Shropshire Star

Jamiroquai, The Libertines, Catfish and the Bottlemen and more to play Y Not? Festival

A summer of festivals will kick off on Thursday when Jamiroquai, The Libertines, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs and The Wombats line up at Y Not? Festival.

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Virtual insanity – Jamiroquai joins The Liberitines and the Manics

The event runs until July 29 at Pikehall, in Derbyshire, and also features Seasick Steve, The Levellers. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Razorlight, Circa Waves and The Amazons.

There will also be sets from Kurupt FM, Fat White Family, Buzzcocks, The Sherlocks, Tom Grennan, Peace, Moose Blood and Reverend and the Makers.

Also on the bill are Shame, Fickle Friends, Marika Hackman, Mallory Knox, Lucy Spraggan, Tom Walker, Pale Waves, Coasts, Blaenavon, Lady Leshurr, Ibibio Sound Machine, Nadia Rose, Spector and Superfood.

The event gives fans the chance to enjoy great music and tasty street food in the beautiful Peak District.

The event has added more artists in recent weeks and a spokeswoman says: “Just announced, hitting up the main stage on Thursday night we’re excited for Her’s to be joining us. The Liverpudlian wonders will be supporting Reverend and the Makers on the Thursday evening to hit off your weekend in the perfect way.

“All girl band Yassassim will be heading to the Peaks too. With their “whirlwind of catchy hooks, do-it-yourself gumption and take-no-prisoners swagger” it’s sure to be a good show and not to be missed.

“I Cried Wolf alt-rock will be bringing their repertoire of heavier music.

“Not forgetting rock-lovers Leader, who have been going from strength to strength since their sold out ep-launch at Oxfords O2 academy in 2016.”

The festival has a stage for new music, featuring BBC Introducing babes Oddity Road, Vega Bay, The Time Sellers, Sheafs, Ashfields, Soft Boys & Girls Club, Alex Ohm and Daisy Godfrey. There will also be a set by Barnie Rubblz, who have been hand-picked by the fans and organisers of local charity The Belper Games.

Cattlefish and the Bottlemen have enjoyed a successful recent few years – with their 10th anniversary marked in style last year.

The band have toured in South America, Japan, UK, Europe, North America, and Australia and have featured at a number of festivals including Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Latitude, Reading and Leeds, T in the Park, Governors Ball and Bonnaroo. They won a Brit Award for British Breakthrough act on 24 February 2016. Van McCann said the band were almost too busy to notice their 10th anniversary.

“We just breezed through that. We were just like ‘Oh, it’s ten years’. We probably had a drink or whatever we did for it. But you never have time to stop and look at it, stop and think and see what’s going on.”

The band have drawn on a wide variety of sources, including their mates from Mumford and Sons. McCann added that Ben Lovett, from Mumfords, opened his mind to writing better tunes by adding a middle eight.

“I didn’t know what they were. He just opened my mind. Our songs always used to be about two minutes long, like Kathleen. They all used to be like that. So he taught me how to take a song and open a song up a bit. I never liked long songs so I guess he just opened my mind to that. Ben did a lot for us. He took me to New York for the first time. He’s a good bloke, a very good bloke.”

Manic Street Preachers are looking forward to returning to the festival circuit, having recently released their new album, Resistance is Futile, which went to number two on the UK chart.

Resistance is Futile finds the band working from an emotional palette they are not immediately associated with. From the cascading opening of ‘People Give In’ to the scattered resonance of ‘The Left Behind’, the album is very much the work of a band demanding to be heard and joined, at full volume.

The first Manics album to be recorded at their new Door to the River studio, inspiration comes from the deep vastness of Yves Klein’s International Klein Blue, the deaths of both the famous and the anonymous (David Bowie ‘In Eternity’ and Vivian Maier), the city of Liverpool and Dylan and Caitlin Thomas’ intoxicating relationship (a duet with The Anchoress).

Nicky Wire says of the record: “In such a fractured and dysfunctional world, we found it impossible to avoid the idea of art as a hiding place and a weapon.”