Indietracks festival is a warm, friendly, entertaining event

Indietracks festival returned for its fourth year based at The Midland Railway Butterley. Which is a registered charity that depend on volunteers to do most of the work around the site. They don't get any external funding so the money is raised from train fares and special events.

This years line-up at the Indietracks festival was certainly an impressive range of acts from established bands to new on the scene acts. The Primitives, The Pooh Sticks, and Everybody Was In The French Resistance... Now! To name a small few were set to appear at this year's Indietracks.

Upon arrival the first thing to notice was that the new station building that has finally started to look complete (even though it isn't quite finished) and a refurbished signal box on the platform, so progress is being made through the hard work and dedication of the volunteers.

The Friday night only had three bands on the main stage to gently ease the punters into a weekend of indie based music.

Veronica Falls had the dubious task of kicking off Friday nights event, and they managed it wonderfully with their brand of gothic pop. If I was a betting man I'd say they will gain a lot more success this year.

Allo Darlin' then followed and to begin with I wasn't expecting much from a band that had a female vocalist who played ukele, however credit where credit is due it was very captivating and a pleasure to listen to.

The stage was then set for Everybody Was In The French Resistance... Now! When I saw that they were headlining my first impression was not to bother with a band that can't even manage to get their past and present tenses correct. However seeing as I had nowhere else to go, I thought I'd stay and listen to them.

They were extremely impressive with their tongue in cheek banter with the audience linking the songs to a story like how there was band who used to do the complete opposite of famous song lyrics, so they decided to do one for the fans at indie tracks based on Elastica's 'Vaseline' they decided to perform a song called 'Superglue'.

There was even reference to Michael Jackson, now don't get me wrong I would be the first to criticise any band that decide to make fun of Mr Jackson as I have been privileged to see him perform live and have yet to see any artiste coming remotely close to what Michael Jackson could do on the stage. Anyway this was done in a witty but respectful way as they did a song called 'Billies Genes' (I think most people can work out which song that is making reference to). They even made a song up to correct Kanye West's 'Gold Digger' with their version of 'Coal Digger'.

Everybody Was in the French Resistance Now! deserved to be headlining with their brand of indie humour. They are one of those bands that you would never get bored listening to.

Saturday at IndieTracks was non-stop music all day with craft stalls and entertainment everywhere, so there is never a dull moment. Opening the main stage was a Nottingham based band called Red Shoe Diaries. Their music seemed to be influenced by The Smiths sprinkled with helpings of Belle and Sebastian, it worked well and set the mood for a nice relaxing Saturday line-up.

At this point I was easily distracted by the fact you could ride on a steam train in one that looked just like Thomas the tank engine, so being a big kid at heart I thought I would have a free ride on that steam train and miss This Many Boyfriends who were scheduled to be on the main stage. The steam train ride takes about 30 minutes to go to both ends of the track, and even the volunteers are dressed up in costumes of the era of steam locomotives. They were friendly and helpful whenever we needed to know any information.

My personal highlight of Saturday were La La Love You (not too sure if the name is directly taken from the Pixies song) who dressed in pink suits and put on such a dazzling display of energy that they were remembered for all the right reasons. This will be a band to keep an eye out for, and hopefully they will return to play again next year.

The final day of this Indie extravaganza came around too soon, and seeing as we hadn't really explored the site, we thought we would try and sample the other delights of the festival rather than just the music.

So a visit to the arts and crafts tent where you could learn how to make purses from cartons of juice, and decorate t-shirts. All good fun and a great way to the keep children entertained too. If making things wasn't your scene then there was a tent with arts and crafts stalls selling nicely made items. We thought we would try the Johnsons Buffet cafe for food. This is run by volunteers who work extremely long hours to keep us Indietrack punters nourished. The profit goes back to the railway so that they can carry out more work. The food was made to order and a lot cheaper than food at the usual festivals. In some ways it felt criminal paying such respectable prices for nicely cooked meals when at other festivals you would easily pay double for food half as good.

The Sunday main stage headliners were New York based The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Yes admittedly I have already got sick of bands using their 'from New York' description to make us think they must be good, as it has been a long time since anything decent came out of New York and so I didn't have any high expectations of this band.

To begin with my expectations were right, arriving on stage way later than expected. Typical New York band!!

However thankfully their music was worth waiting for, I might dislike the fact that they were late but there is no denying that when they are playing they are in a league of their own with their vibrant funky over distorted brand of indie pop. If I'm honest I can't think of a better way to finish the festival off. Great music, punters swaying and dancing along to the beat and a nice friendly atmosphere, but I guess all good things must come to an end... until next year!!

Once again Indietracks festival provided a warm, friendly, entertaining event, where the bands and punters all mingle together without the over inflated egos that you get at some other bigger festivals where the artistes are not allowed to mingle with us mere mortals. Indietracks will always be a special festival that is worth making the effort to come to, it is one of the few festivals where you know that regardless of who is playing you are guaranteed to have a great weekend, and maybe stumble upon a band that under normal circumstances you wouldn't have seen live. Even if you get bored of the bands there are train rides to go on and look around the stalls and museums.

The only improvement I can see for next year is maybe to charge £2 extra for a special wristband to ride on the train all weekend, that way it will raise much needed extra money for the volunteers who put in all that hard work and time to ensure the Indietrackers have a great time, and who really would begrudge paying £2 when it's for such a good cause.

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