A YEAR has flown by and it’s already the second year of Manchester’s very own metropolitan festival, Neighbourhood Festival, where over 100 bands descended into the city for an explosive day of live music…
Following the sell out show from it’s inaugural year, the festival provides an appetite for fresh sounds of Manchester’s emerging talent dotted around multiple venues all within a stones throw, with big names interwoven between the line up to draw in the crowds.
This year’s headliners took shape in the form of the cheeky Rat Boy, and renowned indie band, Peace, with a surprise intimate set from the opinionated youngster, Declan Mckenna and a limited access opening set delivered by one of last year’s headliners, Blossoms.
However amongst the line up lay exciting and emerging talent, with names such as The Amazons, High Tyde and The Blinders also marking their territory on the bill.
Following the horrific queues of last year’s festival, where fans found it difficult to
gain entry to the venues to see their favourite bands, fans still seemed to struggle with
the same issue as the venues hit full capacity once more.
The festival kick-started with a special performance, which saw Blossoms collaborate with the RNCM ensemble in MMU for a special acoustic set. Highlights included the performance from Doncaster-born alternative trio, The Blinders, who took over ‘The Bred Shed’. Projecting their fierce and growling sounds
through the room, singer and guitarist, Thomas Haywood, with black smears down his
face, encapsulated the room early on in the festival.
Indie band, Peace, also delivered a faultless and impressive performance; despite drummer, Dom Boyce’s left arm being in a cast and the band hiring in a session drummer to act as his left hand side.
As the night drew darker, the northern drizzle descended on the city. It didn’t seem to dampen the moods of those at the festival, as fans headed over to catch Cabbage at Albert Hall for their neo-punk infused set, which sent the crowds into frenzy.
peace is restored in the world x@NBHDFestival pic.twitter.com/Gxd0jHHqY3
— jack (@jack_whiting_) October 8, 2017
As the crowds then headed over to Gorilla to catch Declan Mckenna’s set, fans were once again faced with a venue at full capacity. It almost seemed peculiar to have less popular artists than Declan Mckenna playing on larger stages.
Neighbourhood Festival has the potential to be fantastic. It has great bands; great fans, but the poor organisation can’t be ignored. With fans being turned away from venues across the day, improvements need to be made for it’s third year.
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