After the buzz of the Friday night campsite it was back to business for another thrilling day of music as Finn Forster pulled a decent sized crowd to the main stage for midday. The young Middlesbrough singer-songwriter displayed as a very confident figure on stage, we had seen Finn supporting Stereophonics at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow last month and really enjoyed his set. Up at the Woodlands Stage Stoke-On-Trent singer-songwriter Lissy Taylor played a half-hour of indie rock alongside her band, the cover of Stereophonics song Dakota was first class and prompted a mass singalong amongst the crowd. Lissy has just signed for Universal Records after taking the plunge last year and going full-time into the music business, it appears to be working out perfectly. New track Jealous was played well alongside She’s A Stunner, Feel For Me and Your Girl. Lissy connected well to the crowd and is definitely one to keep an eye on in the future. 9/10
Back down at the main stage The Pigeon Detectives produced one of the liveliest performances of the whole weekend as frontman Matt Bowman kept the crowd entertained with his stage antics, some of his leaps from the drums were a spectacle and in between this he is pouring cans of water over himself and the crowd … He also headed into the crowd at one point and gets a great crowd response. They were down to play at Kendal Calling the previous year but had to cancel so today’s performance more than made up for that. With six albums behind them they rattled through an eleven track setlist that included all the crowd pleasers such as I Found Out and Take Her Back. 10/10
We had heard good things about Dutch Criminal Record so took the opportunity to catch them in the Calling Out tent, the Chichester band released debut album Novium (Latin for Chichester) in 2024 and we would get to hear a few from that release, the band have been releasing music since 2014 since the self-titled EP release that year. Alternative indie-rock is the most likely pigeon hole that Dutch Criminal Record can fit into but there are also dream pop influences and even surf rock, Joe Delaney-Stone on vocals has an air of confidence about him that helps connect the music to the crowd fluently. As with most bands the big hitters were the best of the set with Stuck Between and Socks & Sandals being the standout tracks for us. 8/10
The Royston Club were one of the secret sets for the weekend and what a crowd they pulled to the main stage for the Saturday afternoon headline set. They would be releasing album number two, Songs For The Spine the following Friday after Kendal Calling which follows on from 2023 debut Shaking Hips And Crashing Cars. It turns out that the band also played a set up at Tim Peak’s Diner the same day to rave reviews and we were sad to have missed that one. The performance on the main stage was breath-taking though as the band rattled through a set that included The Patch Where Nothing Grows, I’m A Liar, Cariad, Mariana and the always brilliant Mrs Narcissistic. They have played a good chunk of the UK festivals this summer including at TRNSMT in July where we caught their set. They are next focusing on doing an album promotion tour before heading out for their most ambitious tour to date later in the year. Watch these guys go! 10/10
A walk round to the media tent to interview Thom Rylance of The Lottery Winners was very educational and you can read all about that soon! We made it back for most of the Reverend and the Makers set on the main stage as Jon McClure, his wife Laura McClure and band entertained the vast crowd for forty-five minutes. Jon is a very unique frontman, he skilfully teases the crowd to join in with the chorus of each song and that they do, an example of this is during Heatwave In The Cold North and Heavyweight Champion Of The World that prompts mass singalongs amid exciting scenes. The best for us though was Out Of The Shadows, here is a track that has everything you could possibly need to have a good time. The dance infused indie song drives the crowd wild (well it did to us anyway!) with a punchy chorus that just begs to be sang back to the stage, “Coming out of the shadows, coming into the light/I’m stepping out in the sunshine, ‘cause it’s the end of the night”. New song Haircut features actress Vicky McClure (no relation) but Jon tells us that sadly she can’t be here today. He Said He Loved Me gives Laura a chance to lead the vocal charge while Silence Is Talking ends a very lively set in the sun. 10/10
The Lottery Winners are playing at Kendal Calling for an unbelievable 15th time today and have specially flown in from Lithuania for the 20th anniversary weekend before flying out to Latvia to continue on the tour with Robbie Williams. They have been playing in stadiums around Europe on a nightly basis with the former Take That man, pulling in loads of new fans in the process. The amount of people wearing The Lottery Winners t-shirts today is major and no wonder, this band are without a doubt just about to hit the big time in the UK. As usual Thom Rylance entertains the crowd with his banter and incredible personality, he even gets the crowd to produce a mass singalong of Robbie track Angels so he can show it to him when they get back on the tour the following night! One of the highlights of the set is when The Rev himself Jon McClure comes out on stage to sing You Again alongside bass player and backing vocalist Katie Lloyd, it is a memorable moment from the weekend for us. The Lottery Winners have two number one albums as Thom tells us earlier and it is second album Keep On Keeping On that the main focus is on today. The best of the hour long set was Superpower, UFO and Turn Around where Thom tells us we are going to try to get in the Guinness book of records for a mass choreographed dance. There really is no holding this band back and Thom tells us that they will be back headlining at Kendal Calling within the next five years, we totally agree. 10/10
Freak Slug (Xenya Genovese) is an artist we have wanted to see live for some time and the Woodlands stage is the perfect venue for this very entertaining half-hour of alternative rock. After releasing debut album I Blow Out Big Candles in November 2024 we are lucky enough to see the talented Manchester musician run through all her big hits including Radio, Care and Friday. There is a decent crowd up the hill too that helps keep the energy levels high. 8/10
The main stage has Glaswegian band Travis kicking off their set as we arrive back down from the Woodlands stage, there is barely room to moved within the crowd now as Fran Healy and co run through a seventy-minute set filled with singalong anthems such as Why Does It Always Rain On Me? (it doesn’t all weekend really!), Sing and Driftwood to name a few. Fran is in the crowd at one point to the delight of the fans around him, he works the crowd into a frenzy more than a few times proving how much of a charismatic leader of the band he is. We get three tracks from last year’s album release L.A. Times with Alive, Bus and Gaslight being the songs but the older more classic albums aren’t forgotten as we get four from The Man Who, the album that made the band really. From start to finish Fran had the crowd in the palm of his hand, this was more of a headline performance for us. 10/10
Back up at Woodlands Starsailor vocalist James Walsh performed an acoustic set that was both thrilling and nostalgic, playing a good mix of solo material alongside some of the bigger Starsailor hits. Four To The Floor and Alcoholic get the best reaction from the appreciative crowd and this is just a taster of what is to come when the band head out on a UK tour later in 2025. The cover of Someone To Lean On was a great effort too. 9/10
Fatboy Slim or Sports Team is the big question as we decide which one to watch close off Saturday at Kendal Calling. We opt for Sports Team as we have been waiting a while to see them live and the band are considered one of the best up and coming bands at the moment. We think we made the right choice as lead singer Alex Rice takes to the stage in what can only be described as an army outfit with a massive pair of sunglasses fitting well alongside that attire. Having released album number three in May – Boys These Days – they ran through a setlist that had the crowd bouncing along in the packed Calling Out tent. I’m In Love (Subaru) and the quirky lyrics of Maybe When We’re Thirty are the standouts from the fifteen song set that was thrilling from start to finish, these guys have something special going on. 10/10
Day three has been superb at Kendal Calling … will the final day live up to this incredible Saturday night?
Check out our review of Thursday and Friday HERE.
Written by: Alan Brown
