In the grand theatre of popular music, few artists have navigated the terrain of emotional catharsis with the commercial acumen of The Script.

The Irish trio, led by the irrepressible Danny O'Donoghue, have built a career on the architecture of the arena anthem, crafting songs that function as both confessional and collective experience. Their latest single, 'The Crowd Was Singing Wonderwall', arrives as a deliberate artefact of its moment, a piece so self-aware of the cultural positioning that it risks collapsing under the weight of its own cleverness. Yet, against all critical reservations, it mostly succeeds.

The song's genesis is almost too perfect. Inspired by the seismic cultural event that was Oasis's Live '25 tour, a reunion that briefly mended the frayed nerves of a generation raised on Britpop swagger, The Script have fashioned a track that functions as both tribute and translation. They are not covering Oasis, but rather covering the feeling of being in a crowd that is covering Oasis, a meta-textual layering that could easily tip into self-indulgence. Remarkably, O'Donoghue and his bandmates pull it off with a sincerity that disarms the cynic.

From the opening salvo of clattering drums and a guitar line that shimmers with the sheen of a summer evening, the track announces its intentions. This is music designed for vast spaces, for the moment when lighters (or, more accurately, smartphone torches) illuminate a sea of faces. The production, handled with typical polish by the band's longtime collaborators, is immaculate. Every harmony is placed with surgical precision, every percussive hit calibrated to land like a small emotional detonation. It is, in all the best and worst senses, a record that sounds like a lot of money and even more careful thought.

O'Donoghue is in familiar territory, mining the vein of friendship under duress and the salvific power of shared memory. "Got drunk, had a falling out / Can’t remember what we fought about / Those days turned into years ‘cause pride stood like a wall between us,” he sings, his voice carrying that distinctive blend of gravel and vulnerability that has become his trademark. The chorus, when it arrives, is a masterclass in melodic construction. The hook is not merely catchy; it is inevitable, the kind of refrain that feels as though it has always existed, waiting to be unearthed. This is the song's central triumph, and its primary limitation. It is so perfectly engineered for communal singing that it risks feeling like a simulation of emotion rather than the genuine article.

The reference to Oasis is, of course, the narrative lynchpin. By invoking the Gallaghers' monolithic presence, The Script tap into a shared cultural vocabulary that transcends their own discography. They are trading on the currency of collective memory, the way a single song can transport a room full of strangers into a state of temporary intimacy. In this, the single achieves its aim. It is a celebration of nostalgia as a superpower, a recognition that looking backwards can sometimes be the most effective way to move forward. The song argues, persuasively, that the fraying bonds of friendship can be rebraided through the shared experience of music.

Yet, for all its sonic splendour, there is a sense of safe calculation at play. The Script have always been a band that knows their audience, and here they cater to that audience with almost aggressive precision. The track lacks the ragged edge that made the Oasis reunion so compelling. It is too polished, too sanitised. Where the Gallaghers offered chaos and redemption in equal measure, The Script present a version of that experience that has been thoroughly quality controlled. The raw ache of true nostalgia is smoothed over by a production sheen that leaves no room for imperfection.

There is an irony in a song about the spontaneous joy of a crowd singing together that feels so meticulously constructed. The moments of genuine communal ecstasy that defined the Live '25 tour were born from decades of conflict, disbandment, and reconciliation. They were messy, unpredictable, and all the more powerful for it. 'The Crowd Was Singing Wonderwall' captures the aftermath of that joy, the fond recollection, but struggles to replicate the visceral thrill of the event itself.

In the official press release, Danny O’Donoghue says, “I'm a huge Oasis fan. Always have been. But I don't think Liam and Noel knew the full impact of what they were doing when they got back together. Because a lot of their fanbase, they're lads, middle-aged guys, and a lot of them have a similar scenario where they're not talking to a brother or a friend, and they're trying to be a man's man about it. The Gallaghers reuniting put into the zeitgeist the idea that forgiveness is cool again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I saw them walking out with their hands together. If two of the most notorious people for being at loggerheads can overcome their differences, anything's possible!”

As a precursor to their upcoming album, The User's Guide To Being Human, due for release on August 14th, the single serves as a confident statement of intent. It suggests a band comfortable in their lane, unafraid to lean into the anthemic swagger that has defined their career. For the legions of fans who have packed arenas to hear 'Hall of Fame' and 'Breakeven', this track will feel like a homecoming. For the more discerning listener, however, it may register as a beautifully constructed exercise in nostalgia that ultimately reveals the limitations of looking back. It is a song that knows exactly what it wants to be, and perhaps that is its greatest strength and its most profound weakness. The crowd may well be singing, but one wonders if they are singing something genuinely new.

Words by Danielle Holian

There is a particular kind of courage required to name a song 'Joy' in an era of irony soaked detachment and algorithmic anxiety. It is the sort of title that invites mockery, that dares the listener to raise a sceptical eyebrow.

Tucker Pillsbury, better known as Role Model, has never been one to shy away from earnestness, but with his latest single, he has crafted something that earns its title through quiet conviction rather than bombastic declaration. Following the release of 'High Hopes 3000', 'Joy' arrives as the second taste of his forthcoming third album 'Chuck Timely & The Hourglass', and it represents a significant step forward for an artist who has always excelled at turning interior monologue into accessible pop.

From its opening guitar lines, the track establishes an atmosphere of intimate warmth. This is not the slick, overproduced fare that often clogs alternative pop playlists. Instead, Pillsbury and his production team, Mason Stoops, Kane Ritchotte, and Taylor Mackall, have constructed a soundscape that feels lived in, a comfortable room where the furniture has been arranged with care. The folk-influenced guitars provide a rustic backbone while the polished pop production ensures nothing ever feels rough around the edges. It is a delicate balancing act, one that the track navigates with impressive dexterity.

The songwriting finds Pillsbury in reflective mode, examining the contours of personal growth with the kind of honesty that has become his calling card. There is a willingness here to acknowledge change without mourning it, to recognise lost innocence as a necessary trade-off rather than a tragedy. His vocal delivery remains conversational throughout, a choice that pays dividends in authenticity. When he sings about the search for happiness, it feels less like a grand philosophical statement and more like a conversation with a trusted friend. The emotion is not forced; it is simply present, waiting for the listener to meet it halfway.

What elevates 'Joy' above the crowded field of introspective pop is its refusal to overreach. The track never strains for significance. It does not build towards a cathartic scream or a triumphant key change. Instead, it maintains a steady, reassuring pulse, allowing the lyrics to carry the weight. This restraint is notable in an era where artists often mistake volume for depth. Pillsbury understands that the most profound moments are frequently the quietest, and he builds his song around that understanding.

The production deserves particular praise for its subtlety. Warm acoustic textures blend seamlessly with country inflections and contemporary indie pop sensibilities. The result is a sound that feels both timeless and current, a difficult trick to pull off. The guitars remain crisp and present throughout, while the percussion provides momentum without ever overwhelming the vocals. It is production that serves the song rather than the other way around, a refreshing approach in a landscape dominated by sonic excess. Every element feels purposeful, every arrangement choice justified.

There is a warmth to 'Joy' that sets it apart from Role Model's previous work. While his earlier material often traded in a certain brand of self-deprecating charm, this track feels more assured, more comfortable in its own skin. It is the sound of an artist who has stopped trying to prove something and has started simply expressing something. The maturity on display is not the forced maturity of an artist desperate to be taken seriously, but the natural evolution of a songwriter growing into his craft.

The album title, 'Chuck Timely & The Hourglass', suggests a playful engagement with themes of time and memory. If 'Joy' is any indication, listeners can expect a record that balances whimsy with genuine emotional weight. The single functions as a mission statement, a declaration that Role Model is interested in the big questions, but only insofar as they relate to the small, specific moments of everyday life. It is the kind of song that rewards repeated listening, revealing new layers with each encounter.

'Joy' stands as a quiet act of rebellion in a musical landscape often defined by its cynicism. It dares to be sincere without being saccharine, to be hopeful without being naive. Role Model has delivered a track that feels like a breath of fresh air, a reminder that vulnerability can be just as powerful as any stadium anthem. The song does not demand your attention; it simply invites you in. And once inside, you may find yourself unwilling to leave.

Words by Danielle Holian

Armed with a tuxedo, a healthy dose of motivational speaking, and a star-studded lineup featuring Lil Jon, Kesha, and Tinie Tempah, Pitbull turned Hyde Park into the ultimate millennial throwback victory lap.

Amid a year where the likes of The Streets and My Chemical Romance celebrated their greatest albums, many others longed for the heady era of Eurodance and EDM. We lived through a wonderful time when artists like LMFAO, Cobra Starship, and even Leighton Meester (for some reason?) dominated the charts with aspirational club anthems boasting party rocking, dancing zebras, and hard drinking. Shutter shades were cool, rubber bands were stacked on arms, and the BlackBerry smartphone was considered cutting-edge. If, for one day, you wanted to go back, Friday the 10th of July at Hyde Park was your personal TARDIS. 

If anyone wanted to meet the brief of the day's theme, Lil Jon was up for the task. "If you miss the 2000s, make some motherf***ing noise!" he screamed before a 'Sweet Caroline' singalong that led into 'Hollaback Girl.' For the most part, it was a DJ set from hip-hop's biggest hype man, but the most brilliant moments came when he unlocked his bolshy brand of shouty energy that got people going. 'Get Low' and 'Snap Your Fingers' had this in spades. He knew his audience, whether he was dancing in front of the Crunk-o-meter or asking fans who owned an iPod. 

The long-awaited return of Tinie Tempah marked 15 years since his last appearance, and the question on everyone’s lips was: would you risk it for a chocolate biscuit? The answer was resoundingly yes, the lusty fizzle of 'Frisky' turned out to be an ideal opener for his set. Skipping into 'Pass Out,' he shed his vest and encouraged the crowd to do the same. Yet, dutiful as ever, many Pitbull lovers (dubbed "Baldies") kept their white shirts, ties, and bald caps intact, even in 30-degree heat. In fact, the dedication of the 'Baldies' went down in history, setting an official Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people wearing bald caps, with 22,141 fans transforming the park into a surreal sea of Mr. Worldwide lookalikes.

In their sweltering state, it took the audience a minute to realize Katy B had arrived as a special guest for their collab, 'Turn the Music Louder.' The flame-haired powerhouse was vocally as strong as ever, riling up the crowd easily. While there were few surprises from there, the audience found solace in bangers like ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’ and ‘Girls Like’.

Kesha’s entrance was heralded by a pink, fluffy-winged angel - and of course, it was Kesha herself. While her glittering career has faced immense challenges, particularly navigating a highly publicised legal battle following alleged abuse from former producer Dr. Luke, she refused to let the past overshadow her undeniable legacy. She delivered a spirited performance that proved exactly why she remains an unstoppable force. Beginning 'Tik Tok' with the line switch-up of "Wake up in the morning like fuck P. Diddy!" was perhaps the best example. But changing the production for 'Warrior,' 'Blow,' 'Your Love Is My Drug,' and 'We R Who We R' to strip out Dr. Luke's input entirely? Chef’s kiss. 

She touched on this, saying, "I used to dream I could make a safe space for people like me. I hope you feel so safe and loved tonight for who you are," ahead of an emotional rendition of 'Praying' that showcased her vocals. Equally, her playfulness shone through; during 'Joyride,' a costume change shifted attention to her posterior, with Kesha remarking, "Give my ass some attention, London!" Meanwhile, 'Sleazy' was an intoxicating cocktail of heavy bass and charged choreography.

After a day spent basking in the nostalgic comfort of 2000s pop and hip-hop, the festival reached its natural peak with the entrance of Pitbull. To understand his set was to reckon with the absolute zenith of this lost era – a grandiose Latin pop-rap spectacle that today’s algorithm-friendly charts could never replicate. Emerging from the early 2000s Miami bass and crunk scenes, Pitbull underwent one of the most audacious, lucrative evolutions in music history, trading street-level grit for the globalist, tuxedo-clad sheen of Mr. Worldwide. 

His Hyde Park show was an aggressively high-energy victory lap. Opening with 'Don’t Stop the Party,' he rolled through 'Hotel Room Service' and 'International Love' proving how remarkably well his hit-filled catalogue had aged with a crowd that was already jumping. Where contemporary acts trade in vulnerability, Pitbull has always operated in unadulterated, maximalist hedonism. Shifting into 'Culo' and 'Calle Ocho,' he paid homage to his mid-aughts roots. The transition from the raw, dembow-inflected rhythm of 'Culo' into the sanitised, EDM throb of 'On the Floor' served as a sonic timeline of how Latin club music boom dominated the early 2010s. 

What elevated his performance into a pseudo-religious experience was his utter commitment to motivational speaking. "It goes to show you: if you believe it, you dream it, you can achieve it. We want to say, ‘thank you,’" a visibly emotional Pérez told the crowd when reflecting on his origins as the child of Cuban immigrants. This was the core of the Pitbull ethos: a bootstrap-populism that reframes club bangers as homespun mantras to human resilience. Of course, his lyrics never aimed for poetic depth, they were largely comprised of geographic roll calls and club clichés - but delivered with his ferocious cadence, they took on the weight of gospel. 

The final third of the show unveiled a slew of special guests. Lil Jon injected raw crunk energy with 'Gasolina' and ‘Damn I Love Miami’ while Kesha’s appearance for country-rave anthem 'Timber' provided peak pop euphoria - complete with a bedazzled bald cap. Then came the 'Wonderwall' pivot. Intended as a nod to the English football team, the cover was absurd but entirely effective. By the time the night concluded with the bombastic crescendo of 'Give Me Everything,' the Pitbull manifesto was clearly realised. In a digital age where listening habits are fractured into many subgenres, this unapologetically loud, stadium-sized nostalgia served as a rare unifying force. It transformed Hyde Park into an army of dancing Baldies, proving that when it comes to delivering a good time, Mr. Worldwide still commands a stage like no one else.

Words by Oliver Evans
Photo Credit: @elliekoepke_photography

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard step into a new realm with ‘Level 5’.

Towards the end of 2025, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, in their unfrilly and idiosyncratic way, put on a short tour of vibrant dance gigs. These much-celebrated evenings took elements of techno, drum ‘n bass, and big beat to form a semi-improvised set, which was as energetic as it was intricate. Along with many others who failed to grab a ticket for these high-demand shows, I watched online as the progressive Australian psych-rockers streamed themselves tearing up their playbook for a completely new chapter of their journey. It was surely inevitable that this would result in a studio-based effort, and Level 5 is the first offering as such, a beats-laden grimy soundscape, purpose-built for the sweat and pulse of dancefloors around the world.

Though this is a step into a new realm, there is precedent in the Gizzverse for electronic-focused sounds - 2023’s album The Silver Chord can be seen as a peek under the pot lid of what is now bubbling over. There’s a lot of familiarity with songs from further back in their catalogue too, such as Intrasport and Cyboogie. But while those dalliances were one-offs, this is a much more deliberate shift. After a few toe-dips into the pool, the band are apparently dive bombing head-first into their rave era.

Level 5, and it’s accompanying album Alien Metal, promises to fully immerse the listener in this novel departure from their established sound. Yes, King Gizz are all about genre-bending; they incorporate many different (and often completely opposed) styles of music from album to album. But crucially, whether it was psychedelic surf-rock, ambitious microtonal explorations, or just good old fashioned doom metal, one constant would remain - Guitars. Doing away as they are with any vestiges of being a rock band means that this time, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, after a career of scene-shifts and curveballs, have made their biggest step into the unknown to date.

Level 5 is a typical representation of this new era. It’s not necessarily provided with a hook, or even a traditional structure. Like those intoxicating live sets from last year, the song mutates and evolves through cycles of itself, meandering through the same ideas from a different perspective minute-on-minute. Its unceremonious start and abrupt finish indicates, tantalisingly, that this will be one small part of a full-album cut, a studio-based distillation of what they were putting out to gleeful crowds at the back end of last year.

And if you’ve been a fan of their work to date, then you’ll dig this. Because to truly love King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, you have to accept their chaotic spirit and experimental vision. They will come out with records that leave you miffed, they will have entire genres in their repertoire you don’t care for, but on the flipside of all that, when they nail the particular groove you’re missing, it crashes like a tsunami in your brain. This is what we keep coming back to this extraordinary and unique band for. That is why each King Gizz release is so hotly anticipated, and why even on the brink of (count ‘em!) their 28th full-length LP, people are still hungry for more.

Words by Adam Davidson

Green Man, Wales’ largest independent festival, is returning to the breathtaking Brecon Beacons National Park between the 20th and 23rd of August this year. A festival full of some of the best music around, as well as comedy, science, art and more, it’s many people’s go-to summer festival. The line-up for Green Man 2026 is absolutely stacked, and with it also being a fallow year for Glastonbury, there’s no doubt that this is the festival everyone will want to be at. 

Some big names on the line-up that are certainly not to be missed this year include Four Tet, who is known for his spectacular live shows, and Brit Award winners Wolf Alice, along with Mogwai, Baxter Dury, Cat Le Bon and Shame. However, the beauty of Green Man is their focus on more up-and-coming artists. It is a festival that encourages discovery, a place to find your next favourite artist or band, and there’s truly a never-ending list of acts to check out. 

Five acts that are definitely worth checking out at this year’s Green Man are - 

Prewn, aka Izzy Hagerup, an indie-rock artist who isn’t afraid to dive deep into the darker sides of human emotion. Her latest album, System, which came out towards the end of 2025, is incredibly raw, harrowing even, capturing the ugliest parts of depression and all that comes with it. “You know that my heart aches to get away from this shame”, a steady, unwavering voice sings on the track Forget, Izzy is both a talented vocalist and lyricist. With the support of her band, Prewn is known for her haunting and intense sound. Catch her playing at Green Man on the Saturday.

Leeds-based six-piece Adult DVD, who are playing on the Friday, are another band not to be missed. They’re a fusion of indie-rock and dance, and their energy live is infectious; they will get any crowd going. Adult DVD are a breath of fresh air; their tracks usually comprise funny, somewhat unserious lyrics, jagged guitars and chaotic disco beats. Bill Murray is a crowd favourite, but their recently released single A Cowboy On Aisle Three is guaranteed to cause a riot live. 

Irish singer-songwriter Dove Ellis will hopefully already be on everyone’s watchlist, but if he’s not…there’s time to change that. All you need to do is give his debut album Blizzard, which came out at the end of 2025, one listen, and you’ll be completely sold. Dove Ellis, aka Thomas O’Donoghue, balances the fine line between indie and pop perfectly. His voice often ranges between a raw intensity and a gentle fragility, accompanied often by the guitar, sometimes a piano, scattered percussion. His lyrics are gorgeous, sometimes abstract; his writing talent on par with the likes of Cameron Winter, frontman of Geese (who Dove Ellis has supported, which should tell you everything you need to know really). Fans of the likes of Jeff Buckley, Lou Reed, and Black Country, New Road will lap him up. Dove Ellis is the perfect soundtrack to everyone’s Sunday at Green Man. 

A duo that perhaps do not need recommending, as it’s likely they’ll have one of the biggest crowds there, is Getdown Services, but just in case they’ve somehow not been on your radar, they’re getting a mention. The Bristol duo have had one hell of a year, dominating most festivals across the UK and Europe last summer without even meaning to. The energy they bring to the stage is quite frankly unbelievable. They’re sarcastic, charismatic, hilarious…and their songs are great too. Packed full of disco funk grooves and post-punk chaos, their live sets are hectic, in the best way possible. There is no better way to kick off your weekend at Green Man than standing in a field watching Getdown Services, pint in hand, everyone dancing with their fingers in the air. 

And finally, the band that MUST be on everyone’s list for the weekend is Madra Salach, the six-piece folk band from Dublin, Ireland, who have been steadily taking over the Irish music scene and beyond. Having just released their debut EP in January of this year, they’ve been making a name for themselves well before that with their absolutely unbelievable live performances. Madra Salach have taken folk music and spun it on its head, pulling “traditional folk” apart by the seams and adding their own experimental layers to it, the mandolin blending with the electronic sounds of the synth, crashing of drums, a level of depth created by the harmonium. All of it is tied together with frontman Paul Banks’ phenomenal vocals that will leave you close to tears. They are a band that will leave you feeling changed once you’ve witnessed them live. You can catch them on Friday, but there’s no doubt you’ll be left thinking about them for the rest of your Green Man weekend. 

And because five acts doesn’t feel like quite enough, some honourable mentions that you should also check out include Fcukers, Mannequin Pussy, Sprints, Sorry, A Place To Bury Strangers, Seamus Fogarty, Panic Shack and Tyler Ballgame. 

There’s truly something for everyone over this gigantic weekend. And while Green Man has always been known as an amazing festival, it’s safe to say that 2026 will definitely not disappoint, and will certainly fill the Glastonbury-shaped hole in many a festival-goer’s heart. 

Words by Angela English

Calling the new record from The XCERTS a return to form would be disingenuous. The Brighton-via-Aberdeen trio have been resolutely forging their own path through music since the early 2000s, incredibly consistent yet somehow reinventing themselves with each record. They’ve taken bigger risks as time’s gone on; the pop-tinged turn on Hold On to Your Heart was a slam dunk, while 2023’s Learning How to Live and Let Go didn’t land all its punches but took some impressively big swings in its hooks-first approach. (More on that later.) That’s the thing about this band - it’s been Murray Macleod, Jordan Smith and Tom Heron against the world since 2006, and they’ve always avoided half measures, even when circumstances did their utmost to send the trio off the rails a few years ago.

Between a cancer scare (Macleod’s father), parental loss (Smith’s mother), creative frustration, romantic turmoil and a general sense of instability (much of which was percolating in the background before their last album came out), it’s a wonder they got this over the line at all. i think i want to go home now. makes their 2011 broadside Scatterbrain seem light by comparison, channeling similar feelings through a totally different sonic palette. They haven’t made a record in a room together in a while, and in that sense they return to their roots here, pushing into harder and heavier territory both musically and emotionally, a marked shift from the topics they explored since There Is Only You. 

‘pretty ugly’ is a therapeutic howl of defiance that’s folded into the album narrative as a moment where Macleod takes himself to task for caring so much about what other people—in this case, the band’s fans—think. If you need reminding, ‘Gimme’ was an outlier on Learning…, full of attitude and loaded with vocoded vocals and electronic tinges, a wild swerve that attracted plenty of attention. “I’m wasting my precious breath on these people I can neither bear nor stand” he sings, and it’s not meant as a clapback, more as ‘how are you letting this get under your skin?’ It’s all a matter of perspective, and artists just sometimes have to do things for themselves. Hell, a certain amount of selfishness is what helped this album get made in the first place; you have to lock in and get it done when the thing you spent more than two decades building is on the verge of dissolution. 

There’s nervous energy coursing through every song on the record, with the brief title track setting the scene, easing open the door before ‘do it to myself’ kicks it down, finding the band battling to hold things together amidst calamity and imminent collapse, unable to resist the allure of self-sabotage, ‘burning every night drunk and petrified’. ‘wow’ surveys the wreckage, starting a descent into emotional numbness that’s at odds with the forceful and determined nature of these songs, throwing up plenty of questions and offering little in the way of solutions. ‘bury you’ offers a glimpse of light, the closest the album comes to an anthemic pep talk, but the narrative never really offers a way out, highlighting the pervasive and all-consuming nature of loss and grief, a document of years defined by repeated setbacks.

Just viewing the lyric sheet, relief is hard to find on i think i want to go home now.; even the album title, spelled out in lowercase, seems defeated, yet its closing track ‘in your eyes’ offers a gargantuan payoff, building to a storm of noise. “This isn’t ‘goodbye’, this is ‘I’ll love you forever’” Macleod sings, the album’s closing moments offering somewhat of a safe haven, a feeling bolstered by a recording of Smith’s mother saying ‘I love you’ as the song fades out. It’s remarkable how these three make subject matter as deeply personal as this feel universal—the burnout, the despair, the sheer overwhelm—and catharsis bleeds from every note. Those in search of easy answers will be better served elsewhere, but if this record speaks to you, hold it close. This one’s for anyone who’s been through hell and lived to tell the tale; beautiful and devastating in equal measure. The jury’s still out on what their best album is, and a case can be made for all six, but this may just be the most important album the XCERTS have made yet.

Words by Gareth O'Malley

Ohio metalcore heavyweights release huge bumper series worth getting to know.

Despite it all, The Plot In You's Landon Tewers [vocals], Josh Childress [guitar], Ethan Yoder [bass], and Michael Cooper [drums] continue to defy all odds. Picking at the threads of alternative, electronic, pop and heavy, nothing is ever off the table entirely for these four. Surging momentum from viral blow-out FEEL NOTHING on 2018's DISPOSED - not forgetting its Swan Song follow up three years later - The Plot in You have always delivered.

Ever since Plot in You brought the heat with "Vol. 1" in 2024, a fleeting glimpse into a new era, the bands' progression has been even more immense. A powerful showcase of the bands' evolution, drawing in raw emotion with enriching musicality, the likes of "Left Behind" and "Forgotten" became the bedrocks of the band to build upon. Traversing crushing heaviness with equally introspective songwriting, the mass cultivation of an audience was beginning to happen.

"Vol. 2" and "Vol. 3" shortly after in mid-May saw the band push those sonic boundaries further than ever before. Aggressive in nature, "Don't Look Away" doesn't let up for a second while intimate narrative on "Closure" sees a completely different side to one of the genre's most compelling acts.

An act noted for their fluid identities, the start of "Vol. 4" via "You Get One" sees glitchy electronics and haunting vocalisations, a fitting feature for any supernatural horror epic. The draw of breath into "Silence" is a gratifying escape before we're lurched into another bombastic flurry of cutting screams and percussive power.

Now having already amassed a staggering 360 million global streams, we fast forward to this week. A celebratory banner unifying of the bands' preceding four EPs, the "Volumes Series" Collection comes as a hard-fought singular body of work culminating the bands' new, expansive trajectory.

It's easy to be disappointed with a new album announcement being singles already released. But, it's more than that. It sees the bands' idea come to life, a gargantuan effort of short volumes released over the years that seemed incidental releases. It brings together a format that has been well over four years in the making from a group who continually turn the dial in the seismic territory of heavy music.

A dizzying display of shifting course and upending expectations, the collection not only sees the band shift to new heights - but also sets the standard for those thereafter. Together as one unifying project, you can finally see the artist vision that was sought out. From old bold throw to the next, we barely have time to pause and take stock - there's a real fire in the belly present from a band who have really laid it all out on the line.

A mammoth Summer calendar saw the quartet play at the most prestigious festival slots, including Welcome to Rockville, Sonic Temple, Hellfest and Download in the UK. The band continue their supporting worldwide tour with Bring Me the Horizon as they round it out with the last remaining US and Canada dates from September onwards. 

Words by Alex Curle

With special guests including Shania Twain and Hozier, Mumford & Sons put on a show-stopping set to a warm Hyde Park for British Summer Time.

The fourth headliner at American Express presents BST Hyde Park 2026 series, it has been ten years since Mumford & Sons played this festival. Armed with a set list nineteen songs long and a series of special guests - the band made it worth the wait.

Starting our day with Divorce - giving us a mix of hazy indie early on the Great Oak Stage. Despite the early set - you could feel their sounds right across the field. Up next for us was the very humbled Holly Humberstone - bringing her unique blend of Alanis Morrisette fueled indie-pop to Hyde Park - rocking a black and gold embroidered top, coupled with black shorts, the Nottingham-born songstress brought hit after hit as she eased through her set. Treating us to new material she played 'To Love Somebody', 'Blue Dream' and more. The invitation to play this event could be seen on her face as she looked out across BST Hyde Park, telling music fans: “It’s such an honour to be here… This is magical!”

“Hyde Park, you’re beautiful!”

A very honest statement from Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs as they started their nine-song set. A band that I am not familiar with as much as the rest of the line up - but they certainly left an impressions. “It’s a pleasure to be here with our friends, Mumford & Sons. It’s our second time playing the incredible Hyde Park.” The crowd greeted them with open arms and their electric set certainly kept their committed and new fans happy. Their show came to an end with the soft-rock anthem, 'I Don’t Live Here Anymore', to a sea of applause.

Up next was the Mumford lads, a band that holds a large chunk of my heart - especially those first two albums. Many times sat around a drunken table after too many wines with friends at 3am - where you find yourself naturally singing along together. That's the sort of band Mumford & Sons are to me. Kicking off their two hour long headline set in Hyde Park with 'Begin Again', taken from their 2026 studio album, 'Prizefighter'. The opener was accompanied by a flash of pyrotechnics and an introduction from Marcus Mumford. “Good evening my friends, we’re Mumford & Sons and after all this time, in our hometown, we didn’t come to fuck around… one, two, three, four…”.

Then the party started - 'I Will Wait' turned the warm London field into a jive-fest. A blanket of voices from the crowd joined with the chorus, blending nicely into the next track, White Blank Page — which Mumford penned with BRIT-Award winning singer-songwriter, Laura Marling.

“Tonight, I'm going to mostly talk about football,” he joked. “We're stoked to be home. Thank you for being here with us… I swear there’s nothing like Hyde park on a sunny summer’s day” - Marcus tells the crowd with a huge smile on his face.

The night’s first special guest arrived on stage right on cue during 'Rubber Band Man'. The 2026 release was a collaboration with Hozier, so it was fitting for the Irish singer to join the band on stage for the spine-tingling performance. Staying on to duet on 'Awake My Soul' – which Mumford & Sons and Hozier have sung live together previously – Mumford described his friend as “the kindest man in music.

While everyone recovered from that Hozier moment - Marcus tells the crowd 'Happy Pride' as the sun gleamed across the field. The band then proceeded to take the audience on an adventure of their back catalogue - 'Little Lion Man', unsurprisingly, had the pack-out park singing every lyric. 'Ditmas', 'Delta' and the iconic 'Wolf' brought the main show to a close.

But the night was not over yet.

Armed with a five-song encore, which started with the mighty 'Rushmore'. And then came the biggest shock of the night: “We’ve got another cheeky surprise for you,” teased Mumford. “It was a surprise for us too actually…Let’s just give it up for Shania Twain”.

The crowd erupted - as she arrived on stage, looking fantastic in a black bodysuit, black knee-high boots – and fresh from performing at Wembley Stadium, supporting Harry Styles on his Together, Together tour. She joined Mumford & Sons for 'Here' – a newer track that was originally recorded with country star, Chris Stapleton.

Marcus' face said it all, wide with a smile - if anyone was enjoying this moment the most - it was certainly him. “Shania Twain is my f***ing hero, ladies and gents. You don’t understand. You don’t understand, you don’t get it. This is a very big deal for me. And guess what? She played Wembley Stadium tonight, and she’s here. That is gangster”. Obviously, just one song wasn’t enough for BST Hyde Park. “Thanks for having me, honestly, this is so awesome. What are we going to do now? Are we going to jam out something sassy?” Shania asks.

The answer was ‘yes’, as the intro to Man! 'I Feel Like A Woman' began. Creating one of the biggest sing-alongs of the night.

The set ended with The Cave, with Mumford giving one last toast to the audience that have supported them the performance of a last time. “I’m lost for words tonight. All I”m thinking about is the football and Shania Twain… If all of you mother f***ers keep showing up, we’ll keep going”.

This year Hyde Park certainly delivered - Mumford & Sons showed us why they are still top of the list for bands who can do headline shows like this. They turn up and they delivery - time after time. And with that - we continue to turn up for them.

Words by Ant Adams
Photo Credit: Bethan Miller // @BETHANMILLERCO

Fat Dog erupt back onto the scene with raw new single ‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’.

Festival favourites Fat Dog are back with their trademark industrial techo infused dance just in time for the heady summer heatwave.the band who were formed in London in 2020 during lockdown are known for their wild live performances and that abandon is perfectly captured in this track. Despite their usual upbeat pulsating synths driving this three and a half minute track, the inherently combative undertone of their lyrics such as: ‘Life, its a bitch/Like a chicken on a stick/Like a wart on your dick (Huh)/Life break your balls like S & M’ alludes to a sense of frustration and gives fans a taste of the broader mood of their ten track album of the same title set for release on October the third.

According to the band’s press release for the new single which was released on Wednesday, it was inspired by John Lennon’s ‘How Do You Sleep’, combined with frontman/songwriter Joe Love imagining “what Anatolian rock experimentalists Altın Gün would sound like if they were under siege from a thumping club beat”. As with signature songs like ‘All The Same’ from their debut album, Fat Dog exhibit a clear desire to tear up the dancefloor, with an uncanny knack for deeply catchy choruses that will rock their crowds to the rafters at their notoriously riotous live shows, in the spirit of their Wide Awake festival set that saw the Love crowd surf with glorious wild abandon to the fan’s sheer delight.The single is accompanied by a dizzying video shot with director James Winstanley on the hottest day of the year, which sees the band trying to avoid getting cancelled on an actual night out in London's Soho, an exuberant and messy pub crawl through the narrow streets narrowly missing lime bikes and rubbish bags.

As the band have colourfully teased themselves in anticipation of the album’s release: “Into its lyrical orbit, the record pulls mentions of addiction, family ties, love, AI, ancestry, extra-terrestrials, Chris Tarrant, S&M, B&M, H&M and M&Ms”. Hot off the back of a major support slot for Kneecap at Crystal Palace and with numerous festival slots and an intimate UK instore tour in the pipeline, by the time Fat Dog set out on the biggest UK headline tour to date to date taking in a night in October at the hallowed Brixton Academy, they will be firing on all cylinders for sure. 

By Brendan Sharp 

Photo Credit: @wondergirlphoto

The UK hardcore highlight of the year continues to bloom with every line-up that passes, and this 15-year anniversary special was no different, with bands from all walks of the underground alternative scenes, it once again became the centre of the universe for another rampant and chaos-fuelled weekend.

Outbreak 2026 will likely go down as an all-timer for all of its attendees and will likely become the personality of the 10,000 people that descended upon the B.E.C arena this weekend. It goes without saying that hardcore and its adjacent genres have always had a truly communal and special feel to them, and with every day differing slightly in genre, it was truly beautiful seeing a variety of two-steppers and crowd-killers living it up and singing their hearts out to the emo bands on the Friday lineup, and seeing all the less experienced fans get to try out the joy of the dive platform,. Whether you’re a newcomer or an experienced pit veteran, Outbreak will take you in and treat you like its own, and it’s reassuring knowing that spaces like these exist for people to vividly express themselves and truly cut loose for a weekend. 

As Friday the gates opened, Friday and tattoos and septum piercings flocked to the indoor stage, two things were clear: the energy was magnetic, and the weather was sweltering. If you’ve ever wondered what a 10,000-person musical sauna feels like, it’s not pleasant, but that did not deter the enjoyment of the crowd nor the bands, as when the first two bands took the stage, every ounce of exhaustion faded away simultaneously as people screamed and danced to some of the best and most influential emo songs ever recorded. The first of these two was Free Throw, an iconic band who have been delivering great albums and earth-shattering live performances for the better part of fifteen years now. They opened their set on a new song from their 2026 album, before gliding straight through a laundry list of their iconic heartbreaking anthems. Free Throw were the perfect sing-along opener and paired perfectly with the next band, Tigers Jaw. Their set was absolutely mesmerising, blending their fresh sounds from ‘Lost On You’ with a wide array of all of their old tracks, altering the more acoustic songs to pack the same punch that the more distorted and melodic songs contained. Both these sets were absolute all-timers and proved yet again that no matter what sub-genre of this scene, no barrier is always the way to go. 

Over on the second stage and fresh off the heels of a new release, Love Rarely took to the third stage and captured a large crowd with their spell-binding and mind-melting blend of math-rock and metalcore. Having only heard a couple of tracks and stellar reviews, I was excited to see where they went with their allotted time, and I spent the entire 30 minutes trying to pick my jaw up from the floor. The collision of multi-note scales and technically mind-blowing instrumentation with the raw aggression and force of the drums and vocals made for a truly spectacular showing. After they had blasted through tracks from their new album ‘Pain Travels’, and some from the back catalogue, the audience left mesmerised at the sheer talent of the Leeds four-piece. This set has gained them both momentum and new listeners as their music felt truly revolutionary and fresh, and hopefully, this will act as a platform that will allow the band to grow exponentially. 

Love Rarely - Photo credit: Anna

Next up were pop-punk darlings Joyce Manor, being no strangers to Outbreak, they took to the stage as if it were their home away from home. Gunning through tracks from their banger-rich career and powering on the most phenomenal sing-alongs in this festival’s history. This was not a set where people were waiting for the one massive hit they knew, but instead it was a riot of pop-punk mastery with even new songs and deep cuts like ‘Grey Guitar’ and ‘Leather Jacket’ built pockets of endless excitement within the crowd. Joyce Manor’s sound can be enjoyed by any music fan or artist worldwide, teeming with energy and vibrance while remaining heartfelt and brutally honest in their songwriting, making it a perfect set to bleed into the catchy hooks and choruses of the headliner, The Front Bottoms

The Friday headline set may be the first time in history I have heard a crowd be consistently louder than the band. As the Front Bottoms blasted through their second album, ’Talon of the Hawk’, the crowd resonated with the weight and emotional depth of these songs while still grasping the playful and simplistic tone that drives the core sound of this fantastic band. Every single song on that album was backed by joyful instrumentation and an unbelievable chorus of voices. It’s common to hear this of a popular song or two, but not for the entirety of the set; even some of the album’s deep cuts and lesser-known tracks, such as ‘Santa Monica’ and ‘Tattooed Tears’, were bellowed with the same enthusiasm as the bangers. After finishing their ’Talon of the Hawk’ section of the show, they were unrelenting in their pursuit of straining everyone’s voices, hammering through another 40 minutes of their greatest hits from every era and every album of this band’s rich history. By this point in the evening, anyone would have expected the crowd to become an amorphous blob of dehydrated tattoos, but due to the quality of performances and that feeling of witnessing history, it was impossible to be bothered by the north’s hottest June day on record and it acts as a true testament to both the willpower and commitment to the music from the band and the crowd. As their set drew to a close, it dawned on me and many others that we had just borne witness to one of the single most stacked days in the subculture’s history, and the premise of another two days of wall-to-wall bangers drew nothing but excitement from the crowd as they funnelled out of the arena into the coolish breeze of the night, ready for yet another day of chaos. 

The Front Bottoms - Photo Credit: @wondergirlphoto

After rushing off to recover from the heat and attempt to get a modicum of sleep, it was back into the thick of it for day two. The second day was more varied than the first, with bands from beatdown hardcore, metalcore, shoegaze and the more emo-heavy bands littering each stage. This set-up allowed for everyone, no matter their preference, to experience such a deep and rich number of bands and likely acted as the turning point for a lot of fans who usually stay in one lane to explore a number of other offerings. 

Opening on Saturday was Turn of Phrase, the UK-based melodic hardcore 5-piece outfit. One of Outbreak’s greatest offerings is seeing the bands that hold all the potential in the world open stages before they rise to stardom, and Turn of Phrase will likely be one of these bands. Their sound pulls on the post-hardcore instrument voicing of bands like Title Fight while keeping abrasive and raw lyrics centre stage. This sound plays out just as well live as it does on recording, and seeing them play with so much passion put the crowd in the exact headspace the rest of the day required.  

This set was followed shortly by the fantastic Reclus.é, who put on a wondrous display of indie, shoegaze and post-hardcore-influenced tracks, displaying a real wide variety of talents, making every sound fit under their banner and proving they have many strings to their bow. They will certainly be a band to keep an eye out for as their varied songwriting and vocal styles make for a very interesting performance.

Saturday had a great number of metalcore-influenced bands playing throughout the day, with sets from Bodyweb and later on in the day Loathe, all showing up to bring the heat. Bodyweb’s performance on the second stage was utter pandemonium and put the nu-hardcore and jungle-influenced band on the map for a lot of people as their infectious energy and non-stop mosh calls caused a ruckus early on. Loathe played a gorgeous set of songs, new and old, even managing to fit ‘Is It Really You?’ Into the setlist, which I can now tick off my bucket list. Both the power of their performance and their adoration for the festival itself were felt in spades, something that nearly every band the whole weekend would sing the praises of. 

Fans were also tremendously pleased with the secret set this year despite their evil trickery of coming out to Title Fights ’Safe in Your Skin’ with a mock Floral Green Static Dress logo to boot, the band stormed the stage, falsely introduced themselves as Guilt Trip and proceeded to absolutely slaughter for a straight thirty minutes. Static Dress’s performance will undoubtedly go down as one of the festival’s best, and I can’t wait to see them headline one day as the calibre of talent and professionalism from this still very young project is second to none. 

Static Dress - Photo Credit: @wondergirlphoto

There were also a ton of Outbreak veterans playing this year, with the standouts being Higher Power, a Leeds-based pop-punk-adjacent hardcore band that guarantees a great party on any stage they grace and the well-beloved and unbelievably passionate Touché Amoré. The former had a ripping set on the second stage, cranking up the volume of crowd surfers and pits to a maximum and blowing the roof off with absolutely zero interruption, playing songs from the new album to great applause and an even greater number of stage divers. The latter were completely emboldened with passion as they played their biggest album to date, ’Stage Four’, from cover to cover. I’ve seen plenty of bands enjoy the music they play, but none as much as Touché Amoré. They seemed just as excited as the crowd for us to scream these songs back at them, and after such an iconic tenure as a band, seeing every single member do so with a gigantic smile on their face really spoke to how much this music and this scene mean to not just the listeners but the artists themselves. 

This set was shortly followed by Canadian pop-punk anthems from the band PUP, who absolutely killed it, bringing great energy and even greater songs like ‘DVP’ to the main stage crowd who championed the Canadian natives through their first-ever Outbreak set. We will likely see them return soon, as not only are they scene legends, but they also drew a giant crowd for their set, every member of which danced their way to dehydration from b beginning to end. 

PUP - @wondergirlphoto +@liammaxwellphoto

After an already mammoth day of such a great selection of genres and bands, it was time for the final two, the heavy hitters, Alexisonfire and Converge. The headline slot was up first with Alexisonfire performing their 2006 cult classic ‘Crisis’ in full. I will forever kick myself for taking so long to dive headfirst into this band as they’re now going to be a guaranteed watch every single time they are in this country. Every song was so beautifully composed and played so well to a no-barrier crowd, who used the opportunity to celebrate the post-hardcore legends the way they so deserved. The album ran from track to track seamlessly, with the dual vocals of George Pettit and Dallas Green creating a gorgeous dichotomy, blending Pettit’s harsh and scathing tone with the groundbreaking symphony of Dallas Green’s clean vocals working perfectly in tandem with each other and the marvellously talented band around them, who have managed to hone their craft even more since the release of this truly stellar album. So many of the songs from this album are true anthems, and to see them all played with such ferocity has since left me obsessed with both that project and their discography at large. So don’t do what I did and start listening to them post haste before they wind up on a line-up you’re attending, and you realise you may have robbed yourself of one of the greatest sets you’ve witnessed. 

As Alexisonfire drew to a close, people scurried to the indoor stage for one last late-night throwdown at Converge. Converge are a band that have been at the top of their game for as long as they’ve been playing, and to see such a legendary band put on such a powerhouse display so many years in speaks to the longevity and quality of their music. Tracks like the brand new ’Hum of Hurt’ and 2001 classic ‘Concubine’ were brutal displays of the band's long-standing instrumental prowess and were the perfect way to end an absolutely stacked day of killer bands. 

Alexisonfire - Photo Credit: @wondergirlphoto + @liammaxwellphoto

Sunday was arguably the most heavily stacked day of this 3-day hardcore extravaganza, containing absolute world beaters and giant up-and-comers. The beatdown style hardcore on display during the Sunday was arguably one of the best runs of shows I have ever seen, but before we could get to the lawlessness of those sets, a slightly softer but infinitely cool band, Ecco Vandal, set foot on the main stage after a brilliant opening set from Glare. Having witnessed a lot of buzz around the band and catching their guitarist Richie Buxton on bass for the mighty Limp Bizkit at Download, the crowd built a solid level of expectation around them, one that was delivered upon tenfold. Ecco Vandal played a chunk of songs from their new release, and each was infused with R&B and hip-hop influence that was malformed and distorted into a fast and heavy backing sound, all accompanied by very intriguing and fresh instrumentation. Their set opened the ears and hearts of the whole crowd and worked as the perfect early afternoon wake-up for the absolute onslaught of the following sets.

Over on the second stage was. Truly unmissable run of shows, each as violent and exuberant as the last. The first of the three was London hardcore heavy-hitters, Dynamite. Having seen Dynamite a few times in the past and absolutely loving their take-no-prisoners energy, I was really expecting this set to be similar to their no-barrier shows, but I have never been so happy to be wrong. Dynamite was a perpetual onslaught of stage diving, crowd surfing, two stepping and maniacal fun. Every song seemed to garner a greater reaction than the last, and to see such a large number of other bands watching in awe and joining in was a clear indicator of the cultural significance of this band in the UK scene. Next up on the second stage was the Baltimore city hate crew, End It. After recent controversy surrounding a banana and a subsequent peace treaty made the day before with yet another banana, End It took their aggressively careless attitude and put on on of the best displays of hardcore I have seen in recent memory, the pits were absolutely irresistible to the cast majority of the front section and beyond, with pits opening all the way back to the bar creating a brilliant energy in the already baking indoor stage. A highlight of this set was their cover of Maximum Penalty’s ‘Could You Love Me?’ A song I truly hope they add to their consistent rotation. Finally, to close off this 3 show stretch was Haywire 617. Need I say more? If you know the name Haywire, then you know that they raise hell everywhere they go, and this was no different. Every song was blared back at the band, especially their illustrious cover of Title Fights ’Shed’. This song, along with their hits ‘Like a Train’ and ‘Haywire’, were the best songs of the entire festival and carved them out as a band I could quite easily watch every day till the end of days.

Two of the biggest main stage offerings of the weekend also put out stellar performances. In retrospect, this will likely be a lineup, like Reading 2000 or Glastonbury 1997, that people in the scene just can’t believe happened. The next two names will be a very big part of that future spectacle, with the first being La Dispute. Widely regarded as one of the most poignant and emotionally scathing bands in the genre’s recent history, La Dispute showed up to play a collection of songs both new and old, gathering a wave of stage invaders for nearly every single track. The intensity with which this band perform is hard to believe unless witnessed, but you really feel every lyric and every chord cut deep. This set left a real and tangible emotional impact on its audience and is something that will magnetise many more listeners to their cause for years to come. The second band was hardcore royalty Trapped Under Ice. Made of members of world-famous bands like Angel Du$t and Turnstile, Trapped Under Ice have set the pace in the surface-level hardcore community for nearly two decades, and their reign is far from over. The main stage was packed out wall to wall to hear bangers like ‘Big Kiss Goodnight’, ‘Born To Die’, and ‘No Relief’. This set was another bucket list item for me and many other festival goers, as watching a band who have been at the top of their game for so many years remain so tight despite not releasing any new music in years is astonishing and only leaves their audience craving even more. Trapped Under Ice delivered on every promise, bringing a raw and impactful sound to the Manchester stage, delivering an absolute masterclass for their whole fifty-minute set. 

La Dispute - Photo Credit: @wondergirlphoto

A much smaller collection of shoegaze and post-grunge style bands were also on offer on the Sunday, and even though they were often slotted between absolute killers, they still managed to deliver truly standout sets. Two of the shoegaze bands that stood above the rest to me were California three-piece Midrift, who were packed full of youth and vigour, absolutely nailing their set. Seeing a band so young possess not only a ridiculous amount of raw talent and potential but also carry themselves as true professionals instilled great hope in me for the future of their genre. It was also great to see the songs from their recent debut album ’Silhouette’ take so well to the live format, and they’ve really hit their stride early on as a band. The last band I caught before the highly anticipated headliner was Glitterer. Ned Russin has managed to carve an excellent career even outside of his previous Title Fight fame, and to not only see a legend of the scene but a maestro-level songwriting mastermind live at work was mesmerising. Their entire set was absolutely captivating, and the quality of their brooding but synth-heavy performance likely left hundreds in attendance rushing to buy tickets for their current UK tour.

After the third stage masterclass from Glitterer, it was finally time for Basement to close out what had been an unforgettable, adrenaline-heavy weekend, and there couldn’t be a better band they could have picked to do it. Basement’s history with this festival runs deep, and they have been playing it not far from its inception back when they were only big enough to open the festival’s single stage, and to say that they have ascended to stardom would be entirely selling them short. Andrew said during their set that ‘Basement is not a nostalgia band’, a comment that came moments after running through multiple new tracks from their album ‘WIRED’, The performance of these songs made that so evident s while their second album ‘Colourmeinkindness’ is largely what they are known for, their evolution as a band shows several even tighter tracks, ’Sever’ and ’Time Waster’ come to mind when thinking of the early portion of this set, the power and unrelenting passion that poured out during the performance of these new tracks and the non stop smiles from every single member of the band only heightened the experience for those in attendance. When they changed up the pace and played the slower tracks from the album, energy radiated from the stage and was immediately reciprocated in a sing-along. The performance of these new tracks really acted as a statement to such a large crowd and their mixture with classics like ‘Covet’, ‘Bad Apple’ and their closer ‘Promise Everything’. They have one of the best back catalogues out of any band from the last twenty years, and while their live shows always feel brilliant, this set felt magnetic; something felt monumental, and I’m so glad that such a longstanding pillar of the modern post-hardcore and grunge scene are getting their well-deserved, hopefully endless, time in the sun. 

Basement - Photo Credit: @wondergirlphoto

Reflecting on the entire weekend, the aforementioned feelings of this line-up being one that will be long remembered ring true even more so. Every band that showed up to perform brought their absolute A game and preached the brilliance of the festival and the community and friends around it. The event staff, the bands, the organisers, and the traders all made the whole weekend feel like the epicentre of the universe and the true centre of the hardcore scene. I feel truly blessed to support this scene and have the privilege of going to shows, and just as Dynamite said during their set, Don’t let this festival be your last interaction with the scene, as there are many more bands and shows in your local venues that will provide you with an even deeper love of the game the more you attend. Outbreak 2026 was stellar as always, and I cannot wait to fling myself off of that sub stage next year!

Words by Josh Pook

Emo/punk titans My Chemical Romance graduate from the realms of alternative rock into a fully fledged stadium band with a seminal sell-out show at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium.

Having seen My Chemical Romance several times over the years, watching them go from tiny clubs in front of a 100 people, to stadiums in front of 1000s of screaming fans has been nothing short of a pleasure. And nothing short of deserved.

Tonight, as the band stroll on stage at Anfield their appreciation, perhaps even disbelief, is evident on their faces. It soon gives way to elation though, as 50,000 people greet the band with a deafening roar. Proving before even a single note is played, just how much this band mean to them. Indeed, not just the band themselves, but the album we’re all here to celebrate.

When My Chemical Romance released The Black Parade back in 2006, they probably weren’t aware of the black-eyed tsunami they were about to unleash on the world. 20 years later, and the importance and influence of that record is only too evident. Tonight though, rather than just play the record in full, like every other band celebrating an album’s anniversary, we’re treated to a whole new dystopian narrative that’s at times as brilliant as it is equally baffling.

This is mainly due to the vocals, which at times are barely discernible above the mix. It hardly matters though, when songs are as well-known as the likes of Welcome to the Black Parade and Teenagers, you can always rely on the crowd to sing them anyway. And when the show is hinged as much on spectacle as it is songcraft, there’s enough going on on-stage (and off) to distract from the muddy vocals.

And indeed, tonight IS a spectacle. Gestapo-esque figures prowl the stage, soldiers are shot, a supreme leader arrogantly surveys his sycophantic subjects from a throne throughout. An outing for Cancer sees frontman Gerard Way breaking down to a ventriloquist’s dummy, whilst he’s later stabbed in the back by a clown during Famous Last Words. The clown then blows himself up with a suicide vest. Because why bloody not?

It’s campy and theatrical. Breathtaking and batshit. And by the time the record reaches its conclusion with the fittingly titled The End, we’re unsure if what we’ve witnessed is a social comment on the current state of the band’s home country or them just jumping feet first into the world of stadium rock in unfettered fashion.

With the dictatorship in tatters and just about everything on fire. It’s clear that we’ve reached the end of The Black Parade, but the night isn’t over yet. As expected, the band make full use of the second smaller stage positioned in the centre of the crowd. Dispensing with the theatrics now, what we’re left with is My Chemical Romance at their purest.

Tracks such as Na Na Na explode with an energy and vitality that bristles with a youthful exuberance that belies the band’s quarter of a century together. Elsewhere, it’s the material from breakthrough album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge that really showcases not just how far the band have come, but just what they mean to people.

An obligatory, but surprisingly early outing for I’m Not Okay (I Promise) is probably the loudest the crowd have sounded all night, whilst Cemetery Drive is a surprising inclusion that still feels as fresh today as it did all those years ago. Thank You For the Venom provides the perfect example of the band’s punk roots. A blistering example of them at their most thrashy. It’s brash, bold and a reminder of just how good this band were, and indeed are.

A final duo of Helena and The Kids From Yesterday perhaps should have been switched, with the former feeling much more of a set closer than its counterpart. That said, it’s barely a complaint. And by the time the final notes of the latter ring out, the band vanish from the stage and as an emotional rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone plays the crowd to the exits, it’s clear that we’ve just bore witness to the next stage of My Chemical Romance. Punk and emo might well have been where they came from, but the band are now well in the realms of stadium rock titans, and it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving act.

Words by Dave Beech

Knocked Loose and friends put on yet another beautiful display of vicious hardcore sets, treating Electric Bristol to one of the most hectic and vicious nights of music to take place within its four walls.

There has never been a better time to be a hardcore fan, and it’s very obvious that Knocked Loose are a key driving force of this widespread popularity and acceleration of the already budding underground scene. Having been around the block a vast number of times, playing shows all over the globe for several years now, they have blown past expectations time and time again, only seeming to grow as they influence both the music and the culture itself. For many people, Knocked Loose has become a jumping-on point for the hardcore scene, and seeing so many of those fresh faces get lost in the bewilderment and joyous chaos of live hardcore shows will create lifelong memories for newcomers and veterans alike. To accompany the widespread explosion of their presence in modern metal, they have continually platformed a vast number of smaller yet just as impactful bands. In the same way that Metallica are currently giving them a world stage to bring their tantalising live show to the wider metal scene, they have had a brilliant and rotating line-up of powerhouse up-and-comers to support them on their club shows across the country. 

The first of these was the California Beatdown hardcore band, Initiate, a band that have been staking their claim at shows and festivals alike. Both their sound design and stage presence were absolutely impeccable, intertwining classic punk-driven beatdown chord styles, perfectly timed double-bass pedal work, and phenomenal, scathing vocals to create a clean-cut and truly awesome sound that got the crowd’s feet moving in a trance-like state of 2-stepping and head-banging. Initiate ran through an amalgamation of unreleased tracks and established bangers from their 2023 album, serving as the perfect warm-up for the evening and introducing a traditional hardcore style band into an otherwise metalcore-inspired line-up.

Second on the bill were London-based metalcore-inspired band 50 Caliber. Having never had the pleasure of experiencing this band before, this quickly became one of the best sets I have ever gone into blind. Their 7-string guitar chugs shook the walls of the venue from beginning to end with a blunt and ridiculously heavy tone. Each member’s musicianship was on evident display throughout every segment of their set. Many of the tracks were from their album ‘Internal Bleeding’, a project that has since been on repeat at every opportunity. 50 Caliber started their set unknown to the majority of the crowd, but certainly left ingrained in the memories of the fifteen hundred people in attendance. 

The final set before the main event kicked things into overdrive was the infectiously rhythmic Bodyweb. Having now seen Bodyweb twice in three days, they seem to improve drastically with every show they play, which comes as a great surprise, as they have been stellar from the very start. Injected with limitless influences, Bodyweb have harnessed all the tools of genres like nu-metal, grunge, shoegaze and even jungle elements. This depth of influence has led to the creation of one of the most innovative and fresh hardcore bands in recent history. Their serpentine guitar and bass riffs pierce through the barbarous drum pieces and create an otherworldly stage presence, one that is amplified tenfold by the tenacity and energy of the bands themselves. The new sound that accompanies Bodyweb feels like a natural evolution of the subgenre they reside within, and as far as openers go, I don’t think there could be a better pairing than our headline act and this Leeds outfit teetering on the edge of their own stardom. After burning through their thirty-minute set, using that infectious energy to whip the crowd into total frenzy, it was fantastic to see the energy in the room remain high for the main event after such a brilliant slate of supports, but as the lights dimmed on the Bodyweb logo, the room knew that judgement day had arrived.

As the ambient noise rose and the now-famous illuminated cross was presented to the audience, anxious excitement rose through the crowd. It was finally time; many fans in the room were bearing witness for the first time, while many were years into their experience with this band. Regardless of how long you had been listening, one thing was clear: when they move, you move; when they go heavy, you go heavy; and when they ask for everything, you give it to them. This was something that the Bristol crowd were more than prepared for, and as the band came on to ‘Blinding Faith’, the room detonated into a combination of spin kicks and flying limbs that did not cease until the final bell. The early portion of this set was an eclectic mix of their biggest hits from all of their albums, with songs from ‘A Different Shade of Blue’ and ‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To’ gathering a perpetual stream of energy from the crowd, who were all trying to keep up with the relentless energy of the band’s performance. Witnessing Pacsuns drumming in this show was absolutely mesmerising as every note was played in perfect tandem with the rest of the band, carrying a vicious pace that would likely terrify your average Metallica fan, something I wish I could have witnessed on their tour opening for the legendary band. This monstrous and dynamic sound is what makes the band so special, and while the sound on the record is special and era-defining, Knocked Loose is a band that needs to be seen to be believed. As the show ran to its midpoint, it seemed that this crowd would never run out of energy thanks to songs like ‘Belleville’ and ‘Deadringer’, causing the perpetual motion of the pit to test the strength of the floor supports, these tracks accompanied by Bryan Garris’s constant calling for even more pressure really put the crowd and venue staff through their paces, but they were certainly far from finished. 

The second half of the show contained just as many bangers as the first half, something that the crowd would continue to respond very well to, keeping the pits open and constant even through the lulls of the chilling clean riffs of ’Take Me Home’. this setlist and the show as a whole proved the dedication that fans have to this band as while the coarse and boundary pushing vocals of Garris may be hard to understand upon an initial listen, every word, even to some of the deeper cuts on the setlist were screamed in unison. Electric erupted into a choir of fry screams for every song, but the standouts of the set all sat within the back half of the setlist. Three tracks stood out more than anything to me, the first of which was the lead single from their most recent album ’Suffocate’ this track exploded in popularity around the time of the album's release and has been a large driving force in the recent success of the band, every word rippled through the crowd and back to the stage as every voice from the front to the back strained to match Garris’s incomprehensible tone, something that has always been a clear identifier in their music. other standouts from the back half of the set were the track that everyone had been waiting for the whole time and the song that changed the trajectory of the band ‘Counting Worms’ and the all-new metal and hip-hop hybrid ’Hive Mind’, both tracks contained an incredible energy and seeing their sound evolve into what it has become now while still being able to rip through the old tracks emphatically is another reason the band are so special. 

As the set closed on ‘Everything is Quiet Now’, the Bristol crowd, now on a post-gig high of endorphins and war wounds, left with a plethora of new memories, new experiences and new bands to dig into. For many, Knocked Loose will be the first hardcore show they attend, but the passion and energy they have for their music and the scene around it almost always ensures that it will not be their last. There could not be a better representative for the quality of the music in the scene and the values it upholds than the Oldham County natives and being able to witness their journey to the top is mesmerising, even if they did blow up on tin Tok because the lead singer barks funny, they have taken that and not allowed it to define them, creating some of the coolest music in metal today. 

Photo Credit: Jared Leibowitz
Words by Josh Pook

The Offspring lead a memorable ode to the spirit of punk rock at Crystal Palace Park that true to its word, remains incendiary and rebellious; with standouts including a Dropkick Murphys set that sets aim to tear down the whole American political system with a warning to the rest of the world: don’t make the same mistake that we did.

After the first day at Crystal Palace for Kneecap you can be forgiven for thinking that the second would be a more relaxing; sat-down day, but it’s a testament to the energy in the 30,000-capacity park that you can’t help but be pulled in from the lure of the very first band: American punk rock outfit Destroy Boys. They’re politically charged and encourage you to go to security to report any sexual harassment in the pits; and if you’re a creep in a pit you don’t belong in punk rock. It’s against the ethos of the genre and this puts them in the frame as bands like Lambrini Girls or Bikini Kill with their firecracker energy and anthems that warn the audience of the danger of being young people entering a scene and dating older, predatory men. ‘I Threw Glass at my Friend’s Eyes and now I’m on Probation’ is a wonderfully titled track that goes for the juglar: “You’re like way older than me / and you’re gross and I don’t wanna do that… never invite me over again….” The song calls back to their experience and the mistakes they made and have recognised what they’ve done at a young age; and only grown and learnt from it. It’s a warning that they can leave for future generations to not do the same – and this song, especially if you know what members of Destroy Boys have been through, leaves a mark – using their voice to speak for something and change – it’s good to see that the spirit of protest hasn’t just been relegated to one day on the park.

Next up we switch territory for Pup. In the same way that Turnstile had their moment in the sun thanks to Charlie XCX branding it a Turnstile summer; it feels like Pup are that band – they have the essence of a baby Turnstile if you were, fitting that La Dispute vibe of songs that can be cathartic and incredibly sad; but also deeply rage-inducing and pit-ready with the mass appeal that almost shocks the band themselves to see how many people are singing along for them. It’s bliss: ‘If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will’ gets the most sing-alongs as they pull heavily from early career success ‘The Dream is Over’. You’d think Pup are a new band the way they have emerged onto the scene with explosive force this summer – but have been around for multiple years; honing their craft and that shows in their confident live scenes, coming this time from Canada, having been touring since 2010. The transition straight into ‘DVP’ is basically one long song that they cap their set with “your sister thinks that I’m a freak, she’s been ignoring my calls we haven’t spoken in a week” fits the similar vibes of Texas is the Reason, Waterparks or Billy Talent – as they catapult themselves into pop punk territory that match a familiar vibe that’s fully formed and rearing to go. In the genre that is pop punk they exist primarily as more punk than pop – when most are the opposite.

After Pup, and like yesterday, Crystal Palace Park Series is a perfectly organised, well-run, well-oiled festival that feels very much like the All Points East of South London (except, with better sound) – we get Pennywise who prove that skate punk is very much not dead. The South California band are a little slow to start but goad the crowd by saying they got more engagement at Hellfest in a peak French heatwave; and if this is the country of football they should be better at chanting their name. They lead the audience in a singalong of ‘Stand By Me’ that allows the pitters to come up for air; and appropriately have the crowd on their side by the time they come for Trump after explaining they’re from America to a chorus of boos from the crowd. It’s fun watching the genre switch from Irish-flag wearing Kneecap fans to a score of emos and punk heads, a different but no less harsh vibe – it feels like a good crowd all round; perfectly welcoming and that stays the same into Dropkick Murphys – who come out swinging and then some.

The Murphys were my main reason for coming today and booking the band the day after Kneecap almost feels like the BBC letting Bob Vylan air on television but blocking Kneecap themselves at Glastonbury. They come out swinging: in the first few minutes they gun for world leaders of like Benjamin Netanyahu

and Donald Trump, inviting Fletcher from Pennywise back on stage for ‘The Big Man’. It’s ruthless, it’s no holds barred juggernaut of onslaught where frontman Ken Casey comes for Trump. His vocals are an instant crowd-pleaser as we get the runaround of classic ‘The Boys Are Back’ “And they’re looking for trouble”, in peak Murphys mode that allows the full audience to sing and scream along. The imagery accompanying ‘Who’ll Stand With Us?’ call for a revolution – for the people, drawing from their 2024 titled album, and by this point the crowd is in so good spirits that we get a wheelchair user crowd surfed to the front and then invited up on stage by Casey himself, proceeding to sport an anti-fascist flag to the audience. It’s a revolutionary Bostonian ballad after revolutionary Bostonian ballad – walls of death come for “’Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya’, and wisely, perhaps, this being London – they leave off Liverpool anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from the setlist. 

That allows them to tear into Trump with ‘First Class Loser’ – if it wasn’t obvious it was about Trump – “you can’t ditch him, you can’t lose him, there is no place he can hide,” the visuals showing his weird handshakes; golf failures and slips on Air Force One’s stairs – in addition to the connection with Jeffrey Epstein broadcast through facts and shared photos – will remind you of that. When ‘Citizen I.C.E.’ comes next – you’re watching a politically charged firecracker of a show explode with the confidence Casey gives a room that you can’t help but completely buy into – “Take your mask and weapon and then be on your way / They’re knee deep in Proud boys, the party never stops / Too scared to join the military, too dumb to be a cop”. It’s the kind of barroom brawler lyrics that they pay ode to on ‘Baroom hero’ – showing the flaws in these people’s loyalty to bar culture – and pay a healthy ode of tribute to The Pogues’ iconic Shane MacGowan, whose passing casts a shadow on the whole weekend; with ‘The Body of An American’ – that they make entirely their own. It’s something that required a pit – and the crowd obliges. Finally – of course – it’s ‘Shipping Up to Boston’ – which the crowd belt out and there are cries of “more” well into the break. It feels like this is a band that could’ve headlined the festival in their own right – with energy and stage presence to share. 

However; headliner slot means only one thing: the big names. Green Day-esque The Offspring fit that pop punk void that the show has been drifting in and out of with bands like Pup earlier in the evening, and they’re more on the pop punkier side; having recently played a Taylor Swift song at Hellfest and gave Swift her largest circle pit. Their cover of ‘Love Story’ gets the runout, and tracks like ‘Come Out and Play’ and ‘All I Want’ – as they run through their catalogue with a band in their groove. Iconic moments are reserved for ‘Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)’, ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ and more -with ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ bringing the house down for a momentous end to the evening: cathartic emo kid singalong in the best way possible. 

Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
Photo Credit: Federica Burelli

Let us introduce you to Baby Smith - the project of Australia-born, Berlin-based Ray Sonder and Saxon Gable. They have just provided us with their new track 'Walkie Talkie', the latest taster from their debut album 'Lately, Love Is Dead' - which is due out on July 10th.

Ray Sonder and Saxon Gable grew up in sleepy beach towns on Australia’s east coast. Their parents were hippies and rockers. They were spoon fed Nirvana and The Beatles on the car stereo whether they liked it or not. Both self taught musicians, they began writing songs from an early age, evoking the quiet beaches of Byron Bay and the wild Gondwana Rainforest that were their back yards.

By university, they were writing hazy, sun-kissed demos to upload online and burn onto CDs for their friends. Inspired by technicolour, small-town beatniks and surfers, and the romantic soundtracks of their early youth, the foundations of Baby Smith were laid a long time ago. But neither Saxon nor Ray knew each other yet, despite likely crossing paths.

The pair each moved to Berlin from Sydney separately and within two weeks of each other to explore new subcultures and write songs. They met, and soon married, spiritually united by their affection for the whimsical, intimate, deeply melodic sounds of 1960s psychedelia and 1990s Grunge. What followed their creative union was musical exploration and experiments that led to the genesis of Baby Smith in 2023.

They took a moment to talk to us about how their music.

Hey there Baby Smith- how are you? So your track ‘Walkie Talkie’ is out now - can you tell us what it is about? 
Hi! We are good! Yes, Walkie Talkie is out in the world. For us this track is a lot about insecurity in relationships, questioning the person you’re with and wondering if they feel the same about you. We feel like that's an experience the majority of people have been through and navigating those feelings can be tough. 

Where are you from and what are your favourite things to do there? 
We are both from Australia, Ray from Byron Bay and Saxon from Sydney. Although cliché the beach is pretty unbeatable down there, so that's always top of the list. Otherwise we mostly just enjoy eating our favourite comfort foods, going to the pub and catching up with friends and family.

What are the key influences when it comes to your music? 
We have a very large selection of influences which we hope shine through in our music, the ultimate one being the Beatles, although this is not so much in a stylistic sense. It’s rather that we take a lot of influence from classic pop in terms of song structures and we attempt to write tightly packaged tracks. Walkie Talkie is a great example of this influence in terms of structure and stylistically we wanted this to be a bit whacky. Other key influences would be film and visual arts. We are very into indie films and try to consume this in a very conscious way. We also were influenced a lot by André Courrèges in terms of our own aesthetic for the record.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened to your music before? 
We always struggle to answer this, at its base its guitar indie music, but we hope it's also a lot more than that. Lush harmonies, groovy synth lines, a hint of psychedelia - of rock, of pop… We like the fact that we have songs you can dance and move to as well as more reflective and introspective songs and we strive to keep that variety because we want to reflect a range of emotions we are going through whilst writing the songs. 

Now the track is out there - what's next for you? 
We are about to release our debut album ‘Lately, Love is Dead’ on July 10th. We’ve got summer festivals and a European and UK tour coming at the end of the year, our first headline tour, which is exciting! So we are just focusing on the release as well as writing songs for the next album. We’re trying to enjoy the ride and stay on top of everything. As an independent project we are constantly working, whether it be writing, performing, making videos, answering emails, booking tours etc. You’ve got to be good at multitasking, that's for sure! 

Catch Baby Smith live at the following dates:
15.09.26 Bristol UK - The Gallimaufry
16.09.26 London UK - Sebright Arms
17.09.26 Glasgow UK - Nice N Sleazy
18.09.26 Newcastle UK - Three Tanners Bank

Alternative Hull four-piece LIFE have just released their fourth studio album ABSTRACT / NATURAL via EMI North label partner Launchpad+.

An adventurous body of work that showcases the band at their most ambitious and experimental, it’s a collection that draws on folklore, mythology and the natural world, unified by the lived experiences and stories that weave in and out from beginning to end.

Across its ten tracks, the album moves between sweeping landscapes, folklore myths and personal stories with remarkable ease. Anthemic opener 'Wild Grasses' quickly establishes these themes, while 'The Dollywaggon' traces an epic coast-to-coast journey via Sanders-Green's stream-of-consciousness delivery over Mick Sanders' razor-sharp guitars and Stewart Baxter's lightning-quick drumming. Exploring fatherhood and recalling a memory of a trip to the Isle Of Mull, 'Turning In' strips things back to something tender and disco-grooved, while 'Thistles Kiss' builds from its delicate ambient piano intro before blossoming into bold, cinematic territory; a pagan-tinged adventure about escape and new beginnings. Meanwhile, 'Mermaid Feet' offers an intricately layered, dreamlike lullaby inspired by the mythical Mermaid Pools atop The Peak District's Kinder Scout.

They took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.

Hey there LIFE, how are you? So your album is out now – how does it feel to have it out there? 
We are so proud of this record. It was forged from a loving and wonderful community. It was a collective effort and not just about us as four best mates in a band. It means the world to us that its out there from track 1 to 10 it tells a story of journey, escapism, love and letting go. The album is our everything and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

 It is called 'ABSTRACT / NATURAL' – what is the meaning behind it? 
These two words actually reared their heads very early in the process. As a mission statement of how we wanted to approach the writing and recording of the album. ‘Abstract’ seems to sum-up how we wanted to go about creating some of the soundscapes and tones that would later be crafted into more directional songs and ‘natural’ embodied the re-connection with nature that anchored so much of the lyrical content. I think the title also suggests a theme of  fusing the abstract with the organic. I weave lyrics steeped in folklore, myth, geography, place and time. These elements converge into universal themes of escapism and journey, creating a vivid world in which we have broadened our creative lens. The aim was to create a body of work that was story-rich anchored by musical dynamism. 

 Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
We recorded the full album in our studio in Hull. The Moon Factory. Our studio sits on the banks of the Humber. It’s a beautiful space that feels so familiar and really allows us to lean into our creativity as four best mates. We set up so we can all see each other - often the music starts as loops, lullabies, hooks and jams and then I place my words over the vibes. Recording this record was liberating. We felt like we were writing for ourselves not chasing genres or scenes but just being us! 

What are the key influences behind the album?
A lot of the influences on the writing process and some of the sounds of the album came from various tracks Mick and I shared between each other for example the leftfield anthemic sound and scale of Sea Power's brilliant back catalogue gave us a sonic scope. We also re-immersed ourselves in some of the folk-tinged leanings of our childhood, from pentangle to petebog faeries. Our summer holidays involved stone circles and gonzo festivals with our mam and dad. 

If the album could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why? 
I think it should be the soundtrack to a new Shane Meadows film. A Northern Western set in the Cumbrian Fells. A cat and mouse type scenario where some whacked out Pagan is on the run from the clergy. I can see some maypole fuckery, earth, rituals and mermaids in the mountain lakes. A modern day Wicker Man type vibe. Proper.

Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why? 
I’m really proud of the lyrics on the full record. I see each track as a chapter of a book/story. The content all came from pages of a book of poems I am writing. I really love the lyrics on tracks like Thistles Kiss, The Dollywaggon and Buried Giant. But personally my favourite is Turning In as it's about the adventures me and my little boy get up to. The track recounts an adventure on this Isle of Mull, off Scotland. 

Wild ponies turn
into the hills in the rain.
It’s been four weeks now and
I can feel the drain
of not turning in, of not turning in.
At night
we fit so perfectly.
Hand in hand
I know we dream, we do.
That’s me and you, 
that’s me and you.
I wake to hear you humming, 
outside our tent in Mull.
My boy
The Gidge
by the stream.
By the stream, he whispers to Heron.

Now the album is out there - what is next for you? 
I’m typing this from the van as we ride to Liverpool from London. We are playing record stores and signing the album all week. We then play main stage at Deershed Festival before our UK tour in October where we play some beautiful hand picked venues like Trades Club in Hebden Bridge. 

This week's Band of the Week is Galway garage-punk trio Shark School - who have just released their debut album 'Selachimorpha'.

Formed in Galway in 2023 by Nora Staunton (guitar/vocals), Peggy Ford (bass) and Meg Bruce (drums), Shark School have rapidly become one of the most talked-about underground bands in Ireland. Their sound collides garage punk, riotous indie rock and abrasive noise into something that feels simultaneously cathartic and chaotic; often compared to the collision of Wet Leg and Nirvana raised on Catholic guilt and feminist fury.

Their debut album 'Selachimorpha' promises to be a blistering statement from a band entirely uninterested in restraint. Furious, exhausted and defiantly alive, the record explores emotional collapse, gender politics, identity and inner turmoil with sharp wit and unrelenting honesty.

They took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together

Hey there Shark School, how are you? So your album is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?.
Spectacular this is our first big body of Work that we get released into the wild and it’s with full hearts that we can say we are proud of the work we put into it and just excited for others to hear and to enjoy or to hate but either way to listen to our rock and roll creation!

It is called 'Selachimorpha' – what is the meaning behind that?
I think it’s only fitting that the meaning behind that is Sharks! (To put it into simple terms) Selachos: Ancient Greek for "cartilaginous fish, sharks, and rays".
Morpha: Ancient Greek for "form or shape"
There you have Selachimorpha (all modern sharks)

Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
We formed these angry compilations of noises in Attica Studios Co Donegal, I cannot tell you how many Haribos were consumed in the making of this album but I can tell you it was definitely more than one…

What are the key influences behind the album?
A lot of the influences in this album come from dealing with the emotions and just the exhausting suffocation that comes from dealing with assault and with that not being able to trust, sleep, eat or even just feel happy. Ending it with the lyrics “deemed to dream, so it seemed to seem, she had been seen.” More so saying she lived happily ever after or at least just felt heard.

If the album could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
Sharknado specifically all of the six movies, actually a little part of us was making this album for the Sharknado series franchise, but they did in fact release it before we finished the album but if they make a seventh one, we are sitting idly by staring out our windows waiting for their call.

Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
“pressure coming awful woman
pressure coming awful woman”
This is from the last song on the album called when I see her, this is my favourite set of lyrics from this album as it’s quite repetitive and very cathartic to me as in the song it starts off quiet and I get to build it up to something that just lets all of that pressure out.

Now the album is out there – what next for you?
Another one more music, more music and more music because that is what we are here to do and we cannot wait!

Kneecap returned to the Belly of the Beast for their biggest ever festival headlining slot as part of Crystal Palace Park Series; creating a memorable (nearly) all-Irish Glastonbury featuring the likes of Madra Salach, Gurriers and The Mary Wallopers. 

Everyone is in lively spirits long before Kneecap come on stage for the impeccable Madra Salach; playing to what they say is their biggest ever gig. Crystal Palace Park certainly looks daunting and it allows them to live up to their reputation as one of the most exciting new names in music right now; running through a catalogue of tracks released from the0ir EP thus so far: including; notably, dedicated to all the Irish who built London, ‘The Tunnel Tigers’, a fearsomely unique cover of Ewan MacColl’s track. 

The snarling folk outfit builds and builds with a quasi-Liam Gallagher sound to the vocals of Paul Banks, who has shades of Lisa O’Neill in the bands’ aesthetic delivery and echoes of both Lankum and the Mary Wallopers – up later – in their DNA. It’s the Irish folk resurgence leading the way early on with arguably a contender for the best act of the whole day – they can take their experience learned from playing festivals like The Great Escape and apply it to bigger venues.  It’s a fusion of trad Irish music, house, techno and DNB and the long quiet sound that just builds and builds before the melody kicks in is chaos – ‘Blue & Gold’ and ‘The Man Who Seeks Pleasure’ feel like a seamless transition from ‘The Tunnel Tigers’: “I knelt down to kiss you, lick the sugar off the cane – for the man who seeks pleasure is the man who seeks pain,” sings Banks in the sweltering heat, sending a massive crowd stunned into silence. We even have time for comedy; Paul – adding to the band, reads off the Wikipedia page after a much talked up introduction to provide a primer on Crystal Palace Park for those who may have not been before.

The turnaround is impressive; organised, and efficient for a festival that has played host to bands like The Rolling Stones and more in its heyday. Industrial post punk band Gurriers – no longer seemingly walking onto Franki Valleri’s ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ - have the worst of the heat but that doesn’t stop them from being good enough to gel up the crowd anyway: ‘Nobody’s Coming to Save You’ plunges into the despair of continuing a sense of normal life whilst the world is at war; asking how we’re meant to continue when we’re aware of all the horrors going on around us. It feels like a primer for the new material to see how much it works and it’s a transition with the older tracks that worked as well as The Great Escape: they’re in a tricky phase where they have to mix up their setlist that won them such plaudits for album number two and they are able to do that with the experience and skill of many bands twice their lifespan.

Dan Hoff is able to get that crowd in the pit to move even despite the heatwave and the amber warnings; and it doesn’t take long for us to get going with the chaos: what is old is new again - ‘Nothing Happens Twice’, ‘Party Lines’ are entirely new tracks fed into the melting pot of old-favourites: ‘Des Goblin’, ‘Top of the Bill’ and even Paul Banks gets a chance to come back out for another go – joining the band for ‘Approachable’. It’s a rare opportunity to see this band at the top of their game; a post-industrial punk set that matches the grit and despair of a hopeless world. Their transition from ‘Come and See’ into ‘Nobody’s Coming to Save You’ works wonders – the natural evolution of their craft.

Next act on is Biig Piig; who takes advantage of a crowd that came here to dance and yeets herself into the pit to get stuck in. The Irish rapper with a tendency to perform in English and Spanish thrives off the chaos; having worked with artists like Lava La Rue and Metronomy she is able to really tear up the room. Her debut ’11:11’ comes in swinging – with three hits pulled from the album – a run of ‘4AM’, ‘Decimal’ and ‘Favourite Girl’ gets the runout. “Oh you could’ve hit me with the bad news first,” she sings on ‘4AM’, about the crisis of dependency; “I know you don’t wanna be alone / ‘cause no one does” catches a puncturing heart. Her voice is a full throttle track that engages as a muted, just-left the club vibe that feels a bit odd as a festival opener; but gets the crowd warmed up – and the seven year discography has really given her plenty of material to work with; influenced by trip-hop and R&B and jazz, but it’s the latter of the club ready strobing synth songs that get the run out here. Her high energy tempo is brought up the more the dance vibes come in – and ‘Switch’’s chorus comes from the heart with a distinctively powerful impression. 

The lone non-Irish holdout on the billing is South London locals Fat Dog and they come on to an England kit – appropriately nonchalant – and the crowd goes absolutely nuts within seconds. Their new album is begging for a cancellation – literally ‘Cancel Me’, is one of the title tracks – and show how much it doesn’t matter to them with ‘Go Fuck Urself’. For most bands it would run the risk of feeling a bit try hard; but not with Fat Dog. Their self-awareness really guides them here – it allows them to lean into the chaos and embrace it. The crowd is lawless, sweat-soaked and having a fantastic time, raucous and energetic with a touch of unserious charm to it that makes it instantly irresistible. They’re good dogs indeed – fitting right in with the lineup that is only The Scratch and Sprints away from being perfect (and you could argue Lankum and Lisa O’Neill too). Cult favourites like ‘King of the Slugs’ and ‘Running’ lead a barnstorming atmosphere that’s super intense and has the chaotic live performances to match; embracing the crowd with the kind of gusto and high-tempo energy that’s impossible to turn away from. The pit embraces the chaos with an adoring sense of rising to the occasion – inspiring a healthy dosage of cathartic embrace. Dance punk riotous saxophone carries the energy in the room and Chris Hughes matches the tempo of the pit. Joe Love is a firestarter; and putting Fat Dog on this billing it quickly becomes apparent is throwing a live grenade into a room and setting it off.

What follows is Mary Wallopers – and the crowd here love them; and you should too. They take aim at Elon Musk; the world’s first trillionaire; and remind the audience that it’s the rich who try to divide us but together we’re stronger. That comes through in the lyrics of ‘The Rich Man and the Poor Man’ – “the poor man died and he went up to heavenium / glory hallelujah hi rogerrum…. The rich man died and he didn’t do so wellium,” frontman Charles Hendry says, and there’s a real touch of the likes of Jinx Lennon in these tracks. Their growth from post COVID into a current force that they are today – building an audience on the back of performing on livestreams in Hendry’s home and being pulled from Victorious festival for championing a pro-Palestine flag; shows their heart is in the right place and they are able to use their voice for fighting anti-immigration politics head on. It’s very influenced by The Pogues to the point where they brought them out mid-set at Brixton Academy last year, and the crowd are in good spirits with plenty of traditional Irish dances, safe moshes and crowd-surfing to oblige. It just feels like it captures the vibe of a good time: though bawdy; is funny and lively – almost drifting into folk horror and the occult at times. An inspired; totally off the ball pairing for a folk horror day: The Mary Wallopers with British folk horror metal icons Green Lung.

Then it comes time for Kneecap. I don’t know how they do it; but they come in heavy coats and are able to pull off a gig in this heat. I haven’t seen this much police in one place in South London since the last time Kneecap headlined a festival; Wide Awake in 2025, and the crowd oblige for them here. There’s a joke about 30,000 paddies being in the belly of the beast from the host Mike Rice; who tells the crowd to take all their drugs early on long before the cops get there. It’s good natured and in good spirit; egging on the crowd – and it’s time for a touching tribute to well-known Palestinian human rights campaigner and activist Trevor Dietz, with a photo on the road with a “fuck Israel” t-shirt; Fontaines DC’s manager, who sadly passed away at 54 and was by many considered to be the band’s sixth member. His influence and relationship with many of these bands like Kneecap is befitting of a touching tribute that Mo Chara takes the time to dedicate the choice of Fontaines ‘Favourite’ to him on stage: rewarding a man who has left such a key influence on the Irish scene. Their set is powerful; emotional and rewarding – drawing with a guest appearance from spoken word vocalists for Kae Tempest to appear for the crowd on ‘Fenian’ track ‘Irish Goodbye.’ Móglaí Bap called it an ode to come to terms with the death of his mother in 2020 and the reality of what happened. 

‘Get Your Brits Out’, ‘Your Sniffer Dogs Are Shite’ and ‘Better Way to Live’ are the old favourites; and they go down wonders here, mixed in with the anarchic; unregulated crowd. It was the first awakening of the festival’s diverse music range for a security used to a bunch of 30-something millennials here to party for Two Door Cinema Club and the Vaccines; and Kneecap’s strengths really pay off. ‘Fenian’ is filled with plenty of politically charged moments – and the band take the time to speak about the importance of well; speaking about Palestine: “no bigger crime being committed, in our generation, than what’s happening in Palestine right now.” Mo Chara; who has beaten the Government on 3 separate occasions (Kneecap 3 – Government 0, they joke), after sporting the flag of Hezbollah and chanting for Hamas and Hezbollah at 02 Forum Kentish Town gig; yet would prefer not to make it a fourth – so tells the audience to throw any prescribed organisation flags to other band members. It’s a riot – and they take the time to show support for the Filton 24 and call for a stronger voice of the people: “We know what’s right / yes the Israeli lobby is strong, but we’re fucking stronger,” Chara concludes – with a chant for a Free Palestine being taken up by a crowd of adoring fans.

As far as day twos go; Crystal Palace Park just gave fans exactly what they wanted with a well-organised festival that wasn’t afraid to pull its punches with a rowdy crowd of upstarts. It never felt oversold and it never felt packed out – the perfect range of healthy crowd to space throughout the building. 

Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
Photo Credit: Ben McQuiade

Galway’s fiercest new noisemakers, Shark School, show they are a force to be reckoned with on their debut album, Selachimorpha. 

Hailing from Ireland’s west coast, the all-female garage band Shark School are taking the Irish music scene by storm. The trio are known for tackling important, often uncomfortable, topics through their music, blending garage punk, riotous indie rock and abrasive noise together to create their distinctive sound that is both chaotic and cathartic to listen to. Having steadily built a following since 2023, Shark School are finally set to release their debut album, Selachimorpha (the specific scientific name for modern sharks, for those curious). The album is loud, it’s confrontational, it’s raw and extremely honest, exploring an array of topics from gender politics to emotional collapse and inner turmoil. Shark School have come to make a statement, and with Selachimorpha, they do just that. 

Shark School immediately kick the door off its hinges, opening the album with the intense, somewhat ominous track Chondrichtyes (aquatic vertebrates with skeletons composed entirely of cartilage, i.e. sharks). With distorted, menacing guitars and vocalist Nora Staunton’s terrifying wails that become drowned out by ferocious drums, you’re immediately hooked in by the track. It’s both intriguing and terrifying at the same time, and leaves you eager to see what comes next. 

Chondrichtyes flows smoothly into the biting Shark Song. What starts as the precise pluck of the guitars quickly turns into a riot, crashing drums and jagged guitar riffs. It’s a punchy, infectious track, Staunton’s powerful vocals adding a layer of intensity, particularly as she bellows “I’m in pain / and I deserve it.” The slow bleeding out of the guitars leads straight into I’m A Sin, another gut-punch of a track. A raw intensity fuels it, as the trio bring to life struggling with one’s own identity “I know nothing / I’m a sin / never be as good as him”, and while it is an inherently heavy sounding track, the back and forth between the drums and fiery guitars continue to build the intense energy until it reaches that pivotal moment, the calm before the storm which is Staunton’s yelling “I’m A Sin” before fading out to thunderous like sound.

Selachimorpha is bubbling with tension that is just waiting to spill over, and Shark School’s Insomolence only adds further fuel to the fire. It’s 58 seconds of bone-rattling guitars, distorted noise and sizzling drums that get right under your skin, before transitioning into the roaring chaos that is Gnashing Teeth. Gnashing Teeth sees Shark School taking inspiration from Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name Of, and giving it their own unique twist. There’s a heaviness to it that sinks right into your bones and leaves you wanting more. 

And more is what you get with the biting, powerhouse track Don’t Trust A Man, with its jagged guitars and pounding rhythms; it oozes with raw emotions: “Never trust a man / who can’t control his hands.” The band itself says that the track is “lamenting the desperation for women to comfortably just be; to just exist free of the burden and disappointment of living within a gendered social hierarchy.” It’s followed by striking track 5 AM, which has all of the noise and abrasiveness that Shark School do so well, but still carries an air of vulnerability, “the thought of him / leaves me clawing my neck.” Focusing heavily on assault and the trauma that comes with it, the Galway trio take an inherently heavy subject matter and, through tense, pulsing drums and bleeding guitars, create something cathartic and chaotic; all of their grief and rage pour out of this track. Shark School closes Selachimorpha with When I See Her, which feels like all of the tension that had been building throughout the album is finally released. It is every bit as infectious as the rest of the album, with the guttural vocals, relentless drums and pulsing guitars, and the spoken word-like addition at the end feels like the perfect way to close out the album, a subtle signing off from the band. 

Shark School came to make a lasting impression, and with Selachimorpha, they do just that. It’s abrasive, it’s chaotic, it’s an exhilarating listen from start to finish, one that hooks you from the very beginning, and by the end leaves you wondering how long you should wait until you hit repeat. 

Words by Angela English

Two Canadian titans of Alexisonfire and Billy Talent descend on Wembley Arena to celebrate their iconic albums on what was the hottest June day on record.

Wembley’s slow crawl towards capacity was perhaps unsurprising given both the heat and widespread travel disruption, but that only made Touché Amoré’s opening set feel strangely intimate, given the size. It gave the impression of something clandestine, of breaking some unspoken rule, like the crowd had snuck into the band’s soundcheck. Every cathartic, melodically post-hardcore minute of the band buffeted the crowd, Jeremy Bolm a man shouting into a screaming gale, and somehow feeling even more impactful given the still-filling room.

“‘Thanks for letting us yell at you for thirty minutes,’” Jeremy Bolm laughed midway through the set, though judging by the growing number of fans screaming every word back at him, it felt very much like a two-way exchange. With a set branching from 2011’s ‘~’ all the way to ‘Nobody’s’ and ‘Hal Ashby’ from 2024’s ‘Spiral In A Straight Line’, it was a beautiful microcosm of the Los Angeles outfit’s journey — but, more importantly, the set drew heavily from ‘Stage Four’, their beloved album that’s currently celebrating ten years with an anniversary tour, including a stop at Manchester’s Outbreak along with Alexisonfire. Adding on the frantic standout ‘Reminders’ from ‘Lament’, dedicated to anyone there who’d join in and scream along, led to a crowd pumping their fists, venting frustrations, and generally loving life. Bright, emotional and over far too quickly, it was the ideal start to the night. 

2006 was evidently an important year in music, particularly in Canadian music. Two iconic albums were released — within two months of each other — that undisputedly, indelibly, marked their respective genres for good. Fast forward to two decades later, 2026, and OVO Wembley Arena was lucky enough to play host to both of them. 

Prior to this tour, some of the songs from ‘II’ hadn’t been played for a combined 84 years, with the infectiously upbeat-sounding ‘Where Is The Line?’ having been culled from the setlist back in 2007 according to setlist.fm. So, as a giant clock ticked backwards from 2026 to 2006 and the iconic album artwork illuminated Wembley Arena, a palpable sense of giddy, joyous excitement pervaded the room like a mirage. Billy Talent had arrived. 

The only possible complaint was that the songs seemed to fly by, grains of sand slipping past as the crowd screamed along. ‘Devil in a Midnight Mass’, ‘Red Flag’, ‘This Suffering’ and ‘Fallen Leaves’… all passed in a haze of shrieks, screams, shouts, and the combined efforts of an ever-explosive Benjamin Kowalewicz and a devoted, sweat-soaked crowd that happily sang along to every moment, all while Ian D’Sa’s instantly recognisable riffs (and gloriously distinct, gravity-defying, villain-in-a-video-game-esque quiff) drew deafening reactions from every corner of the arena. 

You can’t disregard the visual element either. ‘Worker Bees’ felt like something out of a Pink Floyd music video, legions of soldier bees marching before a dystopian landscape, a poster of a dictator Queen watching on triumphantly; ‘Pins and Needles’ felt like the band were marionettes dancing to the whims of some sinister puppet master; a watery landscape flashing red during the discordantly jaunty ‘The Navy Song’; satanic stalactites glowing a satantic, hellish, sanguine red during the post-album encore of ‘Devil On My Shoulder’. Combined with archival footage of the group’s history, seeing a younger Billy Talent simultaneously play their hearts out, and it added to the celebratory beauty of the set. 

“The theme of tonight is gratitude,” Kowalewicz beamed at one point. “For four guys from Ontario that started a band back in ’93, to ever in our wildest fucking dreams come play Wembley with our dear friends Alexisonfire.”

The feeling was mutual. Wembley screamed every word of ‘Fallen Leaves’, Kowalewicz himself unable to stop grinning as every word was shouted back at the stage, while ‘Covered in Cowardice’ in particular saw security drag the crowd’s waterlogged, sweaty bodies over the barrier in their attempt to get just one step closer to the legends; a string of other fan favourites, ending on the incendiary ‘Viking Death March’, brought the set to a close, though not before a quick, tongue-in-cheek and heavily booed dedication of ‘Rusted From The Rain’ to Canada’s prophetic victory over England at the World Cup. An incredible set, and only half of the headliners!

As fantastic as the set was, Billy Talent’s stage presence fell on Benjamin Kowalewicz’s seemingly omnipresent shoulders — sure, they didn’t need to do much, the anthemic music and iconic riffs comfortably speaking for themselves — but it was still the case.

That’s not the same with Alexisonfire. It never is, really. Between the three vocalists in Dallas Green, Wade MacNeil and George Pettit, each with their own strengths and styles, and the captivatingly, absurdly unhinged Chris Steele on bass — genuinely, you could happily put the gig on mute and simply watch him — any Alexisonfire gig feels like pure, unbridled, beautiful chaos. The only one who doesn’t move really is Jordan Hastings, but he’s pretty stuck given he’s the drummer. 

Like with Billy Talent, the setlist was mostly set in stone. ‘Crisis’ in full means ‘Crisis’ in full — from the first second of opener ‘Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints’, Dallas and Chris having a guitar-off as George wrenched some screams from his throat, leaping around the stage to get his cardio in, you knew roughly what to expect. ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World’, Dallas somehow sounding even more silky smooth than ever, into the ever acerbic ‘Mailbox Arson’; ‘Boiled Frogs’, Wade’s rough voice interplaying with Dallas and George, layer upon layer. ‘We Are The Sound’, the mosh pit going ballistic; ‘You Burn First’, the sinister bassline pervading the room under Wade’s smoky, husky, vitriolic vocals, Chris, down on his knees, spitting at his incensed, adoring fans. Just a shame there wasn’t a blood packet to bite down on and really go for the ‘unleashed maniac’ look.

“What a beautiful fucking evening,” Wade laughed as the title track arrived, crowd going apeshit as they roared along. “To celebrate an album about a snowstorm during a fucking heatwave.”

Elsewhere, the catchy ‘Keep It On Wax’ — somehow not played since 2012, an accolade shared by the sadly poignant ‘We Are The End’ — warred with the Dallas-led, emotional stunner of ‘To A Friend’ before the foreboding, inevitable, and distinctly cinematic sounding ‘Rough Hands’, feeling despondent and defiant at the same time, called an end to the album’s well-deserved commemoration. ‘II’ is a brilliant album, but ‘Crisis’ is phenomenal, and the fact that the set did it justice was just as good.

The post-album tracks, though, were the real surprise of the night. The piercing guitar intro that signalled ‘Pulmonary Archery’ was relatively normal, if not as expected as others might have been. But a live debut of ‘Thrones’, a B-side from ‘Crisis’ first released twenty years ago? A track that, even if a good portion of the crowd might not have recognised it, has never been played before? Just casually dropped in the set? Talk about celebrating the album. 

A final ‘Happiness by the Kilowatt’, Hastings battering the last life out of his kit and Pettit a wild-eyed demon from the streaks of sweat-and-water drenched hair clinging to his face, marked the end of a night celebrating two of the best bands to have ever done it. ‘The only band ever*’ has never felt truer — except with a little asterisk of Billy Talent and Touché Amoré too. 

Words by James O’Sullivan
Photography by Connor Mason

Dance, sun, and euphoria: Parklife 2026 had it all!

Parklife 2026 arrived with England’s impending World Cup victory on the horizon (let me dream) and a country that felt ready to exhale. I made the journey up from Devon with rain following me out of the South West, but by the time Manchester came into view the sun had started to break through, and the city was already buzzing. Trams were rammed, the streets a peculiar mix of Parklife revellers and Take That fans, and there was something electric in the air before a single beat had dropped. Two days, countless sets, and no idea yet just how good it was going to get.

Saturday

4AM Kru at The Valley, the festival’s main stage, were the first major performance of the weekend. What looked like a party on stage was juxtaposed with a female vocalist providing a brilliant contrast to the heavier energy around her. FOMO felt inherent from just watching the dancing on stage; relentless from the off and setting the benchmark for the rest of the weekend. Special mention to the drummer, who was a standout throughout. Over at the Budweiser Magic Sky stage, Manchester superstars collided as Aitch popped up to join Bou on stage for their hit ‘Raving in the Studio’, one of those only-at-Parklife moments that the festival does better than anyone.

Meanwhile, the brand new Panorama Stage, complete with a hundred foot LED screen, was already announcing itself as the weekend’s standout production achievement, with SOSA, Rossi. and Clooneeamong those heralding its arrival in style. SOSA especially set the tone early, drawing a massive crowd to the new stage, with fans having their own dedicated section on stage and the energy utterly ubiquitous.

Nia Archives at The Valley was the set of the day, and if I am being honest, probably the weekend. She premiered a new track featuring Sampha that I suspect is going to be one of my favourite songs ever once I have had time to sit with it properly. ‘Sober Feels’, ‘Cards on the Table’, ‘Obsession’ and ‘24/7’ all went off exactly as you would expect, but it was the new material that really hit. ‘There Goes My Head’ had drums that reverberated through my chest, and the ‘Silence is Loud’ reprise into the Silence is Loud intro? Completely captivating. The best performance of the festival. Easy.

Skepta brought a completely different energy, as we momentarily shifted from dance to grime, and the crowd met him every step of the way. He donned a ski mask and stretched hoodie combo as ‘Bullet From a Gun’ set the tone immediately, the visuals were stunning throughout, and ‘Praise Da Lord’ went exactly as hard as expected. Some songs are made to soundtrack summer and that will always be one of them. ‘It Ain’t Safe’ and ‘Victory Lap’ also landed. A true British icon doing what he does best.

The sun started to set as the final two acts of the day took their respective stages. Mall Grab kept the Matinee momentum going with a relentless, hard-hitting set. The drums were insane throughout, and with the sun still just about shining it felt like a proper festival moment. He finished as strong as he started, no let up whatsoever. Sammy Virji closed The Valley and it was the perfect wind down to cap off an extraordinary first day. Having reviewed him at Leeds 2025 it was interesting to see how the show had evolved across what has been a remarkable twelve months for him. ‘I Need to Find My Way Home’ hit differently up here, as I resonated with the song more due to being a long way from Devon. ‘Talk of the Town’ absolutely went off, Unknown T came out and then Skepta re-emerged for ‘Cops N Robbers’ as fireworks lit up the sky. Glorious.

Sunday

If Saturday set the bar, Sunday cleared it with room to spare. A warm, sunny afternoon greeted a crowd that had not lost a single ounce of energy overnight, myself included. Trams were bouncing again, vibes were strong walking through the arena, and every stage was already popping off before the evening had even begun.

A BBYCLOSE set at the Smirnoff stage provided the ideal warm up, with perfect transitions and an already hot crowd getting even hotter. The kind of set that reminds you the unexpected slots are sometimes the ones that stick with you longest. Dubtendo followed up at the Smirnoff stage and were the most feel good act of the entire weekend. Their set littered with Mario Kart and Nintendo references, matching attire throughout, and an energy that made the whole thing feel like a joyful fever dream. Impossible not to smile. Princess Peach even made an appearance too!

AntanDecks, aka Niko B, at the Bossman stage was my personal highlight of Sunday. Prefaced by Niko warning the crowd it would be both the best and worst DJ set they had ever seen, he held absolutely true to that promise. Remixes ranging from Kate Bush to the EastEnders theme, meme references flying, and an insanely intimate crowd that made it feel like a moment rather than just a set. I would pay a significant amount to relive it.

Zara Larsson brought colour and spectacle to the main stage, a vivid, high-energy pop spectacular that had Heaton Park singing along to ‘Midnight Sun’, ‘Can’t Tame Her’ and her PinkPantheresscollaboration ‘Stateside’. The highlight came when she brought an audience member on stage to duet on ‘Lush Life’, a warm, generous Parklife moment that summed up the spirit of the whole weekend.

Kettama on the Panorama stage was arguably the most impressive DJ set of the weekend. His high-energy blend of house and techno was relentlessly driven, with ‘Comes and Goes’ and ‘Yosemite’ standing out as personal highlights. The sunset backdrop only added to it, the house elements keeping everybody in a good mood as the sky changed colour around us.

Then came Calvin Harris. Fireworks to kick things off, one of the biggest crowds in Parklife history, and from the very first beat the energy was on another level entirely. ‘Feel So Close’, ‘One Kiss’, ‘We Found Love’, ‘Sweet Nothing’: banger after banger, each one landing harder than the last. The extended mixes gave every song room to breathe and the crowd room to go absolutely berserk. A heartfelt nod to Avicii with ‘Levels’ closed the set with genuine emotion and even more fireworks, a perfect final note to an extraordinary weekend.

Parklife 2026: A Verdict

As I spilled out of Heaton Park with chants of “it’s coming home” ringing in my ears, it felt like the only appropriate soundtrack. Parklife 2026 was a weekend ruled by rhythm, and the wide array of stages, headlined by that stunning new Panorama centrepiece, meant it never once felt repetitive or overwhelming. Between the transcendence of Nia Archives, the spectacle of Calvin Harris, the perfectly pitched close of Sammy Virji, and the sheer joyful chaos of AntanDecks, this was a festival that delivered at every turn. The long journey back to Devon awaited, but for once I did not mind. Some weekends are worth every mile.

Words by Alex Peters
Photography by James Kirkland