The Fratellis and The Coral bring Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod 2019 to a close

Llangollen’s Llanfest, the finale festival of the annual International Eisteddfod, drew to a celebratory end on Sunday night with a set from joint headliners, The Fratellis and The Coral.

The show was both bands’ first gig of the year in North Wales and one of the first opportunities in 2019 for fans in the region to see them live.

The afternoon began on the festival’s outside stages, with performances from a whole spectrum of contemporary bands from across North Wales, Cheshire, Merseyside and Shropshire. The Cavern Club, the world’s best-known music club, also returned and entertained the audience with Mersey beats from the 60s to modern rock.

Nineties pop rock trio Dodgy, kick started the evening performance in the Pavilion with a trip down memory lane, playing iconic hits Staying Out for the Summer, Good Enough and If You’re Thinking of Me.

High-energy Leeds-based indie icons The Pigeon Detectives followed onstage bringing the energy of the crowd to a whole new level with their hits, Take Her Back and I Found Out.

The Coral exploded onto the stage with Jacqueline, creating an electrifying environment and the festival revellers leapt to their feet maintaining those energy levels for the whole set.

The Fratellis made an even bigger dramatic entrance, starting their set with Henrietta carrying the audience to a crescendo as they performed their most famous hits, including Whistle for the Choir and the infectious Chelsea Dagger.

Due to a layout change of the Royal Pavilion, with rear seating being removed and additional standing available at the front of the stage, it allowed the capacity of the gig to reach over 5,200 people, making it the festival’s biggest gig to date.

In the last eight years since Llanfests’ launch it has grown into a full day festival aimed at a younger audience to attract new audiences to Llangollen and festival lovers from across the country.