INNER CITY FESTIVALS 2017: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Feb 18, 2017
8 min read

2017 is the year for inner-city festivals! These metropolitan enigmas are an interesting alternative to your traditional three day, mud drenched, dirt infested festival. You can party all day, listening to sets from some of your favourite bands without the worry of crawling into a damp, smelly tent at the end of the night. Sure, it might not have the same “feel” as frolicking about in the English countryside; off your tits on a litre of basics vodka and five cans of warm Carling BUT they definitely have a distinct charm worth exploring.

Rest assured this venture will cost you but a fraction of the price of the real thing, so give your wallet a well-deserved rest in the lead up to summer and make the most of those upcoming Bank Holiday weekends in April/ May. In terms of price range you’re looking at anywhere between £30 - £100 depending on how many days, calibre of band and location in the country. This year’s best ‘bang for your buck’ has to be Live at Leeds festival in, yeah you guessed it, Leeds. At a mere £32.50 for a weekend ticket (Saturday & Sunday) it’s a bloody steal. Slaves, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Wild Beasts, White Lies, Pigeon Detectives, Nothing But Theives and many, many more. Whether you’re drawn to a lineup for one band in particular or for nothing more than a drunken adventure of music discovery, then look nowhere else than the fruitful nectar of an inner city festival. They seem to be the best option for both value and carnage. We’ve paid around £25/ £30 for a Slaves ticket alone in the past so £32.50 is, really, a no brainer. Not to mention Leeds is a fucking fantastic city. Check more details HERE.

You might be thinking….. well if I go to Reading or Leeds festival I pay £220 and that includes camping! Is there camping at these inner-city festivals? No, don’t be fucking stupid. You’re not gunna’ pitch up a tent outside Carphone Warehouse on a highstreet and wake up in the morning for a Gregg’s pasty run decked in last night’s alcohol drenched clothing wondering when your next shower will be. It’s not like that. If you’re fortunate enough to reside in the city, of said festival, then congratulations you got yourself a proper cheap weekend. If you’re not a city dweller or live even remotely near the place in question then you’ll need to find digs for the weekend.

Is renting accommodation not going to make the whole trip a whole lot more expensive? You ever heard of Air Bnb…….. take a look its fucking revolutionary. Seriously, it’s great! You can rent accommodation in the city centre for a lot less than it costs to book a room from the thieving bastards at Holiday Inn or Travelodge. They bump up the price of their rooms on occasions like this. So avoid them where possible. Help contribute towards some poor fuckers mortgage instead of leaking your money into the pockets of the greedy corporate prick sat at the pinnacle of the hotel food chain. Well done you just earned a vigilante badge!

The lineups for these ‘inner-city festivals’ tend to have a lot of common denominators. This year bands like Slaves, Cabbage, The Sherlocks, Jaws, Freak, Flamingods, The Amazons, The Big Moon, Judas, The Magic Gang and The Bay Rays all seem to be repeat offenders. Okay you might not be getting the likes of Kasabian, Muse, Foo Fighters, Queens of The Stoneage and The Libertines playing but let’s be real, you’re paying only a slither of the amount for an entourage of emphatic and up and coming talent. Seems like a pretty good deal to us! Stop though, hold that thought….. those of you that can’t bare to overlook the absence of big named artists on a lineup poster EAT YOUR WORDS! Tramlines Festival in Sheffield recently announced The Libertines as one of their headline acts, that big enough for you? And at only £46.20 for a weekend ticket! I know, I know you barely believe us but these are the facts. It’s not ‘too good to be true’ this is the reality of these types of festival in today’s world. They’ve been secretly growing year on year operating in the shadow of their heavyweight brethren. Building a loyal fan base and enticing new suitors to take the plunge; they’re now attracting more punters than a free bar at a working men’s club. It’s not about the big names though, the beauty of the inner city festivals is that it gives small upcoming bands the platform to make a name for themselves and subsequently gives us all the chance to discover some great new talent.

There are two types of inner-city festival, first up the “multiple location”. These festivals spread their lineup across several establishments, usually held in the cities with an abundance of great small live venues. These glorious sweat pits of auditory wonderment come together in harmonious synergy to host a feast of talent for our noise hungry ears. Take Camden Crawl for example it does exactly what it says on the tin. Shit loads of bands across a handful of venues, bish bash bosh! Crawl your way around a town/city going from venue to venue, trashed off your nut and checking out loads of music. Sounds like a dream right, ready to sign your life away yet? Secondly, we have your more typical “singular site” festival. These are your bog standard bread and butter soirée’s. No traipsing legless round a city centre, with absolutely no idea where you’re going, desperate for a piss and sobering up by the minute. Enjoy the serenity of having everything you need ‘right on your doorstep’ burger vans and beer tents galore! The only downside to this rather alluring proposal is the limited choices and overpriced offerings. You can’t just take a quick pitstop at McDonalds to ransack their pound saver menu and get a few cans of Stella at the off license on the way to your next venue. You’ll need to be prepared for £4 a pint, £6.50 for a burger and chips meal deal (not sure that’s quite the definition of “deal” but hey ho!) and we’re not even going to mention the prices of spirits. Apart from that it’s a blast, take Liverpool Sound City for example this year they’re hosting a lineup of quality bands including The Kooks, Metronomy, The Kills, Judas, Cabbage, Milburn, Slaves and more. Not only is it an epic lineup but it’s hosted at Clarence Dock in Liverpool, a place brimming with music culture and history. Not forgetting that all important picturesque view of the Merseyside river from inside the festival crowd. Catch this bad boy on a beautifully sunny May day and your laughing son! Take a look HERE.

We’re not here just to talk about one or two festivals though, no, we’re here to let you all that’s on offer for you this year. Once you’ve finished reading, have a flick through all the featured line-up posters in the gallery below and see if anything tickles ya’ fancy. We’ve spoken about Live at Leeds and Liverpool Sound City already so let’s move on swiftly. Down at the opposite end of the UK on the south coast we have Great Escape Festival in Brighton. A Festival for emerging talent, spanning over 30+ venues across the city with around 450 artists. So, yeah it’s a big old fucker! This is one for those of you that thrive on discovering new music. Plenty of talent on the bill with Freak, Goat Girl, Abattoir Blues, Cabbage, Dead Pretties, Judas, Yonaka, The Magic Gang, The Bay Rays……… (and breath). You’re spoilt for choice! Headlining the proceedings we have Slaves and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man with two special “spotlight” performances. We’re heading out to Brighton Pier for the Slaves spotlight show complete with carnage, mayhem, dodgems and a funfair. It wouldn’t be a seaside gig without it really, would it? Tickets are priced at around £60 for the 3 day festival and the spotlight shows £25 a ticket, be warned the Rag ‘n’ Bone Man show is already sold out. Great Escape are also doing a spotlight show ticket giveaway for full weekend wristband holders. More info HERE.

Up next we have Sheffield’s very own Tramlines festival. We briefly touched on this bad boy earlier, with their Libertines headline announcement, but we’ll dig a little further to give you the full overview. Taking place on the weekend of 21st – 23rd June and at a mere £46.20 a ticket (incl. booking fees) this fest takes pride of place as our 2nd best ‘bang for your buck’. Again, another flurry of incredible artists incl. Blaenavon, Cabbage, Estrons, Metronomy, Goat Girl, We Are Scientists, Spring King, Twin Atlantic, The Coral, The Age of LUNA and many more. The bold inclusion of The Libertines on the lineup emulates the growth and intent of Tramlines and inner-city festivals all over the UK for that matter. They make that £46.20 pricetag look like fucking happy hour at Wetherspoons. Not even David Dickinson could find you a better bargain than that in 2017! The festival stretches across 3 sites over the city with the Main Stage arena, Devonshire Green and The Folk Forest all within a short distance of each other. Definitely one worth considering if you’re on a budget and want to see Pete Doherty shake his shit on stage! Check out the website HERE.

If you dare venture just a smidge further up the country then Hit The North Festival in Newcastle could be the one for you. Taking place on Thursday 27th April until Saturday 29th April this new festival will see 114 bands play across 14 different venues. A bold lineup of both emerging talent and heavyweight acts including Slaves, Nothing But Thieves, Frightened Rabbit, Honeyblood, The Magic Gang, Jaws, The Pale White, Judas, The Bay Rays and loads more. Another cheap event at £35.20, have a browse at the full lineup and see what you think. More info HERE.

A lot of these festivals have similar artists playing so your decision may just be a matter of convenience over content. 2Q Festival does, however, offer a variety of bands that we haven’t seen featured yet on other inner city festival lineups. Taking place on Saturday April 1st in Derby city centre we have Milburn, Temples, Pulled Apart By Horses, Vant, The Wytches, Hooton Tennis Club, Jaws, Black Honey, Toy, Kagoule, The Shimmer Band, Fickle Friends and more. This is the cheapest of all the festivals we’ve discussed so far sitting pretty at a measly £24.75 it would be rude not too right? More info HERE.

“Leicestershire la da da da’”. The last edition to our featured list is Handmade Festival, in Leicester. Since the mighty Foxes won the prestigious EPL last season this, somewhat overlooked, midlands settlement has been put on the global map. It’s a great time to get yourself down and see what the city has to offer. Why start anywhere else than this great little festival. Still a relatively young concept, Handmade have had their fair share of big artists on the stage with Slaves, We Are Scientists, Swim Deep etc. This year is no exception with a wealth of talent on the cards incl. Frightened Rabbit, Dead!, Cabbage, Get Inuit, Honeyblood, Idles, Jaws, Pulled Apart By Horses, Twin Atlantic, Superfood, Tigercub and loads more. Taking place on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th April and at £40 for the weekend ticket, there’s surely no other way to spend your mayday bank holiday weekend? They’ve even thrown in a special ticket prices for you cash-strapped students at £33 a whopping 25% discount you cheeky buggers! More info HERE

Nearer to the time we’ll wack together a MUST SEE list, so you guys don’t miss out on any of the hottest new musical property on offer. Keep your eye’s peeled for that one….. or don’t it’s entirely up to you. We are keeping tabs though! We’ll be heading out to Liverpool Sound City, Live at Leeds and Great Escape for Slaves Pier Party so if you’re at any of these and spot us loitering around the crowd like socially inept weirdos drenched in THEROCKWOLF merch then give us a dead arm or something, maybe say hello, wherever the moment takes you really. We’ll be waiting.