Bido Lito!

X&Y Festival approaches...

It’s that time of year when the sun shines, the cider flows and music is in the air. What better way to get in the summer mood than with a bit of festival fever? Thankfully you don’t have to go digging in the back of the garden shed for those crusty wellies to enjoy a fix of festival fever this upcoming bank holiday weekend: the kind folks behind X&Y FESTIVAL have arranged it so that you can enjoy all the live music you’ll want over the weekend of 2nd/3rd June right here in our city centre. Featuring and representing a slew of the best new and up and coming bands Liverpool has to offer, with a liberal peppering of touring acts, X&Y is for grassroots urban music events what a gin and tonic is for thirst on a hot summer day: a refreshing blast.

We caught up with one of the organisers behind the festival, Stephen Vondy, to chat about how the inaugural X&Y Festival is shaping up…

Bido Lito!: Hi Stephen. You’re planning a lot for X&Y Festival this year, how are preparations going?

Stephen Vondy: Preparation has gone really well so far. It has been a lot of hard work, the bands can’t wait now and neither can we!

BL!: You regularly put on and promote shows [with Craig McVeigh] under the banner I Love Live Events, but a festival of this size must present more of a challenging task. Is it one you’re looking forward to?

SV: This has definitely been the biggest event we’ve done so far and without doubt has been challenging at times. But we’re really looking forward to it now, it can’t come quick enough.

BL!: There seems to be a large pool of Liverpool/Merseyside bands doing well at the moment. Is this something you wanted to showcase with X&Y?

SV: We really wanted to give the festival a grassroots feel and showcase the emerging talent from the area on the bigger stages.

BL!: The Thespians and The Hummingbirds in particular have been generating some great interest lately. Are you prepared for Wayne and Colleen Rooney turning up at The Bombed Out church?!

SV: Yes they have and rightly so. The interest they’re generating comes off the back of a lot of hard work they’ve been putting in, and to go with that they both have an amazing sound and are definitely the ones to watch emerging from the Liverpool scene. There’s no VIP area St Luke’s but Wayne and Colleen would be welcome with open arms, ha ha!

BL!: What other bands/artists can we look forward to over the weekend then? Have you any special tips of what not to miss?

SV: There are so many great bands to look out for. Hudson Taylor are just unbelievable, they’ll be playing the Saturday, and Arches who have recently been added to the lineup on the Sunday; both are destined for huge things. And of course Reva who’ll be launching their new EP in the O2 Academy on Sunday night. Their new single Flying is brilliant and they’re definitely one of our favourite bands on at the festival!

BL!: Also you have The Moons playing. They’ve just supported Beady Eye and had their last album recorded by Edwyn Collins. That’s a bit of a coup isn’t it?

SV: Yes were delighted to have The Moons playing, they’re fantastic. They’re playing the Saturday but we can’t wait to see tracks like English Summer and Double Vision Love played live. We also have Sharks playing on Sunday, they’ve just come off the back of a sold out UK tour supporting Tribes. Likely Lads also are another band on the verge of big things!

BL!: By using multiple venues (St Luke’s, O2 Academy, The Shipping Forecast) are you hoping to get people hopping from place to place, creating that festival vibe?

SV: That’s the plan yes! The wristbands are really good value at £10 getting you into all stages on both days. So once you have checked out the church on Sunday (the programme finishes there at 7.30pm), we then have another 15 bands playing O2 1 and 2 plus The Shipping Forecast, so make sure you check them out too.

BL!: The perfect way to spend your weekend in the sun before the bumper bank holiday or what?

SV: We can’t think of anything better! Great bands and the sun shining will hopefully make it a bank holiday to remember.

BL!: Are you hoping to make X&Y Festival a yearly thing, if all goes well? Do you think music fans prefer festival-type events like this where they have lots of choice of what to watch?

SV: We’re hoping to yes, it would be great to establish it as a yearly event. I think individual shows can be great, but yes, something like this creates a great buzz not only for the fans but for the bands as well.

BL!: Are you going to be out enjoying the bands yourself? Or will it be all hands on deck making sure things run smoothly?

SV: I’m sure it’ll be mostly hands on over the two days, but we’ll be taking in the bands as much as we can!

BL!: Here’s hoping you get to enjoy it as much as everyone else.

SV: Thanks, have a great time yourselves!

X&Y Festival takes place over the weekend of 2nd/3rd June, over multiple venues - St Luke's Bombed Out Church, The Shipping Forecast, O2 Academy (1 & 2), plus more TBA. Day and weekend wristbands for the festival can be bought in advance from bidolito.co.uk

Weekend wristband (entry to all venues and events) - TICKET LINK

Saturday at St Luke's Bombed Out Church - TICKET LINK

Sunday at St Luke's Bombed Out Church - TICKET LINK

Sunday at The Shipping Forecast - TICKET LINK

Sunday at O2 Academy - TICKET LINK