliver comments about all 29 bands /performers, so apologies if you are not mentioned but I’m sure I will catch up with you over the many Summer festivals happening in the town:
Gondolas – ( 4 piece – Indie Punk ) Described as a ‘ Dirty Indie /Punk band straight in your face’ I make no secret of the fact that I really like this highly energetic and entertaining outfit who I first saw last year and I’m certain they would have gained a new group of followers from down the front today .I have seen them twice before and with a few singles under their belt they delivered a blistering performance of their own material and really enjoyed themselves. Catch them on Instagram @gondolas_band
The Twenty Two – ( 4 piece – Indie Pop) With a tagline on X.Com of ‘ all killer and no filler’, I have only seen half a set by this Warrington band before, so I was keen to see them today and I was told they have had a bit of a break recently and are back in rehearsal but their own material was very well delivered . With the exuberant frontman Joe Rhodes firmly in control of the audience he used every opportunity to get the crowd clapping along and I thoroughly enjoyed the set. Catch them on Instagram @_thetwentytwo_
Belmont and the Stocks– ( 4 piece – Indie Pop / Punk) – Another young Warrington band that I have been watching closely and they have been together for roughly 12 months , but in that short time they are going from strength to strength and their confidence is booming . Sean on lead vocals and rhythm guitar is very lively and likeable and you can’t help joining in and the whole band is really starting to gel . They were certainly not out of position on the 9.30 pm slot based on their entertainment value alone which was evident by their own fan club as well down at the front, a brilliant set. Catch them on Instagram @belmontandthestocks .
Parlours – ( 5 piece -Indie Rock ) I have seen the lads twice before so their set was no surprise and they certainly didn’t disappoint in front of the larger home crowd. Parlours music is polished , high paced and electric with good harmonies, and adorned in lads overhead jackets they are the archetypal Indie Rock band that create a buzz in the crowd . If you feel you want to revisit the sounds and swagger of Brit Pop then check them out . Catch them on Instagram @parloursband
The Ambersons – ( 5 piece – mellow indie /folk rock ) What can I say about The Ambersons that I haven’t said before? The popular local band claimed the headline spot and deserved to – at least for their professionalism and dedication to music and for being able to put on a good show of course! You won’t see them performing live very often now but if you caught their sold out ‘Winter Songs’ show at the Pyramid on Dec 1st 2023 you would have witnessed a spectacular stage set organised by bassist Andy Fairnington and tonight’s was equally theatrical . We saw strategically placed balloons, paddle bats with instructions prompting us to sing, dance, clap etc and blow up balls bouncing around the audience, somewhat reminiscent of the concerts by the American band ‘Flaming Lips’. The set contained their usual favourites like ‘Smile’ and ‘ A little love’ which were enjoyed by the dedicated group of fans, and of special interest was the live rendition of the newly released single ‘Doodlebugs’ . If you like the big sound of the later Beatles or E.L.O then this single is for you and the addition of a 3 piece brass section to reproduce the single was a wise move. Catch them on Instagram @ambersonsband
Overall The Ambersons produced a fitting climax to a fantastic music festival, with superb organisation and some excellent performers , many of whom would have gained a lot of benefit from a large crowd , so well done Culture Warrington for supporting grassroots live music at a music festival and keeping it free for all, you won’t hear that very often nowadays!
Finally, many thanks to all the people who remembered me from other venues and were kind enough to pop over and say hello and comment on my own initiative for live and original grassroots music in the town. If you would like to stay abreast of what is happening there please follow me on Facebook and TikTok @unsignedhub.com and you can follow my own photo journal on Instagram @unsignedhub.com_uk . It’s going to be a busy Summer!
