Kendal Calling 2025 Review - Part 2

Another Kendal Calling has been and gone, my fourth one in a row. So how was it? Better or worse than previous versions?

Personally, I think this was my best Kendal yet but that’s partly because of a change in the way I approached it.

Previously I’ve gone to Kendal with a very good idea of who I was planning to see and some form of plan. Because I didn’t know many of the bands on the line up this year my plans, such as they were, related mainly to acts on the main stage.

That left me free for long periods, and I decided this time to move around a lot, see who I could find and try to discover as much great new music as I could.

One thing that got in the way of that were Gala PR who were as excellent as ever, arranging multiple interviews for me over the course of the Friday to the Sunday, limiting my time for discovering new bands, not that I’m complaining, they were brilliant in the way the looked after us.

Over the course of the weekend I was able to interview Frank Turner, Thom Rylance from the Lottery Winners, John McClure from Reverend and the Makers, Corrine Bailley Ray, The Insprial Carpets, The K’s (just before they went on stage and announced their number one album), Lindisfarne and I also had a quick chat with the lead singer from Elvana. I don’t think it could have gone better from the perspective of interviewing. What a tremendous selection of artists to speak to. The interviews will follow on this site.

So, in between all of that I did get to see some great music and eat some great food (the Himalayan Dumplings were back, tremendous!).

On the Thursday night I missed Corella due to the queue to get in, the Thursday is getting busier and busier which you may want to plan in if you’re going next year. I did get to see Sophie Ellis Bextor and the Kaiser Chiefs.

Personally, I think Sophie was much more entertaining, she has an innate ability to lift a crowd up, get them going and make them feel like they need to party. She is a tremendous stage presence, a brilliant singer and her chat is excellent. I enjoyed the Kaiser Chiefs, but it felt like they had some issues to work through to begin with. I was really surprised when they played 'I Predict A Riot' halfway through their set as it seemed like the natural closing song to me but they still sent us all off out our beds, or in the case of some of the younger attendees, to party, with a smile on our faces.

The weather on the whole held for the whole weekend apart from a couple of very rainy nights, one of which spilled into the Sunday morning when many people are packing up to go home that night.

The Friday saw me start my policy of trying new bands, I saw Long Island, Ne-O, The Redroom (one of the best artists I saw all weekend), Circus, Flynt, spoke to the K’s, spoke to the Insprial Carpets, the K’s, Corrine Bailley Ray (then spoke to her), Pixie Lott, Elvana, Covasettes, Daniel Beddingfield, Ist Ist, chatted to the lead singer of Elvana, and finished my night off with the absolutely tremendous Big Moon. I headed back to the tents very tired but having felt like I’d had an excellent day with a lot of fantastic new music. I fully intend to investigate some of the bands I saw over the course of the weekend further. At the start of the day, I only planned to see the K’s, Corrine Bailley Rae, Elvana and the Big Moon so the new approach worked well.

Saturday dawned with the feeling it could be an even better day, I knew I had interviews with John McClure and Thom Rylance lined up, so it was always going to be a good day. In addition, I managed to interview Rod from Lindisfarne who turned out to be an absolute gent, who knew they’d toured with the Beach Boys? I didn’t, more of all three interviews to come. On the music front it was another day of discovery on the cards but with the intention of spending a bit more time at the main stage.

I started with Nina Nesbitt on the main stage, spoke to John McLure, saw Dutch Criminal Record, Slay Dugee (I was lucky enough to see them cover Baby Shark (madness and joy all in the one song!), Reverend and the Makers (one of my highlights of the weekend), spoke to Thom Rylance, watched the Lottery Winners, saw Lindisfarne play their first ever Kendal Calling, Keo (massive buzz about them just now), Willie J Healey, Dub Pistols, Simaly Sound, Fat Boy Slim for a brief while, Scouting for Girls and finished with the amazing Moonchild Sanelly. By this point I was exhausted and called it a day.

The Sunday started with heavy rain but it soon cleared up, I had an early start, an 11am interview with the legend that is Frank Turner, they say don’t meet your heroes but in Franks case if you do get the chance to meet him you should, he’s an absolute gent!

I decided I was interviewed out for the weekend, and it was time to concentrate on the music. Day three of the new approach dawned with Pet Needs who were a great start, Isabel Maria, Exploding Head, the obligatory Kendal Calling tradition of the Lancashire Hotpots on the Main stage, they played I fear Ikea, Shopmobility Scooter and Chippy Tea, what more can you ask for? I then moved on to Florence Road, Marina Josephina (one of my finds of the weekend, what a voice!), Polly Money, Talia Rae (another amazing voice), Mountain Ash, watching the legend Frank Turner, complete with his niece, her friend and Frank all going crowd surfing, Red Rum Club playing a rapidly not so secret gig, Chloe Slater, Molly Paton, Master Peace (another tremendous find!), Nieve Ella and finishing, for me, with the Last Dinner Party as I’d totally run out of steam!.

So, what were the highlights of the weekend?

Well apart from the excellent beer and homemade bread from the Lancaster Brewery getting to meet some amazing artists and speak to them is right up there. There was not one of them who wasn’t brilliant to speak to.

In terms of the music my top acts of the weekend were Sophie Ellie Bextor, The Redroom, Big Moon, Reverend and the Makers, The Lottery Winners, The K’s, Frank Turner, Marina Josephina, Master Peace and Talia Rae.

Some of them you won’t have seen as the crowds didn’t always match the talent but then the Lottery Winners started on the Woodlands stage so who knows where they will be playing next?

Kendal 2025 didn’t disappoint, it was absolutely brilliant from beginning to end and, if Kendal 2026 is anything like it you need to get your tickets now. The crowd were as lovely as they always are, the people working there brilliant and the atmosphere as good as it gets.

See you in the fields next year?

Review - Iain McClay

Photos - Snapagig.com