Y NOT FESTIVAL 2024 ROUND-UP: MUSIC, MEMORIES, AND UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS

FESTIVAL ROUND-UP | YNOT, DERBYSHIRE 1st – 4th August 2024 | by Kayleigh Nickson

Hidden in the heart of the Peak District over 4 days, 40,000 people gathered in the Derbyshire countryside for a weekend full unforgettable memories. Whilst the rest of England is descending into riotous chaos, Y Not Festival provides the ultimate escapism. Fueled by good music, lots of singing and some questionable dancing, Y Not is a celebration of togetherness away from the real world, led by nothing but ‘vibes’.

THURSDAY

Going in with no expectations, my weekend started off with Ten Tonnes. Playing the ‘Big Gin Stage‘, the younger brother of George Ezra left a lasting impression on the crowds gathered. His song ‘Lucy‘ particularly stood out within the set and has since wormed it’s way into my personal playlist.

Meanwhile, Scouting for Girls brought all the nostalgia on opening night with some of their classic hits such as; ‘Posh Girls‘, ‘Elvis Ain’t Dead‘ and ‘This Ain’t a Love Song‘. Joining them on stage was their new touring guitarist, Nick Tsang. Having previously toured with Busted in the past, SFG front man Roy Stride announces “Technically, this isn’t a cover if we have Nick here” before bursting into ‘Year 3000‘ which the crowd lavish in. Everyone was singing along and there was so many people on shoulders. By the time the band played their final track ‘She’s So Lovely‘, the crowd went wild, proving it impossible to sing and dance along to.

Headliners Kaiser Chiefs brought an abundance of energy to round off YNot’s night one. Performing fan-favourites ‘Ruby‘, ‘I Predict A Riot‘ and ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less‘. Lead singer Ricky Wilson is still, if not more so, the charismatic frontman he once was. Jumping around the stage throughout the entire set, it’s fair to assume that Kaiser Chiefs are far from calling it a day.

FRIDAY

A personal goal this weekend was to attempt to see as many acts that either I hadn’t seen or heard of before and on Friday, I did just that. I managed to see Cows, Alice Lily, Balancing Act, Sharp Class, Black Honey and Yard Act.

Yard Act were a particular highlight from this and their track ‘We Make Hits‘ left a lasting impression. Within the first 3 songs, the microphone stand was thrown off stage and it was all going off.

Easily my favourite act for the entire weekend was Soft Play. After seeing them in 2019 supporting Foo Fighters at Glasgow Summer Sessions under their old name, Slaves, I was curious to see if they were going to be as good as I remember. They weren’t. They were so much better. Their newest album Heavy Jelly was released only last month and yet the crowd was screaming the lyrics to the songs. From ‘Act Violently‘ to ‘Isaac Is Typing…‘, their part of the show will be one I remember for a while for a few reasons. The mosh pits, crowd surfing and generally witnessing such an enthusiastic crowd was something else. Especially the one guy who had to get carried out of the crowd due to a badly dislocated knee; something that you just can’t unsee! Finishing their set with an old classic, ‘The Hunter‘. Hopefully it won’t be so long until I can see them live again.

There’s a few bands that I feel the need to see anytime they are on a line up and one those are The Lottery Winners. They never disappoint. Lead singer, Thom Rylance, has outstanding stage presence and always manages to keep the audience in the palm of his hands. Hearing ‘Worry‘ and ‘Burning House‘ live makes me so happy and I cannot help but sing along. It was incredible to see them pack out The Quarry (even with The Kooks performing at the same time) as only a few months earlier I saw them perform at the tiny Arts Club Loft as part of Liverpool’s Sound City.

Friday finished with Snow Patrol headlining The Big Gin Stage but I’m not entirely sure it was the best headling choice. Even though some of their older songs are great, I feel like there could’ve been a more relevant band that would’ve been a better fit. That being said, they still had a huge crowd. It started raining during their set which added to the ambience. Everybody screaming the lyrics to ‘Chasing Cars‘, ‘Run‘ and ‘Open Your Eyes‘ in the rain was a great feeling.

SATURDAY

As a Lancashire girl myself, I couldn’t not start my day with The Lancashire Hotpots, and it seems thousands of other had the same thought as me, packing out the main stage so early on. There was such a party atmosphere happening with everybody dancing along before establishing the longest conga line I had ever seen. During the set, Bernard Thresher asked the crowd to open up a pit before singing ‘He’s Turned Emo‘, after the song was done, he admitted that he didn’t actually know how a mosh pit worked but he wanted to give it a go.

I managed to catch a few more bands that I had never seen before including; Ben Walker, Elephant Kind, Marseille, Guestlist, Unpeople and The Snuts.

Of them all, Marseille really stood out. A fairly new band who formed in 2021 but it is clear that they have great potential and I wouldn’t be surprised if they go far within the next few years, they certainly have the talent for it.

Every time I see Declan McKenna, he just gets better and better and so does the crowd. There were people on shoulders, including one guy who was actually stood up on friends shoulders. The atmosphere was incredible, watching everyone scream the lyrics to ‘Brazil‘ and ‘British Bombs‘ gave me chills.

Jamie T headlined The Big Gin Stage but I had to wait until his set was almost over to personally recognise any of his songs. Even though I didn’t know the songs for the first part of the set, I was still dancing along and everybody around me was happy to be there. Such a special way to end day 3 at YNOT; screaming the lyrics to ‘Sticks ‘N’ Stones‘, ‘Zombie‘ and ‘Sheila‘ with such a huge crowd.

SUNDAY

Sunday was a shorter day for me, however, I still managed to see Cam Mannix, Body Water, Raised by Owls, The Kairos and The View.

I really needed to see what Raised By Owls were all about because on the Y Not app, the description about them said, “An extreme metal band spawned from the depths of England to cause a mild disturbance and then apologise shortly afterwards…”. It was a wild experience, I was not expecting to listen to death metal at Y Not festival and the band joked saying they don’t know why they keep getting booked to play this festival and it’s their 7th year playing there but they always manage to fill the tent. All 5 members of the band were so energetic and got the entire Giant Squid tent crowd going. At one point, there was a huge circle pit that almost filled up the whole tent, it was incredible to watch but I personally I stayed back!

Straight after Raised By Owls set was the annual paint fight. Hundreds gathered around the Y Not osign and threw powder paint at each other. I probably shouldn’t have got in the middle of this with my camera but it was such a fun experience and the results were definitely worth it. It was great to see everyone having such a good time getting covered in bright colours. The security did a great job at overseeing the fight and although they tried to stay clean, they were unsuccessful and ended up more covered in paint than others.

It was amazing to see The Kairos perform on the main stage. I first saw them years ago when they played at Jimmy’s in Liverpool, they’ve worked so hard for the growth they have and I am so proud of them. ‘Lazy Lethargic‘ is a great song and has been my favourite of theirs since it came out in 2022. I’m excited to see how far they’re going to go, they’re heading out on their biggest UK tour later this year which includes their biggest headline show to date at O2 Academy in Liverpool. #NoKairoNoParty

My weekend finished with The View. Although I personally don’t know many songs by them they were a good fun and know how to get a crowd going. Their iconic ‘Same Jeans‘ had everybody singing along.

As my first ever Y Not experience, I feel it was a real success and I can’t wait to see what the line up for next year is going to be. I’ll definitely be back!

Super early bird tickets are on sale NOW! Tickets HERE!

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