On 4th July, I visited London in the glorious sunshine for Calling Festival, 'the UK's premier classic rock festival' as its website proudly states. It's easy to see why as this year's festival was headlined by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and also had sets from The Hives, Wolf Alice and Echo And The Bunnymen among others.
For a festival with such an impressive line up, I was surprised at how small the site was and the tiny distance between the two stages. Luckily, this set up meant that festival goers could easily see every band on the bill play if they wanted to. However, this also meant that there was little for guests to do while waiting between sets other than buy overpriced food and beer so the site could feel a bit claustrophobic at times. Also a little bit more variety of beer on offer wouldn't have gone amiss!
First band of the day were Echo And The Bunnymen on the main stage whose neo-psychedelic rock was well-suited to the summer heatwave and sunshine, and while the set was enjoyable and attracted a crowd the audience weren't as engaged as they were with later acts. We decided to stay over by the main stage and wait for The Hives, who in comparison delivered a true belter of a set with frontman Pelle Almqvist commanding the stage and audience with relentless energy throughout.
Later we caught New York band Bleachers on Stage 2 who performed tracks from their album Strange Desire mere days ahead of its UK release. Being unfamiliar with the band or frontman Jack Antonoff's other music I was unsure what to expect from them but their catchy indie-pop songs were infectious and enjoyable. They seemed genuinely pleased to be there with Antonoff declaring that this was the second 4th July in a row they had spent in London and that there was no where they'd rather be.
The penultimate band of the day were one of my current favourites Wolf Alice, fresh from the recent release of their debut album as well as their awesome set at Glastonbury. This was the third time I've seen them play (I'll be seeing them again in September) and they get better and better each time. They're much more confident than when I first saw them at Dot To Dot Festival last year, particularly frontwoman Ellie Rowsell who gave a totally fearless performance. They played tracks from their album as well as older singles and EPs which were all raucously received by the crowd, particularly their performance of Moaning Lisa Smile which had the crowd moshing, jumping and singing along. It's been a real joy to see them develop at each gig and find the success and acclaim they deserve.
There was a real buzz and excitement in the air as hundreds of people, many in Oasis t-shirts and sporting 90s Gallagher brother haircuts, moved swiftly over to the main stage for the headline set from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Noel and his band delivered a fantastic career-spanning 1 hour and 45 minute set which included Oasis classics as well as hits from his two solo albums. There was plenty of typical Noel banter, including convincing too many people that the band's performance of recent single Riverman was actually going to be Live Forever...with a saxophone. The set climaxed with the compulsory performance of Don't Look Back In Anger and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the crowd who wasn't singing along.
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