20th Anniversary Celebrations Are Underway At Kendal Calling ‘25

★★★★★ (5/5)

**KAISER CHIEFS HEADLINING THURSDAY AT KENDAL CALLING 2025 - 20TH ANNIVERSARY**
**PHOTOCREDIT: JOHN HAYHURST**

Marking its 20th anniversary in 2025, Kendal Calling returned to the fields of Lowther Deer Park with more anticipation than ever. What began as a modest gathering of music lovers in the Lake District has evolved into one of the UK’s most beloved boutique festivals—combining top-tier live music with a setting so scenic it almost doesn’t feel real. The festival’s Thursday offering, once a quieter bonus day for early arrivals, has grown into a firm fixture in the schedule, drawing bigger crowds and bigger names each year. This year’s Thursday lineup on the Main Stage proved just how far it’s come, with a diverse bill that flowed from soulful orchestration to indie-pop singalongs, glitterball pop classics, and a raucous headline set from a band who’ve headlined some of the UK’s biggest stages.

Kicking off proceedings was the Untold Orchestra with their ‘Soul Dedications’ set—a lush, expansive celebration of music reimagined through the lens of a Manchester-based collective that refuses to stick to the script. Their performance brought a surprising emotional depth to the early evening slot, with string and brass arrangements elevating classics like Radiohead’s “Creep” and Linkin Park’s “Numb” into something both familiar and newly profound. It was a bold start, but a smart one—warming the crowd with rhythm and nostalgia, while also showing off the festival’s ability to think outside the typical opener mold.

Next up were Corella, Manchester’s indie-pop quartet who have been steadily climbing festival bills over the past couple of years. Their set was a burst of clean, shimmering guitar lines and buoyant choruses, made for sunny afternoons—even if the skies weren’t entirely cooperative. Frontman Joel Smith had an easy charm, drawing the audience in with tracks like “Drifting” and “Don’t Stop Me”, the latter of which sparked the first proper crowd singalong of the day. While not yet a household name, Corella’s confident, polished performance made a strong case that they soon could be.

Then came Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and with her, an instant change in energy. Riding the wave of her recent career resurgence, partly fuelled by the success of her “Kitchen Disco” livestreams during lockdown, she arrived in sequins and with the kind of effortless charisma that only years in the business can bring. Her set was a masterclass in joyful escapism. Opener “Murder on the Dancefloor” (yes, that song, viral all over again thanks to Saltburn) sent the crowd into immediate euphoria. She peppered the set with disco-fied covers—Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” and Moloko’s “Sing It Back” among them—and closed with a roof-raising version of “Take Me Home”. It wasn’t just nostalgia, though. It felt like a celebration of resilience, joy, and glitter—all the things live music should offer.

As daylight faded and anticipation built, it was time for the Thursday headliners: Kaiser Chiefs. Few bands can match their ability to turn a field full of people into one heaving, bouncing mass, and they proved once again why they’re still festival favourites two decades into their career. Ricky Wilson, ever the showman, bounded around the stage with manic energy, goading the crowd and rarely standing still. They opened with “Na Na Na Na Na”, immediately setting the tone, and didn’t let up. “Ruby” was met with deafening cheers, and “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” had the entire field shouting in unison. They even slipped in a punchy version of Ramones “Blitzkreig Bop”, but it was the classics that truly lit the place up. By the time they reached “I Predict a Riot”, the crowd was well and truly theirs, arms aloft, mud be damned.

There was something fitting about Kaiser Chiefs closing the opening night of this 20th anniversary year. Like Kendal Calling itself, they’ve weathered changing trends and stuck to what they do best—bringing people together with songs built to be screamed back at them under open skies.

As the final notes rang out and the crowd slowly dispersed toward food stalls, tents, or late-night DJ sets in the woods, there was a real sense that the weekend was only just beginning. And with Friday promising a headline set from The Courteeners on the Main Stage and The Big Moon bringing their lush harmonies and spiky riffs to the Calling Out Stage, the best might still be to come.