Heading to the heart of Nottingham just a short tram ride (or a walk if you’re enjoying the sun) away from the city centre, Meadowlands has pitched its tents and assembled its stages ready to welcome a crowd of eager festival-goers.
Taking over the city’s Victoria Embankment, the festival boasts an impressive lineup headed by Scotland’s own Gerry Cinnamon, preceded by indie rockers The Kooks and Black Honey, with sprinklings of newcomers such as Zuzu, The Reytons, and Daisy Brain.
Comprised of three stages, the destination one-day event was set up to be one of the biggest indie ventures of the year set up by live promoters FKP Scorpio.
The festival began with a handful of performances across the second two stages, with Von Vella, Overpass and Ewan Mainwood setting up the atmosphere for the day before passing the torch over to the opening of the ‘main stage’.
Opening the main stage were alternative ‘ones-to-watch’ The Mysterines, whose debut album Reeling, released earlier this year was met with critical acclaim and reached #9 in the UK charts. Having caught the quartet supporting Sea Girls in Manchester a few years back, it is a welcome reunion to witness them taking to a major festival stage to put on display their unparalleled musician-manship and gripping live performance.
Treating the crowd to a half-hour set teeming with high octane tracks cut with softer, delicate numbers that demonstrated Lia’s mesmerising vocals and the poetic penmanship of the Liverpool outfit.
Followed by festival-fan-favourites and indie rock veterans Black Honey, the Brighton four-piece are two records deep and show no signs of slowing down. Their most recent release Written & Directed teemed with Tarantino homages and demonstrated their sonic evolution and maturity as a band. Their set featured tracks old and new whilst maintaining their staple high-octane deliverance to a crowd of adoring fans. Swooping through early cuts such as ‘Corrine’ and ‘Spinning Wheel’, intertwined with new releases ‘Back Of The Bar’ and ‘Run For Cover’. Having seen the quartet ample times over the last half-decade, it’s fascinating to see how their stage presence never wavers, and despite having matured and moved away from their hard-rock days, the band doesn’t forget their roots.
After delivering a musically balanced set, the short half-hour performance only left the crowd wanting more and perfectly hyped up for the next act.
Having already had the pleasure of seeing The Reytons twice this year, my expectations were well and truly high. From seeing them play Liverpool’s Arts Club at Sound City, and winding up with a concussion during their incredible set at NBHD Weekender, the lads sure didn’t disappoint. After making waves with their raw and honest debut record Kids Off The Estate, their upwards trajectory has been near unstoppable.
Having a slightly longer set than their predecessors, The Reytons managed to squeeze in as many of their fan-favourites as possible with ‘Antibiotics’, ‘Slice Of Lime’, and ‘Red Smoke’ making a much-welcomed appearance.
“Us, The Reytons, we are the kids off the estate”
The band have an uncanny ability to rile up a crowd – filled with familiar faces or otherwise – and have everyone chanting along, whether you enter having heard of The Reytons before, you’ll sure be leaving shouting “And they call us Reytons”. And remember – no pyro no party.
Penultimate act on the main stage and perhaps one of the most iconic names on the indie rock scene, The Kooks require no introduction. Having cemented themselves as THE indie band of the early 00s with cuts ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ and ‘Naive’, The Kooks have only gone from strength to strength, and, five albums later are still producing hit tracks. Their most recent release, the mini-EP Beautiful World – Echo In The Dark, Pt II, teased the rerun of the band and acted as their first batch of new music since their 2018 record Let’s Go Sunshine.
Taking to the stage to roars and cheers from the sufficiently hyped-up festival-goers, Luke took to the stage, solo at first, to deliver a soulful rendition of ‘Seaside’ before his two band mates joined alongside to perform more cuts from their debut album. Playing Kooks’ staple tracks ‘Eddie’s Gun’, ‘Sofa Song’, ‘Ooh La’, and ‘Shine On’, interspersed with newer tracks, the trio gave one of the top performances of the day with their leading vocalisations and awe-ing musicianship.
If 2022’s festival experience is anything to go by, Meadowlands 2023 will be the event of the year.
Words and photos by Lana Williams
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