Reviews of Bingley Music Live 2007
The Telegraph and Argus
Festival a-live and Jam-packed! by James Rush, 2 September 2007.
Scores of music lovers flocked to Myrtle Park on Saturday for the opening day of the Bingley Music Live festival. Thousands turned up to the free event, organised by Bradford Council, to see a host of Bradford bands performing before some more well established acts took to the stage.
The weather managed to stay fine and people enjoyed numerous food and toy stalls, as well as the beer tent and more importantly, the free entertainment.
First up were Bradford's own hot prospects Sharp Darts. The indie-rocking youngsters proved themselves to be worthy of the rapturous applause for their own brand of modern tales of adolescence and all that comes with it.
Then the Analog Bombs took to the stage, with their ska-inspired punk indie. With singer Ben swaggering about the stage, the band provided a perfect backdrop for all those lazing around in the sunshine.
By the time veteran rockers Splash Alley took to the stage however, dark clouds were looming. But the comprehensive list of good ol' classic rock covers, including Van Halen's Jump, Guns n' Roses' Sweet Child O Mine and some frantic AC/DC covers, seemed to keep the rain at bay.
The band were followed by the 60s inspired The Touch, whose incessant riffing and Ginger Baker-esque drumming was strangely reminiscent of the original supergroup, Cream.
There was still a sizeable crowd for when the electric ball of punk fury that is White Light Parade took to the stage. The band got part of the crowd really going, pogoing and dancing to their modern take on the leather-jacket wearing post punkers.
Yet it was The Bluetones who really started to get the "retro" juices flowing as they took us all back to the Britpop heyday of the mid to late 90s.
Kicking off with the classic Bluetonic, the band, who look a little more smart and respectable then they did a decade ago, carried on with their "hit parade" as well as a few new ones, including their latest single Surrender.
There was no substitute, however, for the reminiscent twinkle in the audience's eyes as they performed older tracks such as Keep The Home Fire Burning and If.
Despite the incredible free music already on offer during the day, From The Jam entered and exited the stage as the kings of the event.
Coming on, dressed in their customary sharp "mod" suits, as the night had already darkened, by around 9pm, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler unleashed a fury of classic punk songs from the pinnacle of that period.
Despite the absence of Paul Weller, the band were tight, furious and just as impressive as ever with the two remaining members of The Jam swapping vocal duties for such absolute classics as the acoustic That's Entertainment, Eton Rifles and Going Underground, which reserved the biggest cheer of the day.
A fantastic firework display then rounded off the day in perfect style. Yesterday was, perhaps inevitably, a more subdued affair, at least in the early stages. But the hardy revellers were still up for a party despite receiving a soaking from the driving rain.
First up were Talk to Angels whose youthful exuberance had the crowd jumping. With their skater outfits and matching haircuts they looked a bit like Busted and sounded, well, a bit like Busted. The younger end of the crowd clearly enjoyed the show, especially one young lady who was delighted to realise she had been name checked in the song Emily.' The beer tent was soon doing a roaring trade (despite having run out of cider the previous night) and the rain was forgotten.
By the time evening arrived the crowd had grown to a respectable size as befitting bands with the reputation of the headline acts, new kids on the block The Twang and Mancunian survivors the Charlatans.
Manchester Evening News
The Charlatans, The Twang at Bingley Music Live by Lawrence Poole, 3 September 2007.
From Brown Sugar to Bingley, it doesn’t get much more contrasting than that for The Charlatans. After supporting pensioners of rock The Rolling Stones across Europe this summer the Manc indie veterans brought the curtain down on their UK festival hopping in the pretty, yet unlikely surrounds of the West Yorkshire town’s Myrtle Park.
Headlining the second day of this council run event, which has also featured fellow Britpop survivors The Bluetones plus From The Jam (sans Mr Weller of course), they left a packed out crowd, who usually have to travel to nearby Bradford or Leeds to catch such a stellar act, in raptures.
It wasn’t just about evergreen frontman Tim Burgess (pictured) and Co though, as the fun-loving crowd were warmly up nicely for the main event by Brummie upstarts The Twang.
Still riding on the crest of an NME powered wave, it didn’t take long for the five-piece to kick things into party mode.
Led by the buoyant twosome of Phil Etheridge and Martin Saunders, who bounced about on stage as if they still hadn’t quite come to terms with the fact they’ve left behind moribund 9-5 jobs, to live out their dreams – their unpretentious stage persona was a breath of fresh air when you consider a lot of the po-faced antics of their peers - more Heineken than knowing continental beer.
Sadly though, despite releasing one of best debut singles in some time (Wide Awake) plus a couple of other cracking heartfelt paeans since (Either Way, Two Lovers) much of their material – the infectious, dancey Ice Cream Sundae aside - gets bogged down in overly muggy and derivative melodies.
Preserved Like the nearby Victorian workers’ village of Saltaire, The Charlatans’ fresh-faced singer Tim Burgess seems to have been preserved for an eternity too.
Now a clean-living lad, clearly benefiting from the LA lifestyle, he and the rest of the quintet have matured impressively.
With a 10th studio LP in nearly 20 years currently the pipeline, the band took the chance to road test a couple of new tracks plus delve deeper into their back catalogue.
Toothache from 1995’s self-titled offering sounded as scuzzy as ever, a pulsating electro version of You’re So Pretty - powered on by Martin Blunt’s tight basslines - also hit the spot, while One To Another kick started the group mosh everybody was hankering for.
Of the new material Oh Vanity sounded like the best thing they’ve put down in years – hooked on an impossibly infectious melody and a football stadium sized chorus, if they don’t lead the new LP off on it I’ll be gobsmacked.
As the green light sprayed out all over Myrtle Park for traditional set closer Sproston Green, it was great to head back across the Pennines knowing just like the Stones, The Charlatans keep on rolling.