Summer day festival season kicked off at Plymouth Argyle’s ground, Home Park, yesterday, with a list of incredible indie bands supporting the Kaiser Chiefs on the first day of the bank holiday Live At Argyle sessions.
Gates opened at three o’clock with cloudless blue skies, fun fair rides, food trucks, merch stalls and the essential bars. Hardy Kaiser Chiefs fans, had travelled from all over the UK, many of whom held the barrier all day. Aldo Vanucci entertained the crowd with a DJ set throughout the set changes, and local guitar band The Outlanders opened the festival, bringing energy and a sense of the night ahead.
Sheffield band The Sherlocks brought their addictive brand of humour and licks – think Arctic Monkeys and Dakota-era Stereophonics; their talent will propel them into similar music longevity. I confess, I didn’t know any of their music before this week, though they’ve performed at Reading and Leeds (2015) and SXSW (2016) and supported Liam Gallagher on tour (2017) and have previously opened for the Kaisers. Their polished, enthusiastic performance of tracks including ‘Chasing Shadows', ‘NYC' and ‘Bones' was head-bouncingly good and five o’clock was early enough for me to start dancing. By the end of their set I’d downloaded their new album, ‘Everything Must Make Sense‘; they have four more studio albums I’ll be listening to this week, too. Have to mention the black Stetsons the band wore for their final track; when I asked a fan at the front (who’d been singing to every word) she told me about their race against Morgan Wallen to the number one spot this week (fingers crossed for you lads).
Next up to the stage was Manchester band Lottery Winners, with frontman Thom Rylance absolutely owning the stage from the moment he sauntered out and gave a little wave to the crowd – before promptly opting for a bigger entrance – channelling his inner Freddie Mercury – and seemingly effortlessly entertained us for the whole 45 minute set; could have easily occupied a full-time match. Rylance was honest from the start, celebrating his neurodiversity with the achingly beautiful ‘Letter To Myself', which features Frank Turner on the track. Bubbles from a nearby machine underscored the depth of the track, earning new lifelong fans in the crowd. I can’t remember the exact order of events during their set, because I was having too much fun, but highlights included a Live Aid Mercury heyyyyyyy-ho stand off – we were all winners –and debuting Thom’s new dance craze that referenced YMCA, Macarena and Whigfield’s Saturday Night – gig-goers across the UK, you have been prepped; we pass over our left-right-finger point-hand clap moves with honour. A cover of Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars' bookended an original Lottery Winners track; possibly ‘Burning House' or ‘You Again', it was a track from one of their two number one albums; I wasn’t paying any attention to my phone’s notes app to list their set. All too soon it was time for, well, a sit down; my nerves were fair tingling with giddiness after that set. But I was now at the barrier so no chance I was leaving my spot.
Nottingham’s Jake Bugg strolled out onto the stage just after seven o’clock and performed a guitar-driven set as blistering as the Devon sun, covering over a decade of soulful, indie songs with his unique vocals; there was likely over 10 guitar changes, too, his musicianship mesmerising – it was empowering to see such a skilful artist on stage, and emphasised the live of the festival title. Perfect music for summer. Buggs’ hour -ong set included popular songs ‘Me and You', ‘Waiting', ‘Simple As This' and the anthemic ‘Lightning Bolt'.
Finally, it was music and – football legends – Kaiser Chiefs' turn on the stage, headlining the first day of At Argyle to a rampant crowd. Video footage formed the backdrop to the stage, most notably their debut album title Employment, which they played in their entirety, each song earning its own unique video on the screen. It’s hard to believe, but that’s a twenty year anniversary of music celebrated, with KC classics like ‘Every Day I Love You Less and Less', ‘I Predict a Riot' and ‘Modern Way' performed alongside less well-known songs, but keeping the performance energy high. In a world where it’s all-too-easy to skip tracks to perpetual favourites, listening to an album in full is why music was created, and an opportunity to listen to new music; so many legendary songs were born from Employment, but there are hidden gems, too. At one point Ricky shouted out to ‘Issy who scored 94’, referencing the uni results of the lass next to me, Issy Brand, who was at her 95th gig and had made a documentary, The Story of the Kaiser Chiefs, for her dissertation (achieving 94), which airs on Virgin Radio Sunday 25th May at 10pm.
Kaiser Chiefs’ lead singer and frontman Ricky Wilson wields so much energy on stage, absolutely feeling each song, dancing, jumping onto amps and swapping between his percussion drum and tambourine to hit hit after hit after hit. Once the last song of Employment finished, ‘Team Mate', the band plowed on through four more tracks to paper confetti shooting across the stage. The Leeds’ lads returned to the chorus-rousing number one single ‘Ruby' from their follow-up 2007 album, ‘Yours Truly, The Angry Mob'. Plymouth’s Janners reacted as one to this classic song, which is possibly older than some of the crowd. The purposefully repetitive and still relevant ‘Angry Mob' closed out the Kaiser Chiefs’ extended encore and closed down a heart-filling day of excellent live music and entertainment in the sun, with friends.
Buy tickets for nights two and three of Argyles’ bank holiday live music event here: Alive At Argyle with headliners Gorgon City and Relive at Argyle with headliner Melanie C.
Kaiser Chiefs’ Set list: 1. Everyday I Love You Less and Less 2. I Predict a Riot 3. Modern Way 4. Na Na Na Na Naa 5. You Can Have It All 6. Oh My God 7. Born to Be a Dancer 8. Saturday Night 9. What Did I Ever Give You? 10. Time Honoured Tradition 11. Caroline, Yes 12.Team Mate 13. Take My Temperature 14. Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones cover) 15. Never Miss a Beat 16. Hole in My Soul 17. Ruby 18. Reasons to Stay Alive 19. Misery Company 20. The Angry Mob Performance Date: 22nd May 2025 Venue: Plymouth Argyle Football Club
