CRAZY GENRE MISH MASH: A REVIEW OF THE NINFIELD GIG
On Saturday night I went to a local gig/festival. The Ninfield gig has been running for around 5 years but is already building substantial crowds (substantial compared to the size of Ninfield, at least). The event is a two-night extravaganza, with the 'proms' on the Friday night, and a gig on the Saturday. It features a range of local bands and artists, with a wide range of genres for a wide range of ages.
The first thing I will say is the gig doesn't take itself seriously, it's mainly a laugh more than anything. It's a nice afternoon/evening out, sitting in the sun with family and listening to some decent music.
The event started at 2pm but I was not able to go until around 5pm, meaning I missed out on two of the acts which I will unfortunately not be able to talk about, but the rest I can fairly discuss, and boy, was it a lot.
Unfortunately, I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked to due to my phone battery being low but I'll try and find as many pictures as I can!
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| Photo Credit: Ninfield MUSIC Festival on Facebook. |
Check them out on Facebook here
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| My own image |
The second act couldn't have been further from the previous. The next act was Alibi, a four-piece band which I had actually already regularly listened to their music before this. They're a local indie band that is definitely on their way places, having already performed at Reading and Leeds festival on the BBC Introducing Unsigned stage, and have songs out to stream on Spotify, Apple music and watch on youtube. The set was completely made up of their original music which I thought was pretty great. They definitely have a vibe of a successful indie band already, and their sound is very suited to playing in a festival like atmosphere (even if this festival was only about 1000 people), but they'll definitely do well at bigger festivals that they're performing at also this summer. The sound is very much the typical British indie sound (eg early Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks ) which is a sound I personally, so I really enjoyed their set and from the people I asked, the rest of the crowd generally did too. It's inspired me to listen to more of their tracks online, which I'm sure is a sign of a good performance! My father (with a lifetime of experience in the music industry) said they were good, but need to work on stage presence a little. I would agree to an extent but I have no doubt that it'll come as the crowds get bigger. Alibi was definitely a highlight of the event for me.
Check out Alibi's music on Spotify here, and their Youtube here, and on Facebook here
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| Photo credit: Dead Calm on Facebook. |
The next band up were Dead Calm, a band that covered the 70s and 80s classic rock which is something I was definitely excited to hear as they were the sounds I grew up with. Much like the Ungrateful Dad, they were clearly at the festival to have fun and get the crowd singing along which they certainly did. They covered classics such as Life on Mars by David Bowie, Don't Stop Me Now by Queen and Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. They definitely got the crowd involved by performing these kinds of household songs, and although they didn't even nearly match up to the original (whcih barely anyone can, in all fairness), they were clearly a very talented group of men, and I noticed in particularly the guitar was very strong which is something I personally enjoyed because I'm a sucker for a good guitar. It's important to note that for some of these bands, music is a hobby/job on the side and not a career, so for a group who only do music on the side, they did well. They had fun, got the crowd singing (some unwillingly), but overall a good time was had!
Check them out on Facebook here
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| Photo Credit: Matilda's Scoundrels on Facebook |
The next band I'm going to have difficulty describing. Their name was Matilda's Scoundrels and they described themselves as 'folk driven agro punk'. I had no idea what that would sound like, yet when they started playing, they somehow sounded exactly as they described. If you're from anywhere near me then you'll understand when I say they sound exactly like if Hastings were a genre of music, but if you're not from near me, then just imagine if Mumford and Sons and Metallica were mashed together, that's the exact sound they had. It was the type of music that I didn't quite understand and I had never heard before, but I ended up getting quite into it. I was struggling to see anyone what wasn't at least swaying or bouncing up and down a little bit to the music, whereas most people were up and jumping as much as possible. They even at one point had the crowd sitting in between each other's legs in rows doing a rowing boat motion to one of their songs. Like Abili, Matilda's Scoundrels also performed all their own original songs, many of which take inspiration from local areas which were nice as it shows that they're proud to be from our local area (which a lot of people, unfortunately, aren't). It was certainly an experience to watch them, and I can see why a lot of people told me that they were the ones to watch. They were the perfect act for when most people had a few drinks in their system and the sun was going down. They even embraced the two ladies that decided they were going to be their back-up dancers on stage for a bit. I would definitely be intrigued to go see them at one of their own gigs/concerts because I still can't quite comprehend what I saw. They're a popular band that not only play locally but across Europe and I can see why, they're something completely different that nobody expects, and it's nice to see a completely different style of music becoming popular!
Check them out on Facebook here, Youtube here, and Spotify here
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| Photo credit: Ninfield MUSIC Festival on Facebook |
The last band, aka the headlining band, I didn't see very much of due to having to get home at a certain time, but I heard rave reviews from pretty much everyone I knew that stayed till the end. The band's name was Large and they perform old 90s techno/house/dance music which is completely different from any other band in the line-up. It was a perfect act to end the night. They played all the iconic tracks from the 90s dance scene and really got people out of their seats and jumping about in front of the stage, to my surprise, kids and adults alike. It had just got dark when they came on so they created a great atmosphere with the flashing lights and thumping bass and really made it feel like what I can only imagine a club in the mid-90s felt like. Again, there was something about Large too that was just fun, everyone was enjoying themselves dancing and jumping to their favourite old school tunes. I can easily understand why the band are relatively popular in the local area, as they were somehow fresh but nostalgic at the same time, and got the heightened the energy of the crowd. It would have been very predictable for the gig to chose another rock/indie band for the headliner but I really think they made the right decision by going completely out of the box and choosing something completely different. They were a perfect end to a successful little festival.
Check them out on Facebook here
Overall, the festival had a great vibe to it. It only had about 1000 people but all those people were having fun, from ages 1 - 100. The difference in genres was great as it meant there really was something for everyone. It was nice to be at an event that didn't take itself too seriously and showcased a combination of up and coming bands and bands just there for a nice evening out. I'm really excited to see where the Ninfield gig goes, as it's becoming bigger and better as years go by and baring in mind it's only been going for 5 years, it was so well organized and I really had a great time.
Here is a link to the Ninfield Music Festival Facebook page for if you want to see updates and get tickets for next year: Ninfield MUSIC Festival
Written by Ruby Crowhurst
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