Stockport isn't a town particularly
synonymous with a music scene. There's one there, that's for certain,
after all, being situated as close to Manchester as it is, why it
would be a cause for concern if their wasn't
one. There's even a wealth of practice rooms and recording studios on
offer for those bands who have graduated from the confines of their
parent's attic or garage. As for venues however, apart from the likes
of the Baker's Vault, there's very few musician friendly venues on
offer in and around the town and even fewer that would allow a two
day exhibition of some of the most up and coming bands' from the area
as well as a smattering of those from further afield, not to mention
a handful of names that are slightly more established and more likely
to bring in a crowd. That's why when Headlander Festival was
announced, there was a higher degree of anticipation than reservation
about it, for those at least with a vested interested in their local
scene at any rate.
Marketing
itself as a family festival has it's pros and cons. Sure you're going
to bring in the crowds, but is allowing a festival to feel more like
a glorified school fête going attract the kind of crowds that would
make it a success? Thankfully however, school fêtes don't often have
live music, and thankfully again, if they did, it probably wouldn't
be as solid as some of the performances of some of today.
The
first band of the day are
Cove, a three piece who
kick of the proceedings with the weekends Battle of the Bands.
Unfortunately for them, the judges of the competition were running
late and a lack of communication between officials meant the set had
to be repeated, thus forcing the organisers itinerary back and back.
Musically however, Cove are solid in their performance and the shared
duties of guitar bass and vocal between the two front-men keep stuff
fresh. Despite only a four song set, the band quickly assert
themselves as having talent, particularly as far as the vocals are
concerned and though the song writing came off as somewhat easy, this
is something that obviously improves with time and given the band's
young age ( I doubt any are over 18 ) there's a certain amount of
potential there for the band to tap in to.
The
second band today, this time on the main stage is
Vacant
Lot,
again another young band with a lot of potential who uphold a
distinctly 'alternative' sound. Again there young age accounts for
the occasionally forced lyricism but where that lets the band down
both guitarists raise it up. Their set sees a couple of covers in the
form of The
Black Keys
'Gold on the Ceiling' and The
Strokes
'Last Night' the latter particularly impresses with the
singer/guitarist doing his best Julian
Casablancas
impression, really quite well. You've got to feel sorry for a band
like this though, all through their set the guys doing the lighting
and the sound do nothing but bitch about how young and unprofessional
they are, even though the nerves on their faces are obvious.
Everyone's career kicks off somewhere and everyone should respect
that no matter how far down that line you are as a band.
The
final band of the Friday were Freedom
of the City,
a band I've recently discovered. Perhaps placed unjustly low down on
the bill, sound problems and scheduling issues are abound and
unfortunately their set gets cut short after just three songs.
Thankfully they squeeze a fourth out of it much to the crowd's
pleasure given their blend of reverb tinged and delay-soaked indie
pop goes down better than any of the other bands on today's bill, a cheeky comment to one slightly warm member of a media team seems to fall on deaf ears and was a slight hint at what the set could have been if it wasn't for poor planning.
Whether it's down to the bands or to the event organisers, when a
band travels to a venue that they've had to pay to play, and gets
their set cut after only four songs, there's something seriously not
right, and despite it being the highlight of Friday, a band like
Freedom of the City deserve to be placed higher up the bill and
deserve not to have the plug pulled on them.
And
so the day's proceedings are rounded off in an almost bittersweet
fashion. The music was on point, the kids entertainment was on point
and there was almost-enough side-stalls there to allow a festival
buzz to rear it's ugly head at times. Unfortunately though poor
organisation across both tents seem to impact on both bands and sound
engineers leaving a nasty taste in the mouths of those so inclined to
notice it. For a first festival experience for some of the younger
children though it's certainly something worth bearing in mind,
especially for the low ticket prices and camping availability. Let's
just hope that the Sunday fares somewhat better.
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