Review: Live at the Hall featuring Razorlight

On a year with no Splendour Festival, it was good to have an event in the picturesque Wollaton Park. It promised to be a great day; the sun was shining and the line up was perfect. 

There were two stages: the main stage with headliners Razorlight and The BBC Introducing stage hosted by Dean Jackson and headlined by The Public Eye.

The stage timings were set that you could watch a band on the BBC Introducing stage, then run back to the main stage and repeat.

I headed straight for the BBC Introducing stage to see Jemma Johnson (left), a lady with the most wonderful voice.

I’ve seen Jemma many times, both acoustic and with a full band. Today was acoustic, something she does so well. 

Then it was a quick dash to the main stage for The Sherlocks (below). The Barnsley band treated us to some indie rock from their back catalogue including Live For The Moment and Chasing Shadows, and some songs from the latest album, People Like Me and You, Don't Let it Out and Sirens.

Back on The BBC Introducing stage we had Catmilk (above); led by Nottingham’s Alex Milne, the alt-folk four piece shared their beautiful pieces of sorrow, fragility and joy. This was just what I needed after The Sherlocks and all my rushing around.

But no time to rest, back to the main stage for The Pigeon Detectives (above). I have to admit I only knew a couple of their songs, but I was looking forward to it. What I didn’t expect was the energy from frontman Matt Bowman. He jumped, balanced, danced around the stage looking like he was having the time of his life! He was a joy to watch and sounded pretty good too! With Falling To Pieces, Hard To Love and of course This Is An Emergency, the Leeds band gave an outstanding performance. 

Time for something to eat and I was delighted to see so many options available. I saw burgers, chicken, paella, wraps, strawberries and crepes... The queues for the bars were very good too. 

Next up was a band I was very excited to see. Feeder (below). I have to say that Taka is by far one of the coolest people I have ever seen. Gone is the 90s bleached hair and in its place is a black Mohawk, add in the flying V-bass and it's a very strong look. They started with Buck Rogers, the confetti cannons in full effect for the "player, player, player, player" part. Because when else would you do it? The set was incredible from start to finish, closing with the wonderful Just A Day.

Headlining the BBC Introducing stage and given a lovely introduction from Dean Jackson, were Confetti alumni, The Public Eye (above). Its been good to see these hard working, talented lads go from shy teenagers to confident musicians. They included new song Loaded Gun in the set which also featured Bluenote, Out of Line and Honey. (If you haven’t managed to see them live, they are playing at Saltbox on 4th October.)

Finishing off a great day of live music was Razorlight. Straight into it with In The Morning, they weren’t messing around. This indie rock band know how to work a festival crowd and they gave the crowd their all. Golden Touch, In The City, Zombie Love and Before I Fall To Pieces all delighted the crowd. 

As the sky darkened and the temperature dipped a little, we were treated to a three-song encore, which ended with America and fireworks. I do hope Live At The Hall is back at Wollaton Park next year (along with Splendour), because it was a very enjoyable way to end the summer.

@wollatonhall