Welsh rockers Stereophonics will headline Kendal Calling this year as the festival returns to Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District from 29th July-1st August. Acts joining the Cynon Valley four-piece on the bill this year include Supergrass, Dizzee Rascal, The Streets, and Blossoms.
Pleased to announce that we will be headlining @KendalCalling festival on Saturday 31st July! For more info about the event, please go to https://t.co/bJ0qfg5WWl pic.twitter.com/qnIOGId7t9
— stereophonics (@stereophonics) March 26, 2021
2021 will mark the festival’s fifteenth anniversary, with the annual Cumbrian bash kicking off back in 2006 with headline sets from Pendulum and British Sea Power. Since then, the Kendal Calling stage has been graced by the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Echo & The Bunnymen, Calvin Harris, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Snoop Dogg and Public Enemy.
Festival co-founders Andy Smith and Ben Robinson spoke to NME about their building excitement for the festival’s return after a Coronavirus-enforced hiatus in 2020. They said “It’s a great feeling to be able to announce the return of Kendal Calling in 2021. Not being able to celebrate together in the fields last year has only heightened anticipation for our return this July with a lineup that truly captures what Kendal Calling is all about…It’s sure to be an unforgettable moment stepping back into Lowther Deer Park this July and we can’t wait to have you all join us.”
Stereophonics, who headlined Kendal Calling in 2017 as part of a triple-bill with compatriots the Manics and Scottish art-rockers Franz Ferdinand, will return to the live stage fresh off the back of frontman Kelly Jones’ reflective solo album Don’t Let The Devil Take Another Day. The LP, released last December, included reimagined versions of a clutch of the Aberdare band’s classic hits – including Hurry Up And Wait, Mr Writer, Local Boy In The Photograph, Maybe Tomorrow, Traffic, Just Looking and Dakota – as well as a series of covers. Jones told fans that the track selection for the record – which came ten years after the tragic death of the band’s charismatic and much-loved original drummer Stuart Cable – “pulled together the songs that got him through the worst of times, whilst telling stories of how those songs came about.”
Supergrass‘ set at Kendal Calling will form part of a busy summer schedule for the Oxford outfit, who are also due to perform at Nottinghamshire’s Splendour Festival, Camper Calling in Warwickshire and the South Facing Festival at Crystal Palace in London. The band reformed in 2019 after a nine-year break.
Fellow South Facing headliner Dizzee Rascal‘s appearance at Kendal Calling will provide the festival veteran with an opportunity to perform songs from his well-received 2020 album E3 AF. In their review of his seventh studio LP, Clash praised the Bow product for “navigating the perilous landscape of 2020 with remarkable assurance“, adding that “few other UK rappers can genuinely say they’re making some of their best work 20 years in the game – staying true to his roots while absorbing the sounds that currently defined East London, Dizzee has pulled off something special.”
Stockport alt-rock merchants Blossoms will take to the stage at Kendal Calling with a 2020 hit record of their own under their belt. Their third LP – Foolish Loving Spaces – was their second UK chart-topper. The group will tour Britain and Europe next autumn before providing support to The Killers on their 2022 UK Tour. The Streets also take to the festival circuit with new music in their locker. The Mike Skinner-led unit released their first new mixtape in nine years in 2020 in the form of twelve-track collection None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive, which reached number #2 in the Official UK Albums Chart.
