Times were very different in 2011. Nobody knew what a Brexit was. Donald Trump was filming the 7th season of the apprentice and the idea of the realities of a pandemic were still confined to the silver screen with the movie ‘Contagion’ starring Jude Law and Kate Winslet released to cinemas.
In Limavady, the idea of a new music festival was capturing the imagination of some, the consternation of others but general feeling was that the people trying to get Stendhal Festival off the ground might be living in imagination land.
Thirteen years and multiple awards later, Stendhal Festival has certainly proven that it wasn’t just a flash in the pan and this year the team behind the event have been looking back to that very first year in 2011, specifically because this summer they are welcoming back a band who they say are one of the main reasons the event succeeded and why they are now the largest independent music and arts camping festival in Northern Ireland.
“Without Turin Brakes as the headliner that first year, we might have been a one and done,” says event Director Ross Parkhill.
“They brought us credibility and a headline act that set us aside from some of the local festivals at the time as they were a good name from mainland UK. They had had top selling singles and albums and most importantly, they were, and remain, a phenomenal live act.”
Ross added: “We really must give them a lot of credit, from their perspective they had no idea what sort of event they were putting their name to, they took a chance on us, a booking and performance that could never be as meaningful to them as it was to us and off the back of that, we have been running the event for 13 years now.”
Ross concluded: “We had really hoped to get them back on the bill for our 10th anniversary show a couple of years ago but post covid things didn’t work out but we are so, so pleased to be bringing them back this year. Their new album is brilliant, their live performances are better than ever as witnessed by anyone who was at their Belfast show in January and it’s just a really happy occurrence for us at Stendhal that we can get to see these guys take to the stage at the farm once again.”
Guitarist and Lead Singer of Turin Brakes, Olly Knight says that he recalls that first Stendhal well, particularly how it was clear at the time that the event was being run on enthusiasm over everything else.
“We’ve done lots of shows that for one reason or another have been really unique over our 25-year career,” he admits, “but for a few reasons that Stendhal show has always stayed in the bands mind over the years.
“I remember being aware at the time that this was the first ever edition of the festival and that there was a risk factor for the organisers and to be honest we did feel a little bit of pressure with that because obviously we wanted it to go well and succeed. Now coming back and hearing that is has been a success and that it has lasted for 13 years and won a load of awards is really pleasing for us, it’s a happy story and we are really looking forward to coming back.”
Olly continued: “The one specific thing that stands out in our memory was the green room – it was one of the organisers’ brother’s garage man-cave, just beside that organiser’s parent’s house. That was a new one for us but in a great way. I remember that there was just such a great chemistry about it all, it was clear that there wasn’t a huge budget but what they lacked in money they made up for in enthusiasm and fair play to them for getting to the level they are at today.”
Since 2011 Turin Brakes have continued crafting beautiful folk, rock albums and touring the world. Their latest record Wide Eyed nowhere is an amalgamation of a glorious quarter of a century in the industry and a collection of songs which show the bands progression in that time, while also holding on to some of the subdued acoustic excellence that brought them to prominence in the first place.
They brought the new album to gig in Belfast this past January and Olly says that Northern Ireland was once again a highlight for them on that particular tour.
“We first started coming to Belfast way back in 2000/2001” he said. “Of course, back then before we had been there, there was an obvious edge to things, us being from London and hearing all the stories from the years before, so there were nerves about coming to Northern Ireland at the very start. Now though, we adore the place, there is nowhere quite like it.
“Every time we came back you could see it growing and maturing as a place or destination right before your eyes. There are loads of great places for us, as essentially tourists, which have popped up just to hang out in, everything just seems so much more mature and relaxed and modern, its somewhere we always want to keep coming back to.”
Olly added: “It has changed so much for the better in 25 years but one thing that was obvious from the very start was that the people there are warm and welcoming and that our audiences there have always had an amazing energy and synergy with the band and that connection has always made for some mad gigs, gigs that we will absolutely never forget.”
The band have seen and done it all when it comes to festivals, from the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury to The Isle of Wight Festival and right the way around to Stendhal, but Olly says that his most memorable festival moment didn’t involve a Turin Brakes set, but a secret Glastonbury gig in 2010.
“Playing Glastonbury is obviously amazing but when we played the Acoustic tent in 2010, we came off stage and heard rumours that Thom Yorke was going to be doing a secret gig in an off the beaten track location, somewhere on the festival site.
“We went to where this was rumoured to be taking place and incredibly, in front of a really small and intimate crowd, out came Thom Yorke who proceeded to play a load of Radiohead classics, was joined onstage for some of them by Johnny Greenwood and there we were, in the sun, drinking Rose wine and thinking life just doesn’t get any better than this. A truly magical moment and the best festival moment I’ve ever experienced.”
The band will be bringing a special festival moment to Stendhal this summer and with a potential set list of songs spanning almost a quarter of a century, Olly says that the band will often revisit some of their older tracks, give them a new musical lick of paint and release them to a live audience. This year their second album Ether Song is 20 years old so perhaps some of the brilliant compositions on that collection will be up for new treatments.
“We love going back and reworking some of our old songs, “ he said “we aren’t precious about ideas about how any of our songs should sound or should be played, we see older songs as a blueprint and that they should be expressed by the band we are now as opposed to the band we were when the song was first written. Sometimes doing that will bring a real buzz to a song that maybe hadn’t been in the set list for a while. We’ll say something like, lets play a song but in the style of the Pixies, or something like that and sometimes the results are brilliant and when you drop them into set lists, fans can enjoy the nostalgia of that song at the same time as enjoying a new treatment of it.”
As well as updating older songs, adding in new songs and selecting the big crowd pleasers for set lists at festival gigs, Olly also pointed out that as festival season comes around, the band have to get “Festival Fit”.
“When you move from indoor venue gigs in the winter and spring to mainly outdoor shows in the summer, there are loads of things we have to do as a band, “ he said.
“When we are doing the more intimate indoor shows you can be a lot more relaxed because you know the crowd are there to see you and only you. You can follow their energy and it’s just physically easier to perform in that situation. Then the summer rolls around and even though we experience it every year, you sort of can’t really prepare yourself for that culture shock of moving from indoors to potentially huge outdoor spaces, where maybe not all of the people there are there specifically to see you.
“When you switch to that, the band have to bring a different energy, we have to be absolutely on it from the very beginning and bring peak energy from the off, right the way through the set.
“It is like there are two different versions of the band always trying to be the best version of the band.”
Turin Brakes return to Stendhal Festival on Friday July 7th, 2023. For tickets and more information visit www.stendhalfestival.com
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Belfast City Council are assembling groups of volunteers who will be charged with everything from welcoming delegates, hosting VIPs, being ‘accessibility buddies’ through to assisting at the opening and closing ceremonies.
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