Review: Y Not Festival day 2, Pikehall, Derbyshire

On Friday morning, the crowds flocked to Pikehall, Derbyshire to watch headliners Royal Blood along with the likes of Pigeon Detectives, The Reytons and The Wombats.

Over 30,000 revellers filed through the gates early to see a host of great acts on seven different stages giving fans an opportunity to see a variety of acts. Welsh rockers The Royston Club impressed over on the Quarry Stage, with Blisters and Shallow Tragedy being two songs that particularly impressed.

Young London vocalist Thomas Headon garnered some attention with a stunning, intimate set. Comparable to Shawn Mendes, Headon captivated the crows with his superb vocals, Grace, Georgia and Clean Me Up really impressed.

Leeds rockers The Pigeon Detectives were impressive as ever. Fans packed out the arena for a nostalgic noughties music fix. Frontman Matt Bowman moved around on stage like a fresh-faced 18-year-old with boundless energy jumping off a drum set back onto the stage.

The Rothwell Rockers opened up with This is an Emergency before delving into their back catalogue of hits. Falling to Pieces, Take Her Back and new song TV Show were all very well received.

Liverpool quartet The K’s impressed on their main stage debut. Picture and Sarajevo had the crowd singing and dancing as did the superb Hoping Maybe.

Rotherham rockers The Reytons continue their meteoric rise and put on a great show. In their third Y Not appearance they deservedly performed on the main stage. The band opened up with Red Smoke, a sure-fire way of getting the bumper crowd bouncing and singing in unison.

The quartet played a few tracks from their recent number one album What’s Rock and Roll?, Cash In Hand & Fake IDs, One More Reason and Uninvited all got an airing. The band thanked the fans for turning out as they finished their impressive 14-song set.

The Wombats were as impressive as ever, with their well-polished set. Moving to New York was a real crowd-pleaser, as was Kill the Director and 2017 hit Turn. It was almost two decades to the day when the band formed but they still play with the same energy and vigour as they did in 2003.

Headliners Royal Blood strolled onto the stage with their arms aloft. Drummer Ben Thatcher sat down at a large drumset. Whilst singer Mike Kerr, dressed all in black with a leather jacket.

The band opened up with Come on Over and swiftly followed that with Boilermaker and Cruel. Despite being a little on the heavier side than previous acts, Royal Blood impressed the capacity crowd with their expansive back catalogue of hits. An encore featuring All We Have Is Now, Ten Tonne Skeleton and Out of the Black rounded off a super set and a great second day.