Echo and the Bunnymen, Glasvegas, Ash and Editors are among the big names due to appear at the inaugural Creation Day Festival next summer. The two day festival, which will be held in Wolverhampton’s West Park, will celebrate the legacy of Creation Records and its founder Alan McGee, the curator of the event. The line-up for the festival serves as a ‘who’s who’ of acts McGee has worked with over the last four decades.
.@CreationDayFest line-up announced! #GigTickets on sale Friday 23 October at 10am. https://t.co/nvEUXuo6CN pic.twitter.com/ULyCDzWvUe
— Get To The front (@gettothefront) October 16, 2020
Happy Mondays and Echo and the Bunnymen head up the bill on the first day of the festival (Saturday 29th May); which will also feature sets from Echobelly, Merseyside rockers Cast and Kirkcaldy four-piece Shambolics. Day Two (Sunday 30th May) is headed up by Editors, who scored noughties hits with Munich and Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors; Friendly Fires; Ash and Glasvegas.
Glasvegas’ set will coincide with the release of their upcoming fourth studio album Godspeed. The Scottish outfit, who burst onto the scene in 2008 with their Phil Spector-influenced debut album Glasvegas, dropped their latest single Keep Me A Space in August. The rousing track returns the band to the melodic ‘wall of sound’ feel which powered their excellent early singles Geraldine and Daddy’s Gone.
Other acts featuring on Day Two of the festival include indie rockers Sleeper, who reformed in 2017 after a nineteen year hiatus; Leeds veterans The Wedding Present; and Anglo-Italian alt-rock four-piece Cat FX, who have been hailed by Clash Magazine as a “rebel force… continually championing the underdog“.
The Creation Day Festival website promises a two-day event that “…testifies to a trailblazing history and a vibrant future…the ultimate celebration of all things Creation, as orchestrated by the man, the myth and the legend behind it all.” The man in question, Alan McGee – who famously helped launch the careers of Super Furry Animals, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fanclub and Oasis during his tenure at Creation Records – has recently spoken of his disenchantment with the modern music scene.
In an interview with NME, he said “You’ve got to accept that the music industry and media don’t want young, punky indie rock n’ roll bands. They just don’t. That makes it easier for me, as the quality I’m signing up is incredible. I don’t know if it will ever change, because the culture is just so different now. There are other people doing great stuff… I don’t know if there’s a happy ending for the industry if it stops putting out records by hungry indie punk rock ‘n’ roll bands. But I’m not trying to change anything, I’m just doing it because I like doing it.”
McGee – who has stated that he wants the Creation Day Festival to become an annual event – will hope that his new summer showcase can demonstrate that the British indie scene still has plenty left in the tank. Tickets for the Creation Day Festival are available online from 23rd October at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/creation-day
