Hundreds of posts on the online Bowlie forum. Nearby Travel Lodges booked out weeks in advance. Speculative rumours about a surprise appearance from Stuart Murdoch. “Choo choo” train sounds from April still ringing in people’s ears. Tickets being sold on Ebay for, like, squizillions of pounds (OK, so I made that last one up). Surely, never has an indiepop shindig been so eagerly anticipated as this summer’s two day Indietracks festival – the long awaited follow-up to the highly successful one-dayer event in April at the Midland Railway Centre in Derbyshire.

The weekend started off feeling like an episode of Indiepop on Location crossed with some kind of secret mystery assignation. I spent an inordinate amount of time spotting people usually never seen outside the confines of dark basement clubs and referring to people by their Bowlie forum alter egos – “I’m meeting Stolen Fish outside the Church Stage at midnight, don’t forget to bring Crystal Maze” and so on…… All the lovely railway volunteers were out in force, willingly harassed by bands seeking extra audience members and more than happy to direct hungry kids to the nearest cheeseburger/toilet/railway memorabilia shop. The weather stayed fine apart from some light drizzle on Saturday night, the nearby Golden Valley campsite was superb (pop fact: it has a special award from David Bellamy) and I have it on good authority that Alfreton Travel Lodge was positively luxurious.

But anyway, the bands. Forty of them, according to the lovingly-designed programme. I arrived just in time to watch the fantastic Pete Green play in the rather elderly Church Stage, which actually was just that – a church. It felt a little blasphemous to be drinking alcohol while seated on a pew, but somehow it perfectly complemeted Pete’s irreverent sense of humour, which shone through in songs such as “I haven’t got a My Space….” and “Share your Kit”. He had even written a song especially for Indie Tracks, “Hey Dr Beeching”, about Dr Richard Beeching, former Chairman of the 1960s British Railway Board, who apparently ordered mass closures of railways whilst at the same time having shares in road haulage. The song, strongly recalling Billy Bragg at his finest, described how festival goers were turning the “axe” back on Beeching by using the steam railway once more. Personally, I felt Pete was the first act to really embody the sense of community which prevailed throughout the entire weekend, and I enjoyed the set so much I saw him again on the steam train on Sunday – this time with a “choo choo” whistle firmly held in hand!

Other highlights on the Saturday were Cats on Fire, who looked as fantastically handsome as ever and who got the crowd clicking their heels in time to their Smiths-y indiepop take on rhythm and blues. Electronic duo Arthur and Martha were similarly fab in the Church Stage, and alcohol/religious fervour even prompted some electronica lovers to start boogying in the aisles to Music for Hairproducts. Later, The Bobby McGees played an absolutely compelling set on the train, with Jimmy and Eleanor staring manically into each other eyes as they strummed expertly along to comic classics such as No Friends and Billy n Trace. Unfortunately I missed their Sunday performance, when they were resplendent in full costume, but I hear they were great. Headliners for the evening were The Orchids who, having not heard them the first time round, I was a little unsure of. I only caught the last half of their set, and although what I did hear sounded pleasantly jangly, I think I need to carry out further investigation in this area - I’m willing to be educated! The Saturday evening ended with an expertly judged disco by How Does it Feel to be Loved? DJ Ian Watson, who pulled some amusing Fatboy Slim-style arms-in-the-air moves as he exorted the kids to dance along to his selection of Motown classics, The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian, Hefner and the like, with a couple of train songs thrown in for good measure. My leg muscles are still recovering even now.

And so to Sunday, which was mainly a day of catching snatches of sets that I wished I’d had more time to see. Stephenhero, aka Patrick Fitzgerald from Kitchens of Distinction, brought something a little different to the festival. Armed with only sunglasses, a suit and a piano, his set proved a perfect mid-afternoon wind-down of poetic references and dreamlike melodies. Playing songs from his new album “57 stars of the air almanac” and older tunes alike, he dedicated one song to organiser Stuart and was of many bands to do so throughout the weekend. The Cut Outs also broke the indiepop mould, playing scuzzy yet melodic garage rock which made me want to drink American beer and wear sunglasses indoors. But the crowds were clearly ripe for a good old sing-along, and Pocketbooks were happy to lead the way on a packed-out steam train. Their sing-along set- complete with songsheets and home-made shakers I might add – included Be My Baby, Ticket to Ride and Happy Hour, as well as some of their own material. It was just indescribably heart-warming to look round and see so many happy, enthusiastic faces. And the sing-along mood continued long into the night – with Darren Hayman playing the best of Hefner, The French and his solo work – how could it not? Hello Kitten, Caravan Song, Porn Shoes, Hymn for the Cigarettes, Hymn for the Alcohol……Darren and his ukulele were on fine form, the kids wanted more and he was happy to oblige. At this point I have to admit that I missed most of the subsequent Pop Miswig disco due to getting caught up in a very heated conversation about worms with Matloob from the Roadside Poppies (suffice to say, I discover that they live longer if you starve them) but I still found time to lose my voice to an impromptu after-hours Belle and Sebastian sing-along outside the main stage. It was all at once happy and sad – a perfect moment but one inevitably that had to end.

Apparently there’s a Christmas Twee Indietracks event planned for December. Jingle bells are clearly going to have to be bought for the inevitable Christmas carol sing-alongs, cagoules need to be upgraded to parkas and there's hotel rooms to book and ridiculous rumours to start. There’s already so much planning to do - see you there!

You can see pictures from the festival here.

More Reviews:

Saturday 28th July 2007
Sunday 29th July 2007