Day festivals are always a class day out but there is something particularly special about a day festival in a small indoor sweaty venue. Cafe Indie in Scunthorpe is a brilliant example of this with local promoter Gary Stillyards promoting independently since 2014.
He’s been flying the flag for the grassroots scene since the beginning, evolving from house gigs in people’s living rooms which soon became very cramped. It was a local phenomenon with people travelling from afar for the opportunity to experience a rammo’d living room gig, really building a wonderful community. Artists that performed included Mark Morriss (The Bluetones), Chris Helme (The Seahorses) and Nigel Clark (Dodgy).
Stillyards didn’t let Covid stop him as he adapted to bizarre, bubbled seated gigs with Geordie artist Andrew Cushin reintroducing Westview Live. Since then, Café Indie has hosted around 10-12 gigs a year with a plethora of incredible grassroots talents from all around the U.K. playing the showcases including The Lottery Winners, Red Rum Club and Arkayla.
Westview Live is rebranding as The Indie Collective in 2027 as Stillyards expands his team with likeminded lovers of the grassroots scene as they look to keep building the community and friendships. The work they have done so far has been nothing short of brilliant and I am so excited to see what they have planned and long may their success continue.
Their September showcase is the latest offering of talents from all around the country with all the bands being brand new to working with Stillyards. With representation from Manchester, South Wales and Derbyshire to name a small selection, it was a brilliant night headlined by my most watched band live, The Cavs.
First up were the Leicester representatives Billobuckers. ‘PLAN B’ was the perfect opener with the starting lyrics forming the greeting “eyup muckers it’s Billobuckers.” Their energy was effortless with gripping solos in ‘TIME TO CHANGE’ and driving riffs in ‘IT’LL BE ALRIGHT.’
They got the crowd involved with mini singalongs to a ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ medley and plenty of song dedications to groups like people with scumbag mates and job hunters/ those on minimum wage (felt that one). The crowd were treated to the official debut of ‘Don’t Ask’ as on the same day it got spun on BBC Introducing East Midlands. And what a banger that was, the verses had swaggering energy and the choruses were catchy. Their set ended in a heartfelt manner with ‘It’s Okay Not to Be Okay’ with guitarist Alastair Tomlinson coming into the crowd to play some of the song and another medley from William Buckler with ‘Praise You.’
The combination of Greater Manchester and Merseyside came together with Everyman up next on the bill. Frontman Nathaniel Maddock had such lovely gliding vocals throughout the set and sparkly guitars decorated their songs. The band don’t have too many songs released yet so the crowd got to be witness to plenty of unreleased numbers I can only hope will be released soon. ‘Days Unknown’ is the band’s latest release and it made for a fascinating live appearance.
None of the instruments were too in your face and flowed together nicely to make for a danceable number whilst being on the softer side. Several of their tracks were introduced with pulsating drumbeats from Ethan James to bring an unsuspecting tension before the sparkly guitars would come in and relax you into another of their tunes.
Our first Manchester representatives were indie pop quartet Cottons. I was excited to see these guys again after such a fun support slot with Long Island earlier this year. They commanded the stage with distorted guitar solos, layered vocals, and pulsating basslines. Cottons utilised such pretty guitar riffs like in ‘Bad Dream’ and my particular highlight was the instrumentals in ‘Second Hand Living Room.’ The guitars simultaneously sound poppy and like synthesisers.
They engaged the crowd with a big singalong during ‘Bitter’ and getting everyone clapping around during the bridges. ‘old skool town’ was their grand finale with bassist Rick kicking and dancing about as well as letting out a surprise scream that made you feel you were in the middle of a heavy metal track for a second!
One of my highlights of the night came in the form Matlock’s own Taylor Liam Jackson. Jackson’s thick vocals reverberated throughout the room exuding a proper attitude throughout his performance. As a collective they were a proper entertaining bunch with lots of fun crowd interactions in between exciting tunes consisting of ripping guitar solos and pounding drum lines.
Who doesn’t love a “here we fucking go” chant, the Scunny crowd certainly did during ‘Broke Inside.’ A standout moment of the set which cemented Jackson and co’s live presence was getting a sea of torch lights swaying back and forth during ‘Twice’ to create a wonderful atmosphere.
Moving into the latter half of the night with Yorkshire representation comes Sheffield’s own The Kellows. The Kellows produced incredible walls of sound throughout their tracks with pounding choruses in ‘Eve’ and exciting build ups in intros like ‘Sapphire.’ I really loved the flowing vocals from Will Harris which guided the tracks in huge strides. There are exciting times in Kellows camp with the crowd getting a special listen to ‘How Many Signs which will be the next single! Make sure to keep an eye out for that one because you’re in for a treat.
Coming up all the way from Barry, South Wales, we had viral rockers Bendricks taking the penultimate slot. Fairplay to these guys, they’ve taken all the online chat in their stride but after watching them I can say I absolutely loved their set. How many bands can say they have a back flipping icon in the form of Sam Stopgate. I don’t remember Bez doing any of that when I saw him with Happy Mondays! ‘Rise Above’ has been the centre of their virality but I really loved this track.
It was a great showcase of their cohesion as one, guitars in union, Aaron Abraham absolutely smashing behind the sticks and a prime catchy indie chorus. They ended their set with ‘Lost On Time’ which included a brilliant build up using everyone’s phone torches. But not the way you might think. Rather than swaying them they were span around in rapid fashion as propellers before one final triumphant play through to close their set.
Our second Manchester band and incredible headliner came in the form of one of my all time favourites, The Cavs. Headlining Cafe Indie for the first time. Opening with the colossal ‘Man In The Suit,’ they don’t mess about. Heartbeat guitar and drum combos were laced in each pre chorus before catchy guitars took over. The bridge continued to build an insane intensity as each instrument reintroduced itself as Elliot Craven’s vocals shuddered across the room.
Their recent singles have been a real showcase of bassist Mikey Carney’s ability with such addictive riffs opening tracks like ‘Headshot’ and ‘People Like Me.’ The chords reverberated throughout the room booming in your ears as addictive guitar riffs danced on the bass foundations.
The vocals soar at the end to bring the tracks to decisive summits. ‘Music To My Madness’ has made its welcome return to the setlist with Chris Terry’s soothing guitar chords undercutting the vocals. ‘Holiday’ and ‘All In My Head’ were next, two unreleased tracks and two brilliant ones at that, hope to see them get released as soon as possible as the band diversify their sound with the recent addition of synthesisers to their repertoire.
Their most recent single ‘Game Of Life’ is a beautiful number with a gentle acoustic intro and cascading guitar chords dropping down the stage. The outro to this one is a mega ride to follow. Huge walls of sound created by Terry and fellow guitarist James McAuley compounded by the intensity of Arthur Thomas’ drumming and Carney’s bass slammed into the crowds as Craven’s pitch ascended higher and higher to produce a gorgeous peak to abruptly end the track. ‘Running’ has always been a fan favourite and that night it was no different. The crowd were dancing to the unforgettable rhythms and clapping along to intense build ups in the bridge.
The penultimate two of their compact set came in the form of ‘Hallowed Ground’ having been finally released earlier this year and the unreleased ‘City Boy.’ Definitely an interesting choice to end the set with an unreleased number but nonetheless it made for an exciting climax at the end. The synthesisers echoed across the space consuming everyone’s eardrums as the band came together to deliver one final triumph to close out what had been a brilliant day.
Gigs like Westview Live are a fantastic way to get people seeing wonderful talents from all across the country in an iconic grassroots space and the September showcase was another fine effort. All the acts were absolutely incredible and for The Cavs, this was an exciting teaser for what’s to come at their Gorilla gig next month.
FOLLOW THE CAVS HERE // FOLLOW CAFE INDIE HERE
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