Gabriella Old
Freelance content creative and copywriter from Cornwall. You’ll either find me on the outskirts of a mosh pit or surfing waves out back. Most likely shitting my pants in both instances.
Boardmasters Saturday 2024 highlights, including Sam Fender’s debut festival performance of the year
There may have been mizzle for most of the day, but that didn’t stop the crowds from catching an incredible day of music.
We kicked off at Land of Saints to watch the young indie rock trio, Bilk. The band emulated indie sleaze vibes of the 2000s, playing a setlist of tracks including crowd favorite ‘RNR’. They even treated us to some unreleased tracks from their just-released LP ‘Essex, Drugs and Rock and Roll’.
We stuck around at Land of Saints to watch Irish garage punk band Sprintswho put on a powerful show. There was big energy from the four-piece. During their performance of ‘Up and eat’drummer Jack Callan even lost his cymbal.
The main stage crowded at Wunderhorse braved the rain and gave the band everything they got, despite the rainy conditions. The band sat far back, providing a wall of grunge rock sound, making for a perfect soundtrack that complemented the brooding weather.
The charismatic Anthony Szmierik quickly got the afternoon crowd at Land of Saints up off their feet. His set was electric, merging the worlds of garage, rap, indie and dance music. Including a cover from fellow Mancunians, The Happy Mondays. He kept the crowd on their toes as he grooved around the whole stage, using his mic stand as a prop.
Crowds at Holly Humberstone They were blessed with the only sunshine of the day. The ultimate sing-a-long opportunity for her pop-rock set list.
Declan McKenna brought glam-rock to the main stage. He had the crowd backing him the whole set, with one superfan standing on friend’s shoulders to belt out every lyric of ‘Listen To Your Friends’. Anticipation built as he kept the crowd waiting, choosing to finish on ‘Brazil’ and ‘British Bombs’, both of whom blew up among fans.
Local loonatics, Hedluv & Passmandelighted crowds in the Keg & Pasty with the eclectic and totally bonkers set that they have become synonymous for.
The biggest name on the bill, Sam Fender drew a huge crowd at the main stage.
After taking a break from touring, fans were eager to hear his indie rock hits live. And they weren’t disappointed. Sam opened with ‘The Kitchen’ as fireworks lit up the sky over the stage. For his third song ‘The Borders’Sam brought up a fan from the crowd to play acoustic guitar alongside him. He expressed how the festival holds a place in his heart, being the first festival he ever played at 19. He brought the night to a close with an electric performance of ‘Hypersonic Missiles’crescendoing with an epic display of strobes, pyrotechnics and fireworks.
Of course, we couldn’t finish the night without checking out the Jam & Meme DJ set at Keg & Pasty. As always their set was a riotous mix of music, including their trademark spin of Limp Bizkit’s ‘Break Stuff’.
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