Standon Calling Day 1 in pictures: Madness, Gabrielle, The Subways, The Skints, Nadia Rose, The Cuban Brothers, Craig Charles, Uncle Funk's Disco Inferno and Lucy Blue
The four-day Standon Calling music festival got under way on Thursday (July 21) – and although there was Madness, the recent heatwave meant it was mud-less, with no repeat of last year's final-day washout.
For the first time in the event's 21-year history – which began as a birthday barbecue for founder Alex Trenchard in the grounds of his family's country house, Standon Lordship – there was a main-stage headliner on the Thursday night.
That inaugural honour fell to north London nutty boys Madness, one of the most prominent bands of the late 1970s and early '80s two-tone ska revival, who are still going strong after 46 years and who perform with six of the seven members of their original line-up.
They turned the Lordship estate into a country house of fun by performing a 90-minute set peppered with most of their 15 UK top ten singles, including Baggy Trousers, It Must Be Love and House of Fun.
They were supported on the main stage by Gabrielle, the Dreams and Rise chart-topper who turned 53 on Tuesday, Welwyn Garden City-based rock trio The Subways – featuring Stortford's Billy Lunn – playing their home festival, reggae punk band The Skints, rapper Nadia Rose and The Cuban Brothers.
Meanwhile, the Laundry Meadows second stage played host to Lucy Blue, Uncle Funk's Disco Inferno – fronted by Stortford boat-dweller Simon Baker – and headliner The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club, with the former TV Red Dwarf star doing a DJ set.
Thorley Park's Kelly Rose – aka DJ Digital Pocahontas – is making her Standon Calling debut.
She told the Indie that it was a "dream come true", adding: "I've been working towards this goal for a while and to finally achieve it is so amazing."
She will be at festival chill-out space Beefy Melons all weekend, including 8pm on Friday (July 22).
READ ALSO Standon Calling Day 2 in pictures: Anne-Marie, Space Man Sam and a rainbow
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