State Fayre 2026 – Saturday (see also Friday)
Hylands Park, Clelmsford
Saturday 27th June 2026
Saturday at State Fayre brings more heat, and a musically mellow afternoon: an intoxicating mix of singer songwriters, blues, country and indie sounds before a towering performance by alt rock titans Skunk Anansie eclipses everything that’s gone before.
It’s Saturday lunchtime and I’m searching for shade. Today’s temperature’s dropped to thirty degrees but it’s still blisteringly hot. Londoner Juno James is on the Big Top stage and I have to feel sorry for her. She’s playing her first festival and treating us to some melodic country pop. She’s got an appealing voice, but two songs in the sound fails. Issues partially resolved, she returns but her momentum seems to have gone. It’s a shame, she’s clearly talented.
Sarah Julia follow. The sisters from Amsterdam and their band bathe us in melody and harmony vocals; their delicate acoustic based songs are more folk than country but their laid back style works perfectly in the early afternoon.
A wander into the heat brings me to the Fume Arena, the festival’s dedicated food and barbeque area. Monstrous industrial sized rotisseries abound and oh so tempting aromas fill the air. There’s a cooking demonstration (the first of many this weekend) and the greedy reviewer discovers that watching until completion is rewarded by feeding. The superbly cooked steak tastes delicious. Once discovered, and in the spirit of good journalism, it’s necessary to sample more delights across the weekend. Permanently rammed with people, some gorging, some sampling, and others just watching and salivating, the area’s a carnivore’s heaven. Elsewhere on site there’s more usual festival fare but the offering here is way superior, if a little more expensive.
Tearing myself away, I dive into the Horizons tent to discover Ava Hall. An American country singer in the purest sense, she’s just a young woman and her acoustic guitar. But her voice draws us into her often personal songs. We also get a pleasing rendition of country classic, Always On My Mind.
Muireann Bradley may hail from Ireland but she plies her trade in early twentieth century blues. A couple of years ago, as a shy seventeen-year-old, she was a little awestruck when I watched her for the first time, but her guitar playing shone through. Two years on, she’s begun to add her own material to that of those celebrated country bluesmen. Today she opens the main stage, but disappointingly only draws a small crowd.
In the Big Top, The Brudi Brothers old school harmony country’s a little too conservative for your reviewer, but as afternoon wanes, acoustic melody makes way for rockier electric sounds. Razorlight draw a large enthusiastic crowd, their set leaning heavily toward the band’s noughties successes. Stumble And Fall comes early, but it’s the closing numbers that generate most energy. Somewhere Else brings immediate recognition and the more recent Good Night’s full of urgency. Inevitably though, it’s final track America that ignites the greatest applause.
Big Top headliner Kip Moore‘s undoubtedly big in the USA if I’m to believe his bio, but he’s relatively unknown to me. Playing country rock with the emphasis on rock, Kip and his band have an impressive live dynamic. Gruff vocals, driving rhythms, big choruses, and prominent guitars set the tone. The crowd are very appreciative and there’s plenty of singing along. He’s certainly enjoyable. Perhaps it’s unfamiliarity, but for me he presents as talented journeyman rather than inspired artist. There are echoes in his sound of American heartland rockers like John Mellencamp and 1990’s Springsteen.
Back on the main stage Jack Savoretti’s holding court. His recorded output often feels a little over-produced to these ears, but live, with more spartan instrumentation, his voice and lyrics shine through. Devoid of lush studio clutter, he’s more powerful, emotive, and an enjoyable listen.
So far, today’s proved an enjoyable, fairly laid back afternoon, (chilling or frying) in the heat. But Skunk Anansie change everything with a towering, intense performance that eclipses all that’s gone before. Opening number, drum and bass-infused Charlie Big Potato sets a high bar but it’s soon eclipsed. Recent composition An Artist Is An Artist gives vent to Skin’s fearless, forthright politics, and Weak oozes soaring power. There are moments of calm too, but by the time they close with a monumental rendition of Tear The Place Up, that’s already been achieved. Over an hour they’ve mixed alt rock, drum and bass, and power ballads, all delivered with a punk attitude. Skin has been at her inimitable best, prowling the stage, and the band simply stunning.
Readers with some knowledge of Saturday’s lineup may wonder about omissions in my review. Today’s headliner and two other high profile acts refused to be photographed. As a photographer/reviewer, if they adopt that approach, I’m afraid they don’t get reviewed.
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Words and photos by Trev Eales. More work by Trev on Louder Than War can be found at his author’sprofile. His photography portfolio ishere
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