109 Festival REview
Joie Matsuda
Branching off North Street, an unassuming corridor calls out to passersby with scaturient bass riffs rattling the pavement and a colorful hand-drawn sign advertising free entry to Raincheck’s 109 Festival. A far cry from the crowd control barricades and colossal marquee of St Andrews’ EDM festival, Starfields, this nine hour event situated in the back garden of a student flat is no less a site of electrifying energy. Enclosed by shrubbery and a brick wall in the midst of construction, the narrow plot upon which attendees set their blankets and lawn chairs assumes an intimate, grungy atmosphere characteristic of many forerunning music festivals. Despite being held only once before in 2023, the excitement for 109 Fest’s return is ubiquitous.
“We didn’t know what the hell we were doing, but it turned out to be crazy,” says Raincheck band member, Narayan, while reflecting on the inaugural festival two years prior. “It was raining the whole time and everyone stayed, like, took their shirts off, jumping around, dancing in the mud.”
Although lacking in the marshy Glastonbury-esque quality of the antecedent 109 Festival due to an unexpected bout of nice(ish) weather, this year’s lineup undoubtedly exceeds in capacity. According to Dasein band member, Matthew, who has been involved in the St. Andrews music scene since 2017, the chartering of more gigs through organizers like Signpost has fostered swaths of new bands. “When I first got here I was in a funk band, and we were like the only band in town as far as we knew,” he relates. “Now it's like there’s more than I could count.” Five Card Draw, a band that has quickly emerged this academic year as a notable addition to the music scene, agrees. “It’s not really that hard to start doing because of Signpost,” says Soren, their keyboardist. “It’s like an incubator for bands.”
Despite the abundance of new groups, diversity in sound and genre persist. “I feel like every week there's a new band, but they have really wide styles as well,” explains The Macaronis band member, Marco. “Each person is kind of finding their footing in terms of what their niche is on campus.” There is perhaps no better display of this musical range than at 109 Festival; playing host to ten different acts across nine hours, the event features everything from folk to jazz fusion to a reggae inspired cover of Ice Cube’s ‘It Was A Good Day’. This breadth of style could be in part due to the spectrum of band compositions, with first years to postgrads and exchange students interacting with the scene in a manner that reflects their own respective backgrounds. “You can definitely see a progression from first year bands to third year bands,” says Isaac, the first year performer behind Cormorant. “The first year bands are not copies of the fourth year bands—they're very different.”
Nonetheless, a strong sense of community remains among the varying acts. “There’s a lot of collaboration that happens just because this town is so small and everyone knows each other,” Narayan tells me. Somewhat shockingly, given the limited number of available gigs even with St. Andrews’ famed pub to people ratio, the town’s music scene is more collective than competitive. “Raincheck in particular really helped us get some of our gigs and a lot of our gear when we were just starting,” says Finn, a member of Five Card Draw. “To have everyone kind of come together … [and] show off what they’ve been working on is pretty cool,” he adds.
A consolidated music event like 109 Fest is truly a testament to the affinity fostered not only between different bands, but also amongst a growing audience. Regular gig attendees can be seen, Tennents in hand, dancing blithely in communion to a rendition of Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’. However, the magnitude of the festival’s audience extends beyond the garden walls and across North Street, as unseen listeners are brought to the party from a distance. “When you’re walking through town, you hear the music,” says The Macaronis keyboardist, Daisy. “I saw an old guy standing in the alleyway, just peering in.” Students studying in the Main Library neighboring the venue have also been witnesses to the ten live sets, and even received an announcement regarding the noise. “People in the library were like, ‘Oh, great set man,’” Isaac tells me. But with either no incentive or no method to intervene, the town is forced to accept that the show must go on. “Hey, it’s not like anybody has complained so far,” says The Macaronis drummer, Ilya.
An exposition of the year’s diverse and growing music scene, 109 Festival unites St. Andrews for a final hurrah over lukewarm beer and good company. Although several of Raincheck’s band members are graduating this year, hope for the event’s annual implementation is expressed by many who seek a summer music festival in a country with minimal sun.