On Friday the 1st of September 2023 I went to Don Valley Bowl to watch the rock and roll circus festival where artists such as The Cribs, Happy Mondays, and Noel Gallagher performed. The festival is filled with both music but also circus acts which make the day you’re there really entertaining. From rings of fire to trapeze between artists. The festival certainly stands out from other festivals because of the circus element as it is more than just a gimmick but enhances the festival experience. There are two stages, one in the big tent and one just outside where smaller bands play.
THE CRIBS
The Cribs are a three-person band comprising of three brothers, twins Gary and Ryan Jarman, and little brother Ross. Forming in 2001 the cribs have found large commercial success and have made their name prevalent in the UK indie rock scene. Throughout the years they have released 8 studio albums with a few reaching high in the UK top charts like ‘Men’s Needs, women’s Needs, whatever’ featuring 13th. At one point in 2008, ex-guitarist of the Smiths, Johnny Marr joined the band until 2011 when he left to focus on his solo career and the solo album he was working on. The Wakefield brothers stuck together and made music and toured the world, including the Steel City for the rock and roll circus. The music which is inspired by Nirvana echoed through the large circus tent and electrified the crowd. The support for the band was large and it was evident. Moshpits and people throwing themselves everywhere took place from the start of the set to the end. At one point security had to join the crowd to disperse some of these fans. The set list treated the fans to classics like Mirror Kisses and I’m a Realist which was very well responded to by the crowd.
HAPPY MONDAYS
Happy Mondays are a band that was truly ingrained in the Manchester dance scene. Like the stone roses, the happy Mondays paved the way for the Mancunian sound in the 80s and especially revolutionized the house/ dance genre. Their music was more psychedelic, influenced by the 60s hippie movement, using bright music and bright presentation. The band consisted of Bez, Paul and Shaun Ryder, Gary Whelan, Mark Day and Paul Davis, and Rowetta for a female voice later on. The sound of the band was always unique, taking techniques from hip-hop and playing into multiple genres. On my visit to Don Valley Bowl, I had not heard much of Happy Mondays and came into the gig with a fresh mind and a lot of expectations because of the legendary status of the band. My expectation was met and the set was refreshing from the last set of the cribs. Instead of a jumping loud energetic atmosphere of the cribs (which I am not complaining about) was a sort of chill relaxing psychedelic vibe and the sound of Rowetta was incredible. Even though the band is past its prime and getting older it didn’t take away from the set, they sounded great and received a good reception from the crowd. One moment I do remember fondly for their set was when Noel Gallagher popped his head over a speaker on stage to watch the band from the side and I could hear everyone around me whispering to the people next to them “NOEL IS THERE”.
NOEL GALLAGHER
Noel Gallagher probably doesn't even need an introduction, he is mostly famous from his years at Oasis where the band took over the world in the late 90s and was at the forefront of the britpop genre.
The band started back in 1991 when Noel joined his brother's already existing band. Noel had been working for a band and traveled the uk which possibly gave him the experience to orchestrate his own band. When he came back he wasn't impressed by his brother (Liam Gallagher) music but joined the band anyway. The band originally was made up of Liam as the singer, Noel on guitar but would occasionally sing as well, Paul Arthurs also known as Bonehead on guitar, Paul McGuigan on bass and Tony McCarroll on drums.
The band had colossal success with their first album releasing in 1994(Definitely Maybe) which became the fastest selling debut album in the British charts history and future albums all grossing to large success. The band's fall started to be visible after coming into the 2000’s where the relationship between the two brothers started to become more toxic than ever before.
In 2009 the band split up and both Liam and noel drifted off to form different bands, liam created beady eye and in 2010 Noel created Noel Gallagher's high flying birds. Liam didn't find much success so left and focused on his solo career where he found much more success but Noel stayed with his high flying birds recording 4 albums with the latest being council skies which released this year.
Noel headlined the event of rock n roll circus this year and the excitement for him alone was immense. The tent was packed all ready for the headliner and when he came out the noise coming out was booming. It was evident that his support was large with people singing every song as loud as their lungs could. In Front of me in the crowd was a family who I ended up talking to and I was shocked to find out that they had been to every single gig Noel had done on this tour. Noel even spotted the family and recognised them. Noel was very interactive with the crowd throughout the night, if that was complimenting the crowd or insulting.
Noel Gallagher high flying Birds performed a great setlist of songs from all the albums including the newest album which played songs like pretty boy and older songs like if i had a gun and aka…what a life. He also played songs, unsurprisingly, from Oasis like don't look back in anger, the masterplan and half the world away which got the fans even more excited than they were before.
