Dizzy Do Neighbourhood Weekender

Words & Photography : Alisha Lawton

This bank holiday weekend in May, Dizzy Magazine was busy! 

Neighbourhood Weekender is back after a 2 year wait and it was better than ever!

Opening the Main Stage on the Saturday afternoon was none other than Seb Lowe, starting the day off for a large majority of the festival attendees. Starting the set with one of his most recent singles, Here Come The Aliens, Seb Lowe showed the audience everything he was made of! 

Second up on the Main Stage was Wrexham-massive: The Royston Club! Drawing in a massive audience, The Royston Club started their set with the iconic guitar riff from The Patch Where Nothing Grows, it started an immediate cheer! 

One of the first clashes of the festival was whether you wanted to see The Royston Club on the Main Stage, or Keo as they started their Neighbourhood journey by playing the Viola Beach Stage.

Playing almost an entire set of unreleased songsm other than their first and second single, Keo brought a massive crowd, despite not having a lot of music out for people to listen to! 

Following Keo's hard hitting set on the Viola Beach stage was Manchester local band Arkayla, pulling in an equally as big of a crowd as Keo, they played mainly released music and teased their next single Doctor.

Heading back over to the Main Stage, The Snuts came out in full force ready to entertain the crowd. Despite the heavens deciding to open, The Snuts fans stuck around for the Scottish indie band. Playing all music from their catalogue, the band gave it everything they had and so did the audience. 

Making our way back over to the Viola Beach stage, Siobhan Winifred played a stellar set as the rain poured down, treating the audience to a handful of unreleased songs to look forward to and her most popular songs, Lungs and Killers. People danced around and admired the indie pop singer. Not too long after Siobhan’s set, we rushed back over to the Main Stage to catch The Wombats, starting the set with Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come, which is the first track on their most recent album. Immediately then moving into an indie classic of Moving To New York; everyone in the audience knew exactly what song it was from the first strum of the guitar and went mental for the classic indie band. 

Clashing with The Wombats were The K’s, so we made our way over to the other side of the festival to see The K’s play a close hometown show. The Big Top Tent was completely filled from front to back; it was clear to see that their fans had come out in numbers to see the band, starting the set with their first single Graveyard off their anticipated upcoming album. 

After a jam packed Saturday at Neighbourhood Festival the looming line up of the Sunday was soon approaching and it was due to be even busier!

Starting off the day at the Viola Beach stage, London four-piece Saint Clair opened the stage and started the day for a lot of festival goers. Playing a set of completely unreleased music, Saint Clair gave the audience a peek into what is to come from the band and Dizzy Magazine can confirm it's exciting. 

After a short break, we were back at it and headed over to the Big Top Tent where Nieve Ella played an incredible set, playing mainly songs from her latest EP, Watch it Ache and Bleed, with a few dips into her second EP Lifetime of Wanting. Fans in the audience sang along and had the best time. Within the middle of her set she played an unreleased song titled Good Grace, which is set to be her next single. As soon as Nieve's set was finished, we rushed back over to the main stage to catch some of the Norwegian pop princess Sigrid. Playing a mix of classic hits from her catalogue and album tracks, she knew how to get the crowd going and enjoying themselves. 

Staying at the Main Stage, next up was Inhaler. Within sheer minutes before Inhaler were due to start their set, the heavens opened once again and rain threw itself down. Although the weather wasn't the best, the fans in the audience stuck it out and waited for the band in the pouring rain. Despite one of the biggest clashes of the entire festival being with Wunderhorse in the Big Top Tent, the band pulled in a massive crowd. Seconds before the band entered the stage the rain stopped, and the music began to play! Starting the set with Dublin in Ecstasy, the crowd went wild and sang along to the riff of the guitar. Towards the end of the set, it was time to head over to the Big Top Stage to see if we could fit in the tent to catch some of Wunderhorse. Within seconds of finding a place undercover, it began to chuck it down once again, coincidentally as the band began to sing their song Rain. The tent was so full that you could barely move, and somehow the fans still found a way to start a mosh pit right in the centre of the audience. It is clear to see that both Inhaler and Wunderhorse have some hard core fans. 

Before we knew it, it was time to head back over to the Viola Beach Stage to try and catch some of the incredible Luvcat, playing a mixed of released and unreleased music she captivated the audience. After having an already mental year, it is clear to see that Luvcat is going from strength to strength and is only getting better. Next up was CMAT. We headed back over to the Big Top Tent where it gradually began to fill up for the Irish singer. One thing that is clear when it comes to CMAT is that she is a performer and she knows how to entertain an audience; CMAT doesn't just play a set, she puts on a show.

And just like that it was almost the end of Neighbourhood Weekender, with just Stereophonics and Dizzee Rascal yet to play. The anticipation from both sides of the festival lingered in the air. Stereophonics played a classic set that had people singing all over the place and Dizzee Rascal had people jumping and dancing like nobody's business. It was interesting to see the two different sides of the festival play out. 

Overall Neighbourhood Weekender is back and better than ever; everything about the festival was perfectly curated from the line-up to the layout. There is something about this festival that works so well and celebrates indie music like no other.