MacD on Music: Stendhal Part II: Still Looking Back

Last week I was talking to some of the great bands that played this year’s festival. Unfortunately, due to special limitations, I could only get some of the artists that I met featured. Fortunately, I have another column to get the rest, so, let’s just get straight into it with Stendhal Part II:

Tessio

First up today is Tessio (Jude McCandless and Callum Feeney), who I caught up with between sets on day two and three of the festival: “We were playing on the Radio Ulster stage and it was great. Great crowd and loads of Derry heads and loads of good bands on that stage too. It’s absolutely jammed.”

I asked them who they were particularly looking forward to seeing: “Problem Patterns, Little Kings,

Polar Bolero, Cathal Francis. We weren’t able to get down for TomCat but we heard it was class.

Hot Chip

DJ set, Reevah, they’re all good Derry ones. The amount of local bands is class. We were looking at the timetable and all the time there’s somebody you want to see on.”

Little Kings

Next I went with Tessio to catch the end of Little Kings’ (Ryan Harling on vocals, Leah Bell on violin and Aoife Mullan on cello) set. Afterwards I spoke to Ryan (wearing a Tessio t-shirt) and Leah.

Ryan: “This is my fourth year attending the festival and it’s gone from strength to strength. All the bands are great and it hasn’t poured down.”

Leah: “It’s my first time being here and it’s good so far. Really good set up.”

As for who they were looking froward to seeing, Ryan: “I’ve got a shortlist. TomCat, I saw them and they were phenomenal as usual.”

Leah: “I’m very much looking forward to Fatherson as well. They’re on many Spotify playlists.”

Boy M5

After that I got to speak to Kyle O’Neill of Boy M5, making his first Stendhal appearance following the tragic loss of Paul Mooney at the end of last year. I asked Kyle about his experience playing this year’s festival: “It’s different. Some big differences, but I really enjoyed it, and on a bigger stage this year so it’s nice to see some progression. The audience seemed to be really into it.”

I asked if there had been any standout acts so far: “We went to see Lavengro last night. They were great. I thought Lydia Ford [initially misread by myself as Lita Ford] was fantastic. We’re going to see Klyda tomorrow and we’re going to hopefully try to see Virgins. There’s so many great bands on. We’re just looking at the list every hour saying ‘you’re next’ and hoping they don’t clash.”

Parker

Next I caught up with two thirds of Parker (Dylan Bradley and Michael Brown). I asked them their

thoughts on the weekend up to that point. Michael: “It’s great as always. It’s great to see a festival this size getting all these Derry bands.”

I asked them for any highlights. Dylan: “Parker were definitely the highlight. By far the best band you’ll see this weekend is our set in the woods.”

Next I asked who they were looking forward to seeing. Dylan: “Wood Burning Savages, Polar Bolero.”

Michael: “TomCat were amazing last night. It was unbelievable.”

Dylan: “I want to see the Zutons and the Hot Chip DJ set sounds like a lot of fun. John Deery and the Heads, loads of Derry bands. I’m looking forward to seeing Chubby Cat. Hawk were great earlier on.”

Michael: “Problem Patterns were on just before us so we loaded the gear down and went to watch them. Great set.”

CHERYM

Finally, I spoke to the band that was, without a doubt, one of the best of the weekend. CHERYM. I spoke with Hannah Richardson (guitar/vocals) and Alannagh Doherty (drums/vocals) following their show- stealing set on the Woody Woodland stage. Alannagh: “It was really good playing this stage. The atmosphere was amazing. The crowd was incredible. The way they were all shouting words back was class.”

Hannah: “It was just really surreal, such an intense energy.”

I asked how this year compared to when they closed out the Friday night two years ago. Alannagh: “The Stendhal energy is always amazing. I can’t compare the two. I really can’t. It’s not about how we play on stage because we always critique ourselves no matter what. It’s always about what the crowd is giving back and every single time it’s been incredible.”

Next was the highlights. Hannah: “I really enjoyed Hawk earlier on, Problem Patterns were class as well. Becky McNeice was unreal as well.”

And that’s it for another year. Stendhal 2024 featured some of the best Derry has to offer and hopefully next year will see even more of our own incredible talent featured.

Now, time for the socials. Tessio can be found on Instagram @tessio_, Little Kings @itslittlekings, BoyM5 @boy.m5, Parker @bandcalledparker and CHERYM @cherymofficial. Finally, Stendhal itself can be found @stendhalireland.