Accrington is not a place renowned for its live music scene but the brand new iMep Festival hopes to change that in the coming years. Offering an affordable festival experience for the locals, all while showcasing the best live music experience possible at a local cricket club.

Criticisms have been lobbied against iMep but seeing as this is their first event, it’s important to take into consideration that there will be teething troubles and hopefully they will be rectified by the next iMep Festival. You’re completely justified in complaining about things like a shortage or toilets or only having one bar which led to large queues but at the end of the day, improving on these problems can only mean good things for Accrington. 

6PM: doors open for the first tier of VIP ticket holders, Maurice Mallone and Cassie Mochan take the stage and perform a wealth of covers from the likes of Lady Gaga, Journey, Oasis and Rag N Bone Man. These are all performed very well and the two seem to have great on stage chemistry together even if the set does turn the audience into “karaoke hostages”. It’s a fun set and the two have enough charisma to carry the set and entertain the small crowd that is slowly shuffling towards the stage. 

6:30PM: general entry tickets enter the grounds just in time for Robyn Regan. Robyn is another act that performs to a karaoke backing track but with a few original tracks sprinkled throughout. You can tell Robyn and her dancers are fairly young and just starting out so it’s a little rough around the edges in terms of stage presence and choreography. The general idea is there, it just needs a bit of refining and a bit more experience, she’ll grow into a highly polished pop act. 

By this point, stage times were starting to run late. iMep Festival would have benefited greatly from opening an hour earlier or cutting an act so they could include setup time and downtime for the audience to go buy merch, drinks etc. Most artists sell their merchandise inbetween sets and the bar is at its busiest in between sets for a reason. Hopefully this will be taken into consideration for the next events. 

Liverpool based rock band, The Kairos, came on next and their set was full of high energy guitar driven rock. This was a welcome change from the pop acts that have come before and helped the lineup add some diversity and even won over a few new fans. 

From a cursory glance, The Kairos seem to be highly influenced by 90s britpop acts like Oasis and Blur but with a bit more of a grunge tone. Their crunchy guitar work really added a lot to an already well put together collection of songs held together by an airtight rhythm section. 

It was at this point where the lighting budget kicked in and the strobe lights took effect. The band may have been largely stationary but all it takes is the right combination of lights to add a feeling of dizzying motion and energy that translates over to the audience. If The Kairos made as much of an impression on you, you can catch them on their UK tour in November as well. 

Next was a high octane DJ set from former Pussycat Doll, Kimberly Wyatt, which featured a wealth of club classics from the 2000s, a period of time that a massive chunk of the audience remember vividly. Shortly after this set, Cian Ducrot came to the stage armed only with a piano, a guitar and a collection of songs that he’d perform alone. 

Cian has been gaining momentum with his band but he made a point of acknowledging how different it feels performing alone. “There’s nowhere to hide” referring to the fact that all the mistakes are on him and to his credit, he played perfectly and beautifully. He even did the audience the courtesy of checking if his fly was down. It wasn’t. 

Some of these songs did feel long but he still felt deeply connected to these songs which included a song he’d never performed before entitled: Sha La La La. This song got a massive portion of the crowd single and ready to experience Jess Glynne, who would be coming on shortly after Kimberly Wyatt’s second DJ set. 

Jess Glynne came on to rapturous applause and made her way through a set of easily digestible yet well performed smooth pop songs including Rather Be, Take Me Home and the classic iconic holiday anthem Hold my Hand. 

The energy in the audience was electric as her incredible voice filled the crowded cricket ground. 

Her voice was immaculate and her backing band was as tight as it possibly could be. The mix was also beautiful from various locations around the venue, including the long queue for the toilet. She may not be the most energetic figure in pop music but she certainly made up for it in raw talent and musical ability. 

Reports from locals say that the show could be heard from the streets and back gardens of Accrington. Many at the show have complaints about how the show went but few of them have taken into consideration how good this could be for Accrington in the long run. 

A dedicated mid-sized outdoor venue in Lancashire with local event organisers like iMep can only lead to good things. The audience is clearly here for these types of shows but it’s down to iMep to address and improve upon this year’s flaws and I’m certain they will. The next iMep Festival isn’t booked and nobody knows when the next event could be but one thing is for sure, Banana Jazz will be there brimming with enthusiasm. 

(please let us come back).