Kendal Calling 2017 Programme

BRIAN WILSON
HAPPY MONDAYS
PRESENTED BY AMAZON MUSIC
Thursday night at Kendal Calling promises to be even more fun-filled than
usual, with HAPPY MONDAYS joining the party! Brought to the fields in
association with Amazon Music, the legendary baggy troupe are stalwarts
of the British music scene, and have amassed an army of fans since they
first began twisting melons in Salford back in the early 80s. Shaun Ryder,
Bez and crew are back on the trail as they prepare to release a new
album, their first in over a decade. Step on!
THURSDAY | 19:50 – 20:40
FRANZ FERDINAND
Indie stalwarts and Domino Records darlings FRANZ FEDINAND
broke onto the scene in 2004 with their Mercury Prize winning and
Grammy-nominated eponymous debut album. Emerging as part of
Glasgow’s burgeoning art scene, since then, they’ve churned out some of
the most interesting, artful indie rock of the past decade and have kept
evolving. Never running out of ideas, in 2015 they merged with weirdo
glam rockers Sparks (of This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us
fame) to form the supergroup FFS (Franz Ferdinand and Sparks, to you).
Back performing as Franz Ferdinand, expect the best danceable festival
anthems all weekend with these lot in town.
THURSDAY | 21:20 – 22:50
TINIE TEMPAH
TINIE TEMPAH has been well established internationally as a UK
rap and pop superstar since his rise to fame in 2009, despite having
been to Southampton but never to Scunthorpe (that last quip comes
from 2009 mega hit Pass Out for those not in the know). As well as
performing crowd pleasers such as Frisky and Miami 2 Ibiza, Kendal
Calling will see the UK festival debut of Tinie’s new album Youth,
including Radio 1xtra favourites Mamacita and Tinashe collaboration
Text From Your Ex. Without a shadow of a doubt, Tinie Tempah
will bring heaps of energy and danceable tunes onto the main stage,
upping the heat and the tempo.
SUNDAY | 21:20 – 22:50
The Beach Boys legend and songwriting
and production maestro talks Pet
Sounds ahead of one of the last
performances of the seminal album,
right here at Kendal Calling
There are few artists who can legitimately be spoken of in the
same breath as giants like Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and those
moptopped lads from Liverpool who everyone seems to like,
but BRIAN WILSON doubtless has a place in such company.
The Beach Boys founder member and driving force created some
of the most mesmerising harmonies, pop hooks and timeless songs
ever produced.
His legacy will live on long after you and I have departed this
mortal coil. It is with great anticipation, then, that we welcome
the Godlike Genius to Kendal Calling. Wilson stops off to perform
the seminal album Pet Sounds in full for one of the final times – if
any festival slot deserves the adjective ‘unmissable’, it’s this one.
“Well, yes, it’s sad. I’m very sentimental about that album. It’s so,
so special,” Wilson tells us ahead of his visit, about the prospect of
finally drawing the curtain on this celebratory album tour after two
years of emotional shows
The 75 year-old picked out the luscious God Only Knows as
the track which is “for sure” the one he enjoys playing the most.
As well as this, Kendal Callers can expect bona fide classics such
as Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Sloop John B and the spine-tingling Good
Vibrations, played by “a killer band [which includes Beach Boys
co-founder Al Jardine], beautiful harmonies and a great show,”
according to the ever-modest Wilson.
“It’s one of the top five best albums ever made,” Wilson tells
us, and it’s hard to argue. Pet Sounds has topped Best Albums Of
All Time from the likes of NME, The Times and Mojo. His restless
studio work gave birth to many original techniques and cemented
his reputation as a production innovator as well as gifted songwriter.
A magnum opus, and a unique record in terms of its innovative
production, glorious musicianship and pop credentials, Wilson
explains how Pet Sounds, and his music in general, “expresses my
feelings and makes people happy”. Nothing feels truer to The Beach
Boys’ sunshine-drenched aesthetic – sounds which capture eternal
youth, hopefulness and fun summer shenanigans. Perfect then to
appear on our Main Stage in the evening summer sun.
Written by Sam Turner
MAIN STAGE | SATURDAY | 19:40 – 20:40
KENDAL CALLING | 11