We couldn’t quite do the whole Friday-Monday outing for this festival, so we have a report on the twenty-four hours we spent at this year’s Indietracks festival.
Many people seem somewhat flummoxed by the festival, presuming it’s going to be one huge knitting club here everyone constantly has a lollypop in their mouth while humming Belle & Sebastian. In other words: a bit twee. While I am certainly not one for having things too sickly in those stakes, this festival is misunderstood. It’s an intimate festival situated on an idiosyncratic and endearing site in the form of an old railway site. It is, by self-definition "an indie-pop festival, with trains". You can even roll up via train on the platform and, as you step off, that is the entrance to the festival. The bar (stocked with a wide variety of local beers) is an old, long train carriage; this makes having a beer at a festival actually something to desire, instead of having to endlessly queue for overpriced cheap lager. Although no refrigeration on site was an undeniable issue. The festival feels very close knit due to its size; there are a couple of places to get food, a handful of stalls to buy things, and that’s about it. In many senses, it’s like an extended village fair but with bands.
The bands then: as we arrive, Let’s Help Stamp Out Loneliness are gracing the main stage, with everything going smoothly and pleasantly enough. Then everything dies. The power goes. It cuts them mid-song. It’s restored for the rest of their set however, which is mostly a breezy pop romp before it dies for the rest of evening. Forcing a mass shift around and the main stage acts having to head indoors. After settling in somewhat, the first act we properly catch is the mighty Edwyn Collins, who was quite simply wonderful, his band on blistering form, tight, energetic and sweetly melodic. Running through solo material and some Orange Juice classics. What becomes apparent very early on is that, while this is a man who may still struggle to speak somewhat, he can still sing like he could thirty years ago. His voice still croons, moans and slides with an equally sensual and intense quality. As he sings the remaining lines of ‘Falling & Laughing’, it’s spine-tingling. Finishing on a rousing 'Girl Like You', he stands for his last song before giving a warm salute to the crowd with his walking stick before shuffling off the stage. It was a sincerely moving performance and one that left me visibly so for sometime afterwards.
Hidden Cameras, self-described "gay church folk music" band is next up. Maybe it’s in the wake of Edwyn and co., but they somehow feel a bit flat - the energy is there and the synergy between audience and performer seems alive with tension, but the songs feel somehow lacking in weight and punch. When the group all tie on blindfolds and play their instruments blind, I’m sure it should come across as inspiring, but it seems a little showy and unnecessary. We head to the campsite disco and enjoy the songs of everybody from Pavement to Paul Simon, The Smiths to Weezer, a thoroughly enjoyable way to cap off the night. The bar even sold cold beer!
Day two started as most festival days do, a little groggy and the feeling of being baked alive in a nylon oven. After trying to squeeze on the train to try and catch Oxo Foxo, we had to cut our losses and jump ship as there was simply no room on board and the temperature may have killed us. After hearing bits and bobs of people floating in the background, there wasn’t anybody we fully caught until Sheffield’s The Sweet Nothings, who were an injection of life into the afternoon. They exude a mix of classic C-86-esque indie-pop, with more eccentric political leanings more akin to maybe Half Man Half Biscuit, or even Sheffield’s own MJ Hibbet. The focus on primarily having fun, they shower the crowd in balloons and even give us an ABBA cover. The Sweet Nothings felt like a much needed antidote to the often meagre acts that went before them, setting the tone and tempo for what was fairly rock 'n' roll evening.
Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard were mainly the rabble that continued the uptempo numbers. They were fast, loose, and heaps of fun. Members of Herman Dune came out and they had a big old jam, and the exuberance and pace of the show meant that the forty minute set was over in a flash, with a final blast of Tom Petty before they debunked the stage. All utterly charmed, it seemed. Crystal Stilts were up next and no doubt took the prize for coolest dudes at the festival. But also perhaps best act. As previously discussed here at KATP, Crystal Stilts are a difficult band to dissect, appearing derivative yet consistently original. See our cover interview for a little more on that. Tonight is no exception; they blast through their latest album whilst also dipping into their debut with ferocious force and melodic delight. They are the festivals "heaviest" band for sure, so the wave of noise is a refreshing palette cleanse. Lastly, we catch a tiny bit of Herman Dune before we have to head home. From the little we saw, it seemed to be a very intimate performance on the largest stage.
There are a lot of bands on at Indietracks for its size, and we missed way more than we caught. There is an overwhelming feeling of friendliness at the festival - you wonder if the word hostility even exists here. It's family friendly without being saturated with ankle-biters, so it strikes a fine balance. It’s a rare occurrence when you can find a festival so charming in its location, clientele and line-up, but Indietracks certainly succeeds in all three.