Neighbourhood Weekender.

When it comes to buying myself gig tickets, I have the impulsivity of Lindsay Lohan in a crack den. These impetuous decisions are beginning to blow a rather sizeable hole in my already shitty summer salary, with my bank account almost sitting at zero. The only thing getting me through this monetary insufficiency is the glorious reality of attending almost a gig a week this summer. From James Taylor to Iron Maiden, in the coming months, my eardrums will be exposed to some of the finest music this planet has to offer. 

Starting the summer off on a high, myself and a load of my mates jumped on the 5am Megabus to Manchester where we began our summer of youthful banter, slight intoxication and bloody good tunes. 

Being just a two-day festival, we wanted to squeeze the maximum amount of enjoyment out of the short amount of time we had there. Once we had finished faffing around at the bar, buying as many overpriced Strongbow Dark Fruits as our hands could carry, we headed to see the first artist on our list - Miles Kane. I must admit that I am not the biggest Miles Kane fan in the world; the closest I've ever been to engaging with mod culture is mistaking Rod Stewart for a waiter in a restaurant in Camden...(long story). However, his songs were actually very enjoyable and a consequent great start to the day.  Finishing with upbeat crowd-pleasers like 'Don't Forget Who You Are' and 'Come Closer', I found myself knowing a lot more lyrics than I first expected. Immediately following Kane was Circa Waves; a band that I feel are definitely best enjoyed when sitting in a field with your mates and a crisp pint of cider - I don't really have much more to say about them. In a nutshell, they're the type of band that I will listen to in thirty years and appreciate as a reminder of my carefree days as a free-spirited youth. 

Once Circa Waves had left the stage, we found ourselves stuck in the age-old indie dilemma of deciding on whether we wanted to go and see Jake Bugg or Sundara Karma. After a tense argument and the flip of a coin, half of the group parted ways to see the former while the rest of us attended the latter. I was pretty chuffed with this decision after seeing the monumental stage presence that is Oscar Lulu. His tight vocals and interesting aesthetic made for a very pleasant set. Performing my personal favourite 'Explore' alongside other classic bangers like 'Loveblood' and 'Flame', the band left the audience perfectly hyped for the main event of the day - the mighty Courteeners. 

The Courteeners were definitely a bucket list band for me, so seeing them in the flesh was a huge deal. Without sounding too ridiculous, their performance was one of the best moments of my life. A few songs into their set, the sun turned a beautiful shade of orange and somehow managed to conceal itself within the hues of orange and pink produced by the flares that were constantly lighting up the arena. This idyllic backdrop perfectly complimented songs like 'Small Bones' and Fray's acoustic version of 'Smiths Disco.' Despite carrying a hefty mix of booze and piss home in my hair, I went to bed feeling utterly limitless - the power of music eh?

With day two moving full steam ahead and some unhappy campers refusing to leave their beds until midday, we arrived at the arena a little later than intended. But fear not, we were really only there for one reason - The Mighty I. To kill some time, and tame our undying anticipation, we ate some lovely vegan burgers, drank enough alcoholic beverages to fill the Mersey and listened to most of the Blossoms set. Blossoms are a band that I have grown very fond of over the past couple of months, with their newest album quickly proving to be my soundtrack of the summer. I'm not sure if this was down to my beer goggles, but I could find absolutely no flaws in their set. With Tom Ogden providing a Britpopesque vocal to the groovy melody arranged by the rest of the band, Blossoms were a very well received warm up to the King of Britpop himself.

Noel Bloody Gallagher. He is a man who can only be described as a national treasure whose talent ripens with every year added to his existence. Combining the perfect mix of solo material and Oasis classics, Noel's set was a little slice of heaven - the perfect way to end a brillian weekend.