Having previously lived in Leeds for 3 years I could not believe why I had never been to Bingley Music Live. So when I was handed the opportunity to attend and cover the event it was a direct…YES.
Friday – Day 1
It’s was clear that on arrival to the festival it was well staffed, organised and had a friendly vibe. A lot of north east artists where playing the festival. Our first interview of the day was with Frankie & the heartstrings from Sunderland. The guys have recently just won the ‘Hardest Working Band Award’ in the AIM Awards 2013, well done!! They opened the main stage with a very energetic performance with all their hits. Our next interview and also next on stage was the young and talented Nina Nesbitt, only 19 and from Scotland. Nina was a clear favorite with the crowd. With a massive tour lined up and all ready several dates sold out including Newcastle and Leeds I can see a very bright future for Nina.
A big surprise came for one band The Dirty Rivers (Liverpool) when they was upgraded from stage 2 to the main stage at the last minute, and they rocked it!
Over at stage 2, the quality of the artists was incredibly high. I would definitely recommend checking out the acts on both stages and not just sticking to main stage. We were able to grab interviews with local band Small Words (Halifax), the talented Dave McPherson (Brentwood) and headliners The Dunwells (Leeds), who have already been well establish in the US and even been on the Jay Leno show!
Main stage ended with a bang with Kat Men, The Neville Staple Band just before old skool favourite headliners The Human League, who have some great new material.
All video interviews from Friday
All photos from Friday
Saturday – Day 2
This was a great day for discovering lots of excellent new artists/bands and very busy day for us with a total of 9 interviews. New hip hop band Down Radio (Leeds) opened the main stage. The band were started by Andy Siron (former drummer in Secret Sirens). Following them were The Temperance Movement and the Loveable Rogues. We were also impressed with rock band The Virginmarys and the pop band Summer Camp. Also it was a big day for legend Wilko Johnson played his last live performance due to illness.
Over at stage 2 the talent was amazing! Country singer Jade Helliwell (Leeds) opened the stage, we managed to get an acapella performance from her to show how great she is, watch it here. North East Artists Natasha Haws (South Shields) and The Lake Poets (Sunderland) produced some quality performances, we later saw them getting a lift on the golf buggies…arriving in style! On the set list were two multi-talented bands with great names, Blackbeards Tea Party (York) and Electric Swing Circus (Birmingham), both brought a lot of energy on stage.
Next we interviewed The Struts (Derby) who are quickly becoming one of my favourite bands of the year, they are a must-see live! Their catchy single ‘I just know‘ is out now and have an amazing cover of Cheryl Cole’s ‘Under the sun’. Headlining stage 2 was the talented Chris Helme.
Over at main stage the evening was finished off with some well established artists, Tinchy Stryder, The Fratelllis and headliners Primal Scream, who have been in the music industry well over 30 years.
All video interviews from Saturday
All photos from Saturday
Sunday – Day 3
It was a very cold day, but for me personally this was the best day and stage 2 is where we stayed most of the day. Opening stage 2 was Issimo, followed by local band Born Thief (Bradford) and duo Dolomite Minor (Southhampton). These were followed by north east folk band Holy Moly and the Crackers who we interviewed a few weeks ago. Man Can’t Fly were fresh from playing Reading/Leeds Festival and gave out a great show and some free t-shirts which unfortunately I didn’t catch. Next up were Rose and the Howling North who are now called CryBabyCry hear the reasons why in their interview. Their new sound is more rock orientated and the audience liked it!
If you look under rock chicks in the dictionary there should be a photo of JJ Rosa, very impressed with her talent, enough said.
X factor star Lucy Spraggan headlined stage 2. This is the second time I have seen Lucy play and her performances always come from the heart and connect well with the audience. It was great to see her after the set signing and posing for photos with fans, and she also had time to give us a quick interview.
Over a main stage we were able to catch China Rats (Leeds) who have a great indie/rock sound fresh from playing Reading/Leeds festival. The Wonderstuff sounded great, but it was headliners Chic featuring Nile Rogers who had everyone around us showing off their best disco moves, it was really fun to watch and a perfect way to end the festival.
All video interviews from Sunday
All photos from Sunday
