Inaugural Town Takeover festival to bring indie acts to Northampton venues

Dozens of musicians will play across four venues in Northampton as part of the inaugural Town Takeover festival later this year.

The event has been put together by the team behind The Scratched Record Podcast, which regularly covers the town’s music scene.

Founders Elliott Farrar and Joe Edwards have already revealed part of the line-up which will play at The Black Prince, The Lab, Phipps Albion Bar and Brooklyn Social on September 24 and more announcements are due in the coming weeks. This includes headliners The Covasettes and Second Thoughts.

Talking about the headliners, Mr Farrar said: “All of the acts on this bill are arguably the best we’ve seen live or the ones we think have the best chance of being at the top of the indie scene in the UK within the next five years.

“The Covasettes are a band from Manchester but the lead singer is actually from Northamptonshire. “They have been gaining huge traction, selling out tours.

“We thought bringing them to Northampton for the first time in a long time was the perfect story.

“Second Thoughts are from Hertfordshire and have had a huge come-up on TikTok, gaining followers from across the globe.

“Their stage presence, along with some of the catchiest tunes I’ve ever heard, made them a no brainer for us to take them on as a headliner.”

Joining both bands will be Molly Burman, The Barratts, Venus Grrrls, Lucky Iris, The Flitz, Solar Strides, Baby Lung, Sweet Coins, Elliot Williams and Rat Race.

Inspired by other one day multi venue festivals in towns and cities across the UK, the pair admit an event like Town Takeover has always been on their mind – it was just a case of working out how to make it work in Northampton.

Mr Farrar said: “One night, I was sat in a pub in Northampton watching a band dance on the bar staring over their mosh pit.

“It reminded me of a day festival in Leeds, where it was just a judgement free environment watching new bands which you may have never seen before.

“I thought, why does no one ever achieve something of that style here in Northampton, we have the venues, the scene is there. That’s where the idea was born.”

Mr Farrar adds the pair hope Town Takeover will become an annual event, bringing new talent from across the UK to play alongside some of Northampton’s best acts.

Mr Edwards said: “Post-covid, we went to a lot of gigs and events and I think we have always been those two to pick holes in line-ups, atmospheres and venues as well.

“We've always thought we would do a better job and so now it is about putting our money where our mouth is.

“We know what we like and what we don't like and so now we are trying to use that to create one of the best music events this town has seen.”

The pair have spent the last three months working together to plan the festival, secure the venues and the line-up.

When picking venues, Joe and Elliott explain The Black Prince and The Lab are “staples of the indie scene” in Northampton and two places they were adamant needed to be part of Town Takeover.

They picked Brooklyn Social and Phipps Albion Bar for being two of the most “aesthetically pleasing” bars in the town.

Mr Farrar said: “The Black Prince has a special place in our heart, we go there a lot.

“Promoter Phil Moore is great there and it has potential to become a real iconic music venue over the next few years.”

The pair explain they’ve worked hard to make tickets as affordable as possible, adding their goal is to show putting on an event like this in Northampton can be done.

Mr Edwards adds: “I would urge everyone to grab a ticket and come down.

“Whether you like indie music or not, support the town and the venues and come and have a drink with some amazing live music.

“People have learnt to trust our taste and we promise the acts won't let you down.”

Further line-up announcements are due in the coming weeks.

Town Takeover is on Saturday, September 24, with music from 2pm to 1am.

Early bird tickets cost £15 and are available via www.tsrp.co.uk