ONE of the biggest crowds in the festival's history helped make this year's Bingley Music Live a massive success - and the perfect way to end the summer.
Held in Myrtle Park from Friday to Sunday, this year's festival attracted more music lovers than is has in four years, as people of all ages came to see up and coming acts rub shoulders with music veterans.
After Friday was brought to a triumphant close by Cast and then headliners James, whose crowd favourites Laid and Sit Down resulted in mass sing alongs, the following two days had a lot to live up to.
Despite many of the bigger bands not starting until late afternoon on the Saturday and Sunday, people streamed into the main stage area from early afternoon to catch some of the hotly tipped acts that peppered the festival's line up and to enjoy the late summer atmosphere.
Post-hardcore survivors Funeral For a Friend took to the stage mid afternoon on Saturday, bringing the heaviest set of the day. They were followed by Carl Barat and the Jackals, with Barat fresh from headlining nearby Leeds Festival the week before with his other band The Libertines.
SEE ALL THE PICTURES FROM BINGLEY MUSIC LIVE 2015
Despite being a relative newcomer to the music scene compared to some of the weekend’s acts, singer/songwriter Ella Eyre put on a hugely confident set that ended up being one of the most well received of the festival.
Playing just a day after her debut album cracked the Top Five in the album chart, Eyre mixed her own solo songs with ones she has guested on for other artists, and tunes the songwriter had written for other acts, such as Sigma’s number one hit Changing.
Second from top of the bill were punk pop rockers Ash who, despite their still relatively fresh faces, have a catalogue of songs dating back 20 years. Having headlined Glastonbury early in their careers, playing to a huge crowd was never going to be a problem for the veterans. While they played a few new tracks, it was their classics like Shining Light and Goldfinger that really got the crowd going, and their final two tracks Girl from Mars and Burn Baby, Burn meant they ended the set in a particularly energetic fashion.
Like Ella Eyre, Saturday headliner Labrinth seems to have come out of nowhere in the past few years, but had no difficulty filling his set with hits.
Hard to pigeon-hole, the artist sings, raps and during this set played piano and guitar, taking in soul, hip hop and pop on the way.
Relishing his headline billing, Labrinth got the crowd bouncing, singing along to songs like Jealous and even waving their phones in the air to light up Myrtle Park.
Ending with a brilliant performance of his breakthrough hit Earthquake, he proved he deserved to headline a festival along the veterans it attracts,
Scott Mills, and his sidekick Chris Stark, played a number of DJ sets in between acts at Bingley Music Live on Saturday evening.
The Radio One DJ, who treated the Telegraph & Argus to a cold beer in his tent prior to his set, said the Bingley event was almost as big as Radio One’s Big Weekend, and added: “It is fantastic and it is obviously popular. And it is nice to see families here.
“Last year they asked me to do this and I was going to, but in the end I got involved with Strictly Come Dancing, so I couldn’t do it. I was really up for it last year and when they asked again, I thought ‘why not?’”
The DJ promised to keep the party going through what he described as the “boring” part in between acts, and didn’t disappoint as he whipped the crowd up and got them dancing.
For the first time in the festival's history, Sunday's line up featured two headliners. Both Scottish indie rockers Idlewild and psychedelic leaning Super Furry Animals were given headline status, although it was the Welsh Super Furries who ended the weekend with one of their characteristically quirky sets.
Helping bring the memorable festival to a close were Embrace, playing just before Idlewild, and Peter Hook, founding member of Joy Division and New Order, who performed with his current band The Light.
While most of the big moments were found on the main stage, those willing to explore the lesser known acts on the Discovery Stage would have found plenty of highlights over the weekend, such as a bewitching, chilled out set from Meadowlark and bluesy rock from The Black Delta Movement.
SEE ALL THE PICTURES FROM BINGLEY MUSIC LIVE 2015
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