“Big Heart, Big Sounds” runs the tagline for Bingley Music Live, the fledgling festival that has sprung up once a year since 2007 on the outskirts of Bingley, a small market town that sits just a stone’s throw away from the stunning Yorkshire Dales.
With the very nearby Beacon’s Festival concluding just over a week prior to its opening, BML certainly has much to live up to in terms of the indie festival scene. Beacons boasted some terrific new acts this year as well as a strong set of headliners, namely Django Django, Bonobo, Local Natives and SBTRKT. As such, it has firmly established itself as one of the new boutique festivals and has breathed new life into West Yorkshire’s previously almost non-existent music scene. Now, with BML hot on Beacons’ mud-spattered heels, we see some even bigger names taking the region by storm. What’s that coming over the hills? Not The Automatic, thank god, but rather 80s synthpop legends The Human League, disco deity Nile Rodgers and Chic, and of course the psychedelic substance-lovers that are Primal Scream.
While this is a line-up that could quite easily contend with, if not surpass entirely, any of the largest UK festivals, in keeping with BML’s ethos tickets for this 16,000 strong festival come at an absolute steal at a mere £55 for a weekend camping ticket, and entry for one of the days entirely free of charge.
Even though a mere infant in the UK festival scene, BML has been awarded an elusive 10/10 by independent festival critics Virtual Festivals and as such BML prides itself on its relaxed, friendly atmosphere, value for money and incredibly diverse range of acts. We see Tinchy Stryder standing back to back with indie-rockers The Fratellis, and dub/R&B sensation Katy B rubbing elbows with Johnny Marr and The Cribs. Anyone remember Lucy Spraggan from the X Factor? The one with the guitar? Well she’s Sunday’s headliner of the second stage, which should at least bring a bit of pop-music novelty to BML if nothing else.
The point is, there are some terrific acts set to play BML and whether they be by-gone legends or virtual unknowns, each promises to add something different to this vibrant new festival that is going from strength to strength. All in all, it seems that Bingley Music Live is well on its way to accomplishing its goal of bringing back heart- and music- to the centre of the UK festival scene.
See the full line-up at http://www.bingleymusiclive.com/lineup.php
Buy tickets at http://www.bingleymusiclive.com/tickets.php