Local band thought Kendal Calling offer was a scam

2 hours ago

William Wolstenholme,BBC Introducing Cumbria and Lancashireand

Evie Lake,North East and Cumbria

News image — The Silver Bars said they thought they were being scammed when they were asked to play to main stage

Sam Cor A promotional image of the band which is made up of five young men with dark hair. The man at the front on the right is looking down and is wearing a white t-shirt and blue shirt over the top. The man in the middle has longer brown hair and is scrunching up his face. On the left is a man with his back to the camera while he looks off to the to the left. He is wearing a blue striped t-shirt. Behind his is a man with brown long hair which is half tied up. He is wearing a black t-shirt and a chain necklace. To the right is a man with dark hair and a beard looking at the ceiling. — The Silver Bars said they thought they were being scammed when they were asked to play to main stage

An indie rock band said they thought they were being scammed when they were asked to play the main stage at Kendal Calling.

The Silver Bars, from Barrow, have played the festival for a number of years but always on smaller stages, so when they found out they had been offered the Friday opening slot on the biggest stage they could not believe it.

As a local group, the five-piece said they had grown up attending the festival in Cumbria, with vocalist Dylan Grafton calling it "the Wainwright of festivals".

Drummer Matthew Grosvenor told BBC Introducing: "It's meant a lot to us, growing up in this town."

Grafton said when the band first received the email offering them the slot there was a spelling mistake, which led them to believe it was a "scam".

"I think it was two 'n's' in main stage and I was like 'they're having us on'," he said.

"I wouldn't have it."

The Silver Bars The band on a small stage which is decorated with colourful bunting. On the left, one of the members is behind a keyboard and wearing a cream bucket hat. Next to him on the right is a man with brown hair who is wearing a vest top and is playing a guitar. Next to him is another man playing a bass guitar who is wearing a yellow hat with fringe around the brim. On the right is a man playing a guitar and wearing a green bandanna around his head. — This will be The Silver Bars fifth time playing Kendal Calling, but first time on the main stage

Grosvenor said the festival had already given the band "so many opportunities".

"It's also the pinnacle for the county," he said. "That's the mountain you want to try and climb."

Grafton described it as the "Wainwright of festivals", in a nod to 214 Lake District peaks, named after the famous travel writer Alfred Wainwright.

"If you're from Cumbria, Kendal Calling's generally the first festival you go to when you're a teenager.

"So to get on the main stage... it still hasn't sunk in and I don't think it'll sink in until probably afterwards.

"I didn't know if we were there, I thought our music was good enough but I didn't know if we had a big enough following."

This will be the Silver Bars fifth time playing the festival.

"It's taken a lot of graft, it's been good fun but we have really put in the work and now we are sort of reaping the benefits of it," Grafton said.

"It takes a lot from everyone, but more than just the music side, the whole thing of running a band and also having full-time jobs and everything that goes with it."

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