Making its home near to the bustling city centre of Nottingham, Meadowlands ensured that its debut into the UK festival scene went down without a hitch, hosting headliners; Scottish legend Gerry Cinnamon, indie-rock crowd pleasers The Kooks, and a plethora of up and coming talent from up and down the country, such as “kids off the estate” The Reytons, wildly successful The Mysterines, who have just come off of a huge 4 week US Tour, and developing bands such as Daisy Brain and Overpass, who both go on tour in the last months of this year.

The festival itself was made up of three stages, the day starting off with performances from Overpass, Vonvella, and Ewan Mainwood, who made sure to ready the crowds for the main stages performances. The Mysterines opened the main stage with their fiery sound, after finding critical praise throughout the last two years, supporting the likes of Sea Girls, Royal Blood, and The Amazons. Lead, Lia Metcalfe enthralled festival goers for half an hour with her lyrical prowess and voice, making you think about the Liverpudlian band for the rest of the day.

Black Honey soon followed on the main stage, the Brighton based band which has never wavered in fulfilling an energetic show. The four piece played songs old and new, catering to the veteran fanbase which they have grown over the years. Playing new releases like Back Of The Bar and Run For Cover which got the crowd moving along with fan favourites Corrine and Spinning Wheel which even from a distance (over at the second stage) I saw the dynamism and energy that they put into their live performance. They were incredible to watch, and I’m excited to see where their musical journey takes them next. 

Over at the second stage at the same time (where I happened to be shooting) I met the lovely Daisy Brain band, who in recent months have solidified their presence in the grunge/rock scene. The group of five played fan favourites Boring, Kleptomaniac (my personal favourite) amongst other bangers. I was honestly disappointed for their set to end, and I’m sure, as they grow further as a band, incredible heights will be made by them in the music industry. 

Preceding Black Honeys set was the incredible Reytons, a band whose music I’ve been following for the past couple of years, and Meadowlands was the perfect time and place to see the boys perform. Jonny Yerrell (front man) brought the entire festival down when he entered the stage. Having formed in 2014, and recently debuted their first album, the northern lads went down extremely well with the thrilled crowd. Yerrell often took the time to bask in the bands success by standing on top of speakers, his magnetic stage presence was a joy to watch, and his energy never faltered throughout the fifty minute set, it seemed like he could’ve gone on for another two hours!! The Reytons were the perfect act to go on before the penultimate act and indie rock royalty ; The Kooks, and had the crowd amped up and ready to dance the rest of the night away.

The Kooks reputation and prowess within the industry has never floundered, and the crowd was buzzing with excitement as front man Luke Pritchard took to the stage and played a beautiful acoustic rendition of Seaside much to the joy of the fans below him, and was then later joined by his other band mates. The trio played industry celebrated Naive, She Moves In Her Own Way, Ooo la and Sofa Song, along with many others, with a mix of their newer tunes which proved to be an incredible live show. Pritchard strutting around the stage, standing on platforms and the like, letting the crowd do their own renditions of the songs during parts of the performance.

Scottish flags and hats decorated the crowd in a sea of blue and white, as the now 15,000+ crowd waited in anticipation of Gerry Cinnamon, taking the time out of his tour nationwide to grace the Nottingham based festivals stage, and he went down a treat, playing what seemed for hours, his legendary status in the industry being backed up by his dynamic stage presence, he truly is a one man band, his acoustic set never failed to disappoint once, playing hits like Belter which had the entire crowd stomping and clapping to the beat. Closing his set with fan-favourite Canter a magnificent fireworks display filled the skyline, with the crowd having been treated to a beautiful golden sunset earlier in his set. Having never heard much from the Scotsman before, I was enthralled, and the perfect end to a very blue skied, beer fuelled day at Meadowlands. 

For a first year of a festival, Meadowlands predominantly went down without a hitch, the walking distance between stages were manageable, and the music from the main stage did not block out the quality of sound of Stage Two and BBC Introducing, meaning I could listen to the new developing bands without being distracted by what was happening on the main stage, allowing the newer artists a chance to be heard. The one day festival also meant that the line up catered to lots of music on the spectrum, from grunge to folk. Who knows, in later years, maybe more genres of music will be given a spot on stage, opening up the demographic even further to all kinds of music listeners. We shall wait and see.