Photo Credit:
Words: Izzy Hayden

Girl In The Year Above, Circa Waves and The Kooks, an unreal lineup that screams summer has begun. 

Opening the first of Delamere’s Forest Live dates, Girl In The Year Above needed to be captivating to catch people’s attention. They did not let us down. A staple on recent “ones to watch” lists, front woman Jennifer Ball’s performance is unbelievably enchanting. Everything from her energy and stage presence to her angelic vocals leave you unable to look away. A notable track, their cover of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop‘, which they released as part of the Peaky Blinders movie soundtrack, oozes with intensity. Brilliant to see a female fronted band have a place on the lineup, a slot which was much deserved. 

Any Indie-music fan ever knows Circa Waves, a classic festival band that never disappoints. With sun-soaked bangers like ‘Do You Wanna Talk’ and ‘Jacqueline,’ their tracks are baked in nostalgia, making you feel like you are 16 again and just finishing school for summer. “This song wouldn’t exist without The Kooks” frontman Kieran Shudall honours the main act, thanking them for inspiring their music as the immediately-recognisable opening riff to ‘T-Shirt Weather’ begins. In usual Circa Waves fashion the single is a summertime ballad, one that’s blissful and always freeing to belt out beside your mates. 

With a gleeful energy that continued throughout the night, The Kooks waltz onto the stage. Lead singer Luke Pritchard literally shines. Yes that is partly due to his bright red, sparkly trousers but nevertheless his high-spirits immediately get the crowd psyched up. ‘Sofa Song’ opens their set bursting with everything the band are loved for, vibrant rhythms, raspy guitar hooks and Pritchards confident vocal range. 

Drawing in OG fans and newer listeners, The Kooks made sure to play the fan favorite tracks from their debut album ‘Inside In / Inside Out’ plus more recent ones from the seven albums that followed.

From ‘Eddie’s Gun’s quick pace to ‘Stormy Weather’s refreshing vibe, the setlist starts with a bang and soon enough ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ one of their most streamed tracks is slotted in. Beginning with an acoustic guitar line, the song is so simple yet so iconic and as the crowd becomes a sea of people on their mates shoulders it’s clear they are loving every second of it. 

Feeding into the crowd who are excited to see England playing in the world cup, ‘Bad Habits’ began with a “footballs coming home” chant. Every now and then when England scored a roar would go up across the entire field and The Kooks played into it perfectly, using the crowd’s energy to hype themselves up and keep the excitement at an all time high. 

Jumping from a quirky, fun tune straight into an acoustic one, more classics ‘Jackie Big Tits’ and ‘Seaside’ see them embracing their roots. A standout, ‘Do You Wanna’ combines a breakdown of rock guitar heavier than most of their music with Pritchard’s intense vocals and cheeky lyrics (“I know you wanna make love to me”). The song is electric. 

Shifting the vibe completely, ‘See Me Now‘ is honest, raw and emotional, one where the flashlights come out and eyes get wet. Explaining that it was written by Pritchard about his dad who died when he was 3, he asks “would you be proud” and it seems he knows the answer would be a yes as he stares at an audience of thousands. 

The encore tied the whole set together, throwing it back first to ‘Ooh La’ which seems like a karaoke session, fans belting lyrics with so much passion Pritchard almost gets drowned out. Things get even louder for ‘Naive‘, a serotonin heavy belter that would only ever be the correct way to end the night.