Oasis reformed for their first gig in 16 years at Cardiff. Ozzy Osbourne bid farewell with Black Sabbath and a star-studded programme of metal in Birmingham. But Summer Festival Guide chose to spend the weekend at the beautiful Oak Stage in Hyde Park to watch the one of the most exciting talents in the world today – princess of pop – Sabrina Carpenter.
Having previously supported South Korean girl group BlackPink at BST Hyde Park, Sabrina has truly earned her place to headline two epic nights at London’s ultimate outdoor venue. She sold out two nights to her loving 65,000 fans, many adorned with her trademark ‘kiss’ lipstick.
Sabrina showed her love of her support artists during her set, including one of her dearest friends, Amber Mark. It’s always encouraging to see such a strong line-up of female artists and both days over the weekend did not disappoint.
Following Amber Mark on the impressive Oak Stage was Beebadoobee. Dressed in an over-fitted pink sweater with SEX emblazoned on the front, the young lady demonstrated why she’s supported the likes of Taylor Swift and The 1975 on their impressive shows. Mixing songs from her first three albums, including her number one album ‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’, she certainly wasn’t starstruck and deserved her place at the prestigious event.
Elsewhere, Summer Festival Guide’s favourites The Cuban Brothers delighted fans in-between sets over at the garage, with fans of all ages singing ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ – with singer Miguelito toning down his language slightly due to the younger fans in the audience.
Clairo followed, for her debut Hyde Park performance, and we’re sure this isn’t the last we see of her. Wearing her trademark pair of headphones throughout her terrific performance and enjoying a large glass of wine in between songs, Clairo delighted fans with her songs including Glasses, Softly and Flaming Hot. It’s no wonder she was nominated for a prestigious grammy award with such impressive style.
Credit: Jordan Hughes / Alfredo Flores
Onto the main event everyone had travelled far-and-wide to see. Sabrina Carpenter.
Mimicking a 50s news broadcast in the style of Wanda-Vision (Sabrina-Vision if you like), the Hollywood Disney pop princess emerged onstage behind a brilliant white ‘SC’.
She was at her cheeky best during the greatest hit setlist, wearing a glittering red leotard and mixing winks with her impressive 12-strong dance posse. Some of the songs were a little risky, but that’s what her fans have come to see and love.
Prior to launching into her new song ‘Bed Chem‘ where she romped with two of her dancers, a prominent ‘Parental Discretion‘ was displayed, but many of her fans have probably seen worse on display than here. At the end, her two male dancers embraced in a kiss with themselves rather than our star, much to cheers from the crowd.
Hey, it was Pride day in London after all and we are now mid-way through the 2020s!
Credit: Jordan Hughes / Alfredo Flores
Although there were no special guests, as have adorned the other star-studded line up at Hyde Park this year, Sabrina was the star of the show and the crowd couldn’t have wanted more.
Taking to a cherry-picker crane for her penultimate song ‘Don’t Smile’, she looked visibly moved by the huge crowd who had filled central London to see her. “Damn nobody showed up,” she exclaimed with visible tears of joy in her eyes, while blowing kisses to her adoring fans.
There was only one song she could finish with.
With over one billion (yes not a typo, one billion) streams on YouTube, she finished with her delectable mega-hit ‘Espresso.’ She proclaimed ‘the louder you scream, the more I drink’ – its improbable she could have drunk enough to keep up with all the delighted screams coming her way.
As if we didn’t know, she finished proclaimed ‘My name’s Sabrina. Thanks for coming.’
If anyone in the crowd didn’t know her name at the start, they certainly did by the end of her incredible show. Please, Please, Please, can you come back one day.
The Isle of Wight festival is one of the UK’s largest, oldest, and without a doubt, most prestigious events.
Under John Giddings expert leadership, the festival has gone from strength-to-strength. It is always tough to follow in the footsteps of previous events, especially when it’s seen legendary performances from rock royalty including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan or even The Who grace the island – but each year the festival gets bigger and better.
2025 is no exception and it can easily be said that this year, it has attracted a true superstar. Whereas the mighty Glastonbury opens this weekend and is attracting artists who have played the IOW festival in previous years, such as the Prodigy, the island attracted exclusive headliners who can rival performances from the glory days – including the self titled Prince of Pop – Justin Timberlake.
Justin even said himself on stage “I’ve been trying to get to Isle Of Wight for years and years and years and it’s everything I thought it was”‘.
Thursday was previously a day to set up tents, but now it’s a full-on four day festival, offering a diverse mix of 80s and 90s nostalgia, singalong indie and award-winning rap.
The festival began in the warm Big Top with The Smiths tribute band The Smyths – they are arguably more enjoyable to watch than Morrissey these days due to his questionable ramblings, so a tribute band is preferable. Their set included all the classic 80s tunes including ‘Ask‘, ‘Panic‘, ‘This Charming Man‘, and finishing with ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out‘, with the darkly-comic lyrics
“...if a double-decker bus, crashes into us To die by your side, Is such a heavenly way to die…“
If only Morrissey would still play these timeless classic songs himself.
The party really started afterwards with Rhythm Of The 90s playing classic dance-anthem after dance-anthem and getting the crowd singing and swaying in the sweltering heat of the Big Top. Charming indie-rock from The Pigeon Detectives followed with an energetic set, before Thursday night headliner Example lept on to the stage with his heartfelt hits, including ‘Kickstarts‘ and ‘Change The Way You Kiss Me.‘ What a great opening evening, with so much more to come.
Friday began on the main stage with The Lottery Winners – one of Summer Festival Guide’s favourite festival highlights – singer Thom Rylance always entertains and makes the crowd laugh with warm stories and good humour between songs.
With both the main stage and Big Top in full flow on Friday (as well as a handful of other stages across the huge festival site), it’s impossible to see everything on offer. The Corrs family returned after a few years absence with their charming singalong moments including the classic ‘Breathless.’ It’s great to have them back and impossible not to enjoy them on a beautiful day.
Sting followed and displayed what an impressive musician and songwriter he is. Mixing his solo material with classics from The Police, including Message In A Bottle, Roxanne, Englishman In New York, and of course, Every Breath You Take. He is currently embarking on a world tour entitled Sting 3.0, and this new revival as a tight three-piece was electric.
It would seem impossible to follow Sting and many festivals across the UK would draw to a close after such a performance, but Faithless brought more glamour to the main stage. Sister Bliss performed with their full live band and impressive light show, concluding of course with the impressive Insomnia – how anyone could get to sleep after all that is a mystery.
After a strong Friday, things stepped up even further on Saturday.
Eurovision entry Mae Muller began proceedings on the main stage, playing her new song Hello Kitty for the first time. It was good to have her back on stage.
Irish charmers The Saw Doctors jigged with endless charisma and are a must-see for anyone who loves good old fashioned folk and beaming smiles – there was zero pretensions in their performance. It truly shows how eclectic the mix at the festival is that it can seamlessly mix pop classics, with these timeless singalongs from County Galway.
Razorlight followed and it was impressive quite how many well known songs Johnny Borrell has written. Arriving on the indie music scene at the same time as The Killers in the early 2000s, it’s amazing these guys aren’t bigger, with fan favourites including America, Golden Touch, In The Morning, and Somewhere Else.
Busted followed on from McFly’s great performance at the festival last year in 2024 with a high energy leaping performance, refusing to grow older gracefully with their teen angst anthem Year 3000, Air Hostess and What I Go To School For (oddly for 40 something Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis to be singing, but when it’s this entertaining, who cares…)
Over in the Big Top, Pale Waves dazzled a huge overflowing tent with their indie-pop and impressive goth imagery before English Teacher demonstrated why they confidently won the Mercury Music Prize for their debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’. Definitely ones to watch and surely they’ll be gracing the main stage in the coming years.
Paul Heaton played an incredible collection of songs from his solo work, as well as many of his tunes from The Housemartins (Happy Hour, Caravan of Love) and The Beautiful South (Rotterdam, A Little Time, Song For Whoever.) With his tour billed as Heatongrad, he’s lost none of his fight for the working man and good causes.
The Script drew one of the biggest crowds of the weekend, having played the festival four times previously according to singer Danny O’Donoghue. The band confessed they did not understand their mass appeal, but upon concluding with their huge hit ‘Hall of Fame‘, it was clear many of the audience had bought their tickets purely on the basis of this band, with both male and female sexes singing every word back to the band. A truly magical moment.
It’s hard to believe after all that on Saturday that there were still two legendary bands to come (well even more if you’re a faster walker than the author…)
Legendary Welsh rockers Stereophonics returned to the Isle of Wight festival stage with a stomping version of ‘Vegas Two Times‘. before playing a greatest hits setlist, finishing with masses of ticker-tape and their song ‘Dakota’ with the beautiful line ‘You made me feel like the one‘, emblazoned on many t-shirts throughout the festival site.
Supergrass concluded the evening in style over in the Big Top, playing their classic album ‘I Should Coco‘ in full, before launching into many of their other greatest hits. It’s 30 years ago since this reviewer saw them at Glastonbury in 1995, and although both the band and the writer have grown older, the songs immediately transport back to the Britpop glory days. Hey, Gaz Coombes must have a picture of Dorian Gray in his loft as he still sounds the same, even when booming out “We Are Young…and feel Alright“
Sunday began a little jaded but with possibly the most impressive back-to-back day of music the festival has seen in many years. There was truly something on offer for everyone.
Bjorn Again began with the most impressive Abba tribute act, before Ella Eyre impressively flicked her incredible locks of hair around the newly erected runway platform with such an energetic performance. Despite confessing on her own Instagram posts that she felt so nervous before taking to the stage to a festival crowd for the first time in almost 10 years she didn’t let it break her and was a pure joy to watch.
Also making great use of the expanded stage on Sunday was Olly Murs. He’s come such a long way from his X-Factor trials, and gave the crowd some impressive moves and singalong pop tunes. With millions of views of his hits on YouTube, it could be argued he was even more impressive than his Soccer Aid friend Robbie Williams who headlined this huge festival in 2023. He’s a natural born performer and entertainer.
Texas followed and singer Sharleen Spiteri was a true professional. Joking that she was delayed getting to her dressing room as she had to wait for Olly Murs entourage to clear backstage, she clearly showed her years of experience, and Scottish charm. Dressed all in black with a beautiful lime green guitar, she played songs from her extensive catalogue including ‘Halo‘ and ‘Say What You Want‘ – we really did adore her.
In the Big Top, another Eurovision band Remember Monday graced the line-up. Although newcomers to this writers ears, it’s clear the band’s all female lineup had plenty of experience of performing, including appearances in the west end in Matilda, Mary Poppins and even Les Miserables. Of course they couldn’t leave without performing their biggest hit ‘What The Hell Just Happened‘.
What an impressive lineup. The artists listed above would be sufficient and surpass the bill of most events in the UK, even the mighty Glastonbury this weekend.
But the biggest name to grace the festival was still to arrive on stage.
Justin Timberlake. The prince of pop is a born entertainer and he did not disappoint. Prowling every inch of the stage from the left/right hand side, down the runway/walkway, and even leaving the stage to greet his adoring fans, he didn’t leave a single inch of the arena untouched.
It was clear what separates Justin from the average performer, and his band, The Tennessee Kids were equally sublime. Every move, every beat and each and every note was choreographed and executed down to the wire.
The hits flowed, with ‘Cry Me a River’, ‘Rock Your Body’, ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’ and ‘SexyBack‘ amassing over a billion (yes one billion) views on YouTube alone.
The only tough part of the set was that Summer Festival Guide favourites James were billed at pretty much the same time within the Big Top. I guess that meant that the crowd for Justin wasn’t as diverse as it could have been, but meant there was something for everyone, particularly those who wanted to ‘Sit Down‘ after such a busy weekend at the festival.
Justin said himself “You made a Tennessee boy’s dreams come true”. He’s not the only one who loved it.
All in all, this is the best Isle of Wight festival that Summer Festival Guide have attended. The artists, the music, the ambience, the weather, but most importantly the crowd all appeared to be having the time of their lives.
Roll on 2026. Next year Glastonbury is taking a year off, so hopefully it’ll be clear to more people what the best festival in the UK now is…and it’s not on the mainland.
Early bird tickets for 2026 have already gone on sale and are available at:
The support acts for headliner Stevie Wonder’s concert at BST Hyde Park on 12 July have been announced and they are not to be missed. Many could be headlining themselves in the near future.
Announced are Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective, along with Thee Sacred Souls, Elmiene and the sublime Corinne Bailey Rae.
The legendary Stevie Wonder will appear as partof theLOVE, LIGHT & SONG UK 2025 performances, having twice previously wowed Hyde Park audiences. Stevie Wonder is one of the most celebrated and prominent figures in popular music who, at the age of 12, was the youngest recording artist to have achieved a #1 single with “Fingertips Part 2”, and subsequently the first to simultaneously reach #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, R&B Singles and Album Charts.
To date he has amassed 49 Top Forty singles, 32 #1 singles and worldwide sales of over 100 million units. Stevie has won 25 Grammy Awards, the prestigious Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. Stevie’s iconic album, Songs In The Key of Life, is archived in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, for its cultural, historic and aesthetic significance.
Ezra Collective became the first UK Jazz band to win a BRIT Award (‘Group of the Year’), having been nominated for four awards
Dance, No One’s Watching – Ezra Collective’s 2024 album – is an ode to the sacred, yet joyous act of dancing, an album that musically guides you through a night out in the city, from the opening of possibilities as a new evening spans out ahead, to dawn’s final hours as the night comes to a close. Written during a blistering 2023 which saw Ezra Collective tour the world, and become the first jazz act to win the Mercury Prize, Dance, No One’s Watching is a documentation of the many dance floors they encountered. From London to Chicago, Lagos to Australia, dance and rhythm connect us. The songs are a testament to that spirit.
TIn February, Ezra Collective released their track ‘Body Language’ with Sasha Keable. Bandleader Femi Koleoso said: “The language of the body is dancing and this song is a celebration of this.”
Thee Sacred Souls returned last year with Got A Story To Tell, the highly anticipated follow-up to their breakout 2022 self-titled debut. The US soul group has attracted 9 million monthly listeners and celebrity fans like SZA, Alicia Keys, and Kylie Jenner – and an NPR Tiny Desk performance won over thousands of fans online. Described by Uncut as a “San Diego trio crafting classic soul with a defiant lyrical edge”, Thee Sacred Souls released new single ‘We Don’t Have To Be Alone’ last month – with CLASH describing it as “a moment of soulful grace”.
Oxford-raised singer Elmiene made the Brits Rising Star list and was picked out by none other than Elton John as “one of Britain’s great new artists”. His songs have a freeform sound, touching on R&B, soul and classical music. In December the Guardian wrote that the new EP For the Deported speaks to the current humanitarian crisis in Sudan, “distilling the singer’s hopes, anxieties and fears into song without blunting the reality of the stories at its core”.
R&B singer Corinne Bailey Rae made a remarkable comeback in 2023 with what the Guardian described as an “extraordinary new sound”, writing “Rock, jazz, Afrofuturism… the British singer-songwriter is transformed on this record inspired by Chicago’s archive of Black art”. Black Rainbows was the songwriter’s first album in seven years and picked up a Mercury Prize nomination and rave reviews in the likes of Uncut, Mojo and Record Collector. NME wrote that the album “swings from crunching glam-punk to skronking experimental jazz”, adding: “There are left turns, and then there’s this.”.
Stevie Wonder joins previously announced headliners for 2025; Olivia Rodrigo (27 June), Zach Bryan (28 & 29 June), Noah Kahan (4 July), Sabrina Carpenter (5 & 6 July) and Jeff Lynne’s ELO (13 July). Expect more incredible announcements soon, for the 2025 edition of the UK’s most anticipated summer event.
Read our previous reviews of P!NK, Andrea Bocelli and Robbie Williams below:
The biggest festival on the South coast (and arguably the best) returned to the stunning seaside location of Southsea this weekend.
Victorious Festival welcomed 80,000 people over the bank holiday weekend, with something for everyone.
Whether it was headline performances from the likes of superstar DJ Fatboy Slim, indie royalty Pixies or Scottish rock legends Biffy Clyro, or laughs in the comedy tent from performers such as Al Murray, Frankie Boyle and Russell Howard, this was an incredible weekend.
The beauty of Victorious Festival is that each day, they open up proceedings with a huge artist, designed to bring the large crowds into the festival gates early.
This year was no exception with Razorlight opening on Friday lunchtime – frontman Johnny Borrell wasted no time blasting through their biggest hits – “Golden Touch”, “Somewhere Else”, “In The Morning” and the number-one anthem “America”.
Keeping the pace going early-on and drawing one of the biggest crowds of the weekend was former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson. This was his first UK festival performance and he certainly didn’t disappoint – the crowd went wild for every tune, whether it was his own solo material, or the 1D classics such as ‘Drag Me Down.’
Bristol’s finest post-punk IDLES followed with an interesting change of pace and total change of genre from Louis – frontman Joe Talbot celebrated his birthday the same day, not that you could tell from the rage and anger as he spat his anti-fascist mantras across the stage. Creating arguable the largest mosh-pit of the weekend, here’s hoping the Louis Tomlinson fans escaped before the carnage and dust flew.
With possibly the ultimate crowd sing-along tunes, Snow Patrol were up next. To the delight of fans, they played their anthem ‘Chasing Cars’ with the huge audience all singing
‘If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?’
Quite a special, moving goose-bump moment!
As usual, at such a large festival as this, there was a clash of sensational headliners. The original funk-soul brother Fatboy Slim dazzled crowds at the main Common Stage with his rockafeller skank, fireworks, confetti canons and light show, while pop-royalty Jess Glynne returned with a stunning show on the Castle Stage, concluding with her huge hits ‘Rather Be’ and ‘Hold My Hand’ – in her own words, there’s no place I’d rather be!
The dreaded UK rain returned Saturday morning, but it did not dampen spirits. Again, the day began with not one but two huge artists.
Tom Walker demonstrated his incredible voice on the Castle Stage, while the Common Stage welcomed a surprise special guest. Last year, McFly delighted fans with their antics, while this year, their supergroup friends Busted took the heralded spot.
Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, professionally known as CMAT came to Portsmouth for the first time and delighted crowds with her Irish charm shortly afterwards, encouraging all the crowds to line-dance before she played her song ‘I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby’ and dedicating her Brit nominated hit ‘Ah Shoot’ to her love of wine! She’s a must-see if you get the chance.
Fresh from supporting Taylor Swift on her legendary ERAs tour, Holly Humberstone followed, before The Lathums, Courteeners and The Amazons all brought their indie music to Victorious.
There’s not many bands which wear the crown as one of David Bowie’s favourites, but the influential Pixies topped the bill on the Castle Stage. Singer Frank Black (or Black Francis if you prefer) still has an incredible voice despite shouting and screaming his way through their impressive back catalogue – fortunately there weren’t too many new songs and they stuck to the classics.
The final day again began with an impressive band who could have easily headlined many lesser events – The Kooks, before Natasha Bedingfield delighted fans with her hits ‘Unwritten‘ and ‘These Words‘.
Northern scallies Yard Act, gave echoes of LCD Soundsystem mixed with Jarvis Cocker – very entertaining, although their set was a little short as singer James Smith advised they had to be back home in Leeds by midnight to be tucked up in bed…
Up next was James Bay who not only had to Hold Back The River, but also hold onto his hat in the strong south-coast winds.
A couple of years ago, Becky Hill was booked to play the smaller Castle Stage, and the crowd size was so large, many people had to be turned away. This year she was back, better than ever on the main Common Stage.
Dressed in an improperly tight mini-dress, Becky focused her set mainly on her new album with its drum’n’bass focus, before concluding with her crowd pleasers ‘Wish You Well’ and ‘Remember’ In her own words, Becky summed up the evening well by saying ‘Massive thank you to the festival organisers for asking me to come back and putting me on this big old stage! You are all amazing!’
Concluding the weekend were two heavyweights.- the mighty Biffy Clyro rocked the Common Stage, with impressive booming anthems, while the new sensation which is Isle of Wight’s finest Wet Leg delighted fans on the Castle Stage. Possibly playing their singalong ‘Chaise Longue’ for the final time, it was a fitting end to their world wind tour – hopefully we can expect a new album if their current roster are to be retired.
James Ralls, Festival Director summed up the weekend well by saying: “It’s been another unforgettable year on the seafront. From huge cruise ships and the return of the Seaside Stage plus incredible headline sets from Fatboy Slim, Jamie T and Biffy Clyro we’ve had it all and it’s great to see so many people enjoying live music, family entertainment and comedy whilst making memories to last a lifetime! We’re sad it’s ended but we’re already excited to welcome everyone back in 2025 for another memorable weekend.”
Tickets are now available at: https://www.victoriousfestival.co.uk
Curated by Gilles Peterson, We Out Here festival is a kaleidoscope with truly something for everyone.
Embracing so many genres, cultures and arts, We Out Here is a beautiful melting pot of a festival with no boundaries.
It’s impossible to paint all the colourful experiences this event offers, but it’s easy to see why it’s won many awards in its short lifespan. We Out Here is certainly the highlight of our festival calendar this year.
The festival makes great use of its beautiful woodland surroundings in Dorset. You could avoid the main stages all weekend and chose to partake in so many activities ~ possibly go for a wild dip in the rivers; walk through the Dorset countryside; try paddle-boarding or relax in the Sanctuary and partake in yoga-sessions; art therapy; or chill-out at gong-baths. There’s even a free roller-skating rink for those willing, DJ’d at times by Mr Peterson himself – just steer clear of the cider tents before zipping up those boots!
With over 100 artists across the weekend, there is something for all lovers of good music, whether it’s laid back jazz, soul, electronic, hip-hop or even flute playing by Andre 3000 – more on that later.
There is a magic walking around the festival, with so many different sounds emanating from the stages – the appropriately named Lush Life offers the likes of the legendary Loose Ends (the first British R&B band to have a No.1 gold album in the US), while Rhythm Corner is a mix of hay-bales and superstar DJ’s including Laurent Garnier and Zero 7 bringing the large crowds and deep-beats. The crowd favourite area The Bowl returned with the likes of Mr Scruff and Hacienda legend DJ Paulette.
We were blown away by some of the performances and it’s such a joy to discover some of our new favourite artists this weekend. We’ll certainly be out there shopping in the local,and not so local, online stores for those hidden vinyl gems. The beauty of having a renowned DJ such as Gilles Peterson with his 40-year career curate the lineup is that you know there will be incredible discoveries.
Personally, and maybe ashamedly, I’d never listened to Dee Dee Bridgewater prior to heading to the festival – but now she is on heavy rotation on the AirPods and soon the turntable. Her mix of disco, jazz and soul along with her infectious smile made it clear there’s nowhere else anyone would want to be.
Elsewhere on the main stage, other discoveries included Ebo Taylor and the Family Band. Celebrating over five decades in the industry, they had more funk in their little fingers than Mark Ronson could handle.
On Friday, Sampha was a pure delight with a soulful performance, including a solo intimate performance of his hit ‘No One Know Me Like The Piano’, sending goosebumps on goosebumps throughout the warm crowd. Possibly one of the most underrated artists we have – hopefully he will get more recognition after this.
Talking of powerful performances, we have to dedicate some space to call out Kae Tempest and his emotional performance. Coming on stage clearly appreciative of the love from the crowd, Kae delivered one of the most moving powerful shows we’ve ever seen.
It truly appeared that Kae has found an inner happiness, and this was defined in his lyrics that he is no longer going around in circles following a change in pronouns. Finishing with the hopeful poem ‘Peoples Faces’, I’m not ashamed to say I wasn’t the only one who shed a few tears of joy after following him throughout his career.
Thank you Kae for speaking out with such honesty, authority and sincerity in front of the crowd – you deservedly won so many new fans today.
We’ve barely scratched the surface of all the music on offer – you could comfortably see 17 different acts each day. There was so much more it would be impossible to cover all the festival had to offer.
Corinne Bailey Rae demonstrated her mature song writing, bringing her album Black Rainbows to life on the main stage, before delivering an astute conversation for over an hour in the appropriately named Talk Tent.
As previously mentioned, Andre 3000, one half of hip-hop legends Outkast, played a collection of flutes alongside his backing band, reproducing much of his album ‘New Blue Sun‘ – many other festivals have had Andre 3000 headlining and it shows the strength of this event that he played early on the sunny Sunday afternoon. Essential powerful poet Aja Monet also played the main stage on Sunday and she is a must-see if you get the chance.
For those who wanted something a little darker, 2024 Brit award winning artist CASISDEAD, the UK’s most mysterious rapper, brought the grime and dystopian future to the Lush Life stage – he’s going to be huge and possibly should have been on the main stage, based on the size of the crowd flocking to hear his razor sharp lyrics.
As if that wasn’t enough, there was a heady mix of electronic beats from Floating Points, Mount Kimbie, Joy Orbison and Loraine James across the weekend.
There was such a strong sense of community at this festival – it’s difficult to paint with words. To help illustrate the good karma, the festival also introduced a Charity Donation Token Scheme – similar to those offered by supermarkets. Every Little Helps after-all.
Each ticket received a £1 donation and attendees could chose one of eight great local causes for part of their entrance fee to go to – whether it’s Dorset Wildlife Trust, Black Lives in Music, who address the current inequality of opportunities which exist for ethnically diverse people, or the Amos Trust who challenge injustice and build hope for those less-fortunate than ourselves. Take note other events – this is creating positive change.
Founder & curator Gilles Peterson commented: “I can’t express how much I appreciate this crowd and everyone coming together once again. This weekend was a truly unique and magical blend of love, support, and pure joy. This is what We Out Here is all about, and I’m so proud to see it growing year on year! A celebration of club culture, live music with the communities that bond it all together. Massive shout out to a growing number coming in from all around the world. Thank you.”
We Out Here truly is a joyous festival and we can’t wait for it to return to Dorset in 2025.
Less than 100 tickets remain for End of the Road festival this year – you do not want to miss out on this incredible line up, headlined by:
BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY
IDLES
SLOWDIVE
FEVER RAY
ALONGSIDE 50+ WORLD-CLASS ARTISTS
SLEATER KINNEY | CMAT | GRUFF RHYS | BILL RYDER JONES | BAXTER DURY |
JOCKSTRAP | THE LEMON TWIGS | CURTIS HARDING | RICHARD HAWLEY | CASISDEAD | YO LA TENGO |
TY SEGALL | EVERYTHING EVERYTHING | THE REYTONS
CASSYETTE | ALTIN GUN | ENGLISH TEACHER | SPRINTS | MRCY | RICHARD DAWSON |
New additions to the lineup also include Stereolab frontwoman Lætitia Sadier, Brighton trio Lambrini Girls, poetic rock from Joe Gideon, minimalist noise from Ex-Easter Island Head and Baroque-electronic fusion from newcomers The Orchestra (For Now)
IDLES return to End of the Road after triumphant performances at Glastonbury and Truckfest earlier this summer.
Cult favourite Bonnie “Prince” Billy returns with his beautiful songs of darkness, while folk legend Richard Dawson will kick things off on Thursday.
Shoegaze legends Slowdive go head-to-head with Richard Hawley in an impressive clash on Saturday night, followed by incredible after-hours acts you must not miss. The joyous John Talabot comes over from Barcelona for what will be a must-see DJ set. Also, Casisdead will surely demonstrate why he defied expectations and came away with a Brit Award earlier this year.
Fever Ray brings the Woods stage to a close on Sunday, while the beautiful Garden Stage concludes with the mighty Yo La Tengo.
It’s not only the music to enjoy at End of the Road. An impressive comedy lineup includes the unique Stewart Lee (the 41st best stand-up according to his own routine), Taskmaster favourite Fern Brady, and Josie Long, winner of the Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe all those years ago.
There’s also an outstanding cinema line-up, including Blur’s new documentary ‘To The End‘, following by a Q&A with director Toby L, while celebrated filmmaker Andrea Arnold curates the full cinema lineup on Sunday.
Truly the best family-festival of the summer, Camp Bestival returned to Dorset with a kaleidoscope of music and entertaining fun for all ages.
This years theme was out of this world, with intergalactic aliens and astronauts joining the love-bot at Lulworth Castle.
Throughout the magical weekend, there was something for everyone – from the toddlers, children or simply the young-at-heart.
Bluey and Hacker T Dog, our favourite terrier from Wigan, brought the CBBC magic to life on the main stage early on Friday, before Ellie Sax, appropriately came with the glitz and glamour, playing a mix of old school house and rave favourites.
The Magic Numbers followed, showing they still have their incredible harmonies and timeless classic melodies and bittersweet love songs. Although much of the crowd may not have remembered them from their early 90s hey-day they appeared to win many new fans.
Designer-turned-DJ Gok Wan returned to Camp Bestival again, this year on the main stage, for an invigorating set of party favourite tunes, ensuring the crowd were jumping throughout. This was followed by the inevitable DREADED CLASH ON THE LINEUP! It happens every year at all events, but it means the crowd have to make a choice, as well as, of course, Summer Festival Guide. Do we photograph and cover the main stage with McFLY or our personal favourites, ORBITAL in the Big Top?
We opted for McFly who never fail to impress live. The band played a string of their catchy tunes, including Five Colours in Her Hair, One For The Radio, Shine a Light, and Star Girl. Before ‘All About You’, they selected young super-fan Grace from the audience to play tambourine, Clearly overwhelmed, she did a great job on a night she’ll clearly remember.
The party intensified on Saturday. Camp Bestival regular favourite Mr Tumble returned with his antics and confetti canons for the young ones, before 90s BBC legends Dick and Dom played a selection of ‘noughties’ (or is it written 00’s) bangers while repeatedly shouting their catchphrase ‘Bogies’. They’re no Ant and Dec, but maybe that’s a good thing!
Not to be left out, The Darkness brought the rock anthems (and some expletives) and are always a true festival highlight – clearly working out before each set, singer Justin Hawkins still can reach the high notes on hits such as ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, and even played the opening lines of their Xmas Hit in the gorgeous summer sun.
Disco hits followed from the frontman of the legendary Scissor Sisters, Jake Shears. Mixing a few of his solo songs with the classics everyone wanted to hear including Comfortably Numb, Filthy/Gorgeous and of course, I Don’t Feel Like Dancing – there was no stopping the crowd partying in their fancy dress and space-suits.
Headlining the Saturday night was self-proclaimed MILF (well that’s the name of her book) Paloma Faith. Playing a mix of songs from her latest album ‘The Glorification of Sadness’, with her biggest hits, she finished with the song which she stated changed her life – ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’.
The beauty of Camp Bestival is the party starts when the headliner finishes each night, over at the eclectic Caravanserai. For the unitiated, its a heady after hours mix of circus, fairground and vintage nostalgia all mixed in a cocktail shaker, with a sprinkle of jaw-dropping entertainers.
Sunday morning begins in traditional style with Mr Motivator to re-invigorate the crowd, but possibly the strangest act seen by Summer Festival Guide followed – Dogshow. Two grown men, positioned in their own instrument cage with poodle face-mask coverings banged out some pretty good techno while howling at the crowd. It has to be seen to be believed – although much of the crowd appeared to question whether they were still recovering from the cocktails at Caravanserai the night before.
Craig Charles followed with his Funk and Soul Party on the main stage, before pop royalty Sophie Ellis-Bextor was welcomed back to Camp Bestival again with her kitchen disco. She mixed her own hits with Gimme Gimme Gimme, Vogue, Like A Prayer, before finishing with ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’.
X-Factor’s very own James Arthur was next up, apologising for the fact he was losing his voice, he made clear he didn’t want to miss this special festival. It’s a shame though as he was clearly unable to sing many of his songs or hit half the notes throughout his set, relying on the enthusiastic crowd to sing most for him – perhaps he should donate some of his fee back to the festival’s good causes.
Bringing the main stage to a close was Pete Tong and the far more impressive 60-person Heritage Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley. Playing classical versions of Ibiza hits, it was a delight to be transported to the Balearic Island with the impressive lightshow.
After the annual explosive fireworks synced to extremely impressive space themed projections, the night was far from finished. Summer Festival Guide favourites The Cuban Brothers closed proceedings in The Big Top with their hilarious mix of hip-hop, breakbeats and funky infection dancing.
In the words of Camp Bestival co-founders, Rob and Josie da Bank, “wowzers… we did it again and this time the weather was on our side! We hope everybody enjoyed the festival”
We certainly did – roll on 2025. Early bird tickets are available on Friday. See the festival link below:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds return with new album, ‘Wild God’ on August 30th
“I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me,” Cave says. “It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious. There is never a masterplan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy.”
Today, they release ‘Long Dark Night’, the third single from the band’s 18th studio album.
This intimate twilight ballad is inspired by the poem ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ by the Spanish 16th-century poet St. John of the Cross. Through its reflective lyrics, the track evokes the poem’s themes of struggle and transcendence.
Cave says, “Long Dark Night is inspired by one of the greatest and most powerful poems of conversion ever written. Ultimately, though, it’s a beautiful country tune. It feels like a sweet companion to the song, Wild God.”
Across ten tracks, the band dance between convention and experimentation, taking left-turns and detours that heighten the rich imagery and emotion in Cave’s soul-stirring narratives.It is the sound of a group emboldened by reconnection and taking flight. There are moments that touch fondly upon the Bad Seeds’ past but they are fleeting, and serve only to imbue the relentless and restless forward motion of the band.
Produced by Cave and Warren Ellis, and mixed by David Fridmann, Cave began writing the album on New Year’s Day 2023. With sessions at Miraval in Provence and Soundtree in London, the Bad Seeds added their unique alchemy, with additional performances from Colin Greenwood (bass) and Luis Almau (nylon string guitar, acoustic guitar).
“Wild God…there’s no fucking around with this record. When it hits, it hits. It lifts you. It moves you. I love that about it.” Nick Cave
‘Wild God’ will be released on Bad Seed in partnership with Play It Again Sam on streaming, CD, and standard and limited edition vinyl. The track listing is as follows:
Song of the Lake
Wild God
Frogs
Joy
Final Rescue Attempt
Conversion
Cinnamon Horses
Long Dark Night
O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)
As the Waters Cover the Sea
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are:
Nick Cave Thomas Wydler Martyn Casey Jim Sclavunos
With a line up throughout the day better than many festivals this summer, BST Hyde Park certainly knows how to put on a show.
Kate Nash began the party in style, celebrating her birthday on the same day – she certainly laid good ‘Foundations‘ (excuse the pun) for all the acts which followed.
Shaun Ryder’s Black Grape were on next, and welcomed a large crowd to the Great Oak Stage. Beginning with ‘In The Name of The Father‘ from their iconic It’s Great When You’re Straight album, it’s incredible to still see Ryder & Co still performing to such a high and party atmosphere.
Over on the smaller Birdcage Stage, Davina Michelle showed what a voice she has. With over one million followers on Instagram, she rose to fame after last year’s Hyde Park star P!NK saw her on YouTube covering her hit ‘What About Us‘. Definitely one to watch for the future.
(Photo by Dave Hogan/Hogan Media Shutterstock)
Gaz Coombes followed on the main stage, making reference to England’s Euro 2024 quarter-final match which kicked off at the same time as his set. As well as demonstrating what a strong singer-songwriter he is, he mixed a few classic Supergrass tunes in for good measure, with ‘Moving‘ getting a large part of the crowd on their feet.
Over on the stunning Rainbow Stage, duo Soft Play (formerly known as the iconic Slaves) blew away any clouds from the sky with their short-sharp punk rock. Joking that Robbie Williams asked them to support after stating on Twitter (nee X) that singer Isaac Holman looked like a cross between Robbie himself and Ant McPartlin, they invaded the crowd on multiple occasions, starting their own mini moshpit, playing crowd favourites ‘Sockets‘, ‘The Hunter‘ and of course, ‘Where’s Your Car Debbie‘. One to catch at other festivals this summer if you get chance.
Seal followed, fresh from his appearance the previous night with Andrea Bocelli (our review of that legendary set is available here: https://www.summerfestivalguide.co.uk/reviews/2024/07/08/andrea-bocelli/). As well as his own timeless hits, including ‘Killer‘, ‘Crazy‘ and ‘Kiss From a Rose‘, he admirably covered T-Rex’s ‘20th Century Boy‘.
(Photo by Dave Hogan/Hogan Media Shutterstock)
The crowd were here for one man and one man alone though. Mr Robbie Williams.
He proved why he is one of, if not the best entertainer in the UK after all these years, arriving on stage to a magnificent ‘Let Me Entertain You‘.
Defying his age having recently turned 50, Robbie has clearly been working out, and launched into ‘Land of a Thousand Dances‘, joined by an impressive line up of backing dancers.
After telling the story of his life, from Take That to Glastonbury misadventures, Robbie seamlessly went from ‘Could It Be Magic‘, into a crowd singalong of Oasis classic ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger‘. To ensure other Britpop favourites were not left out, he was joined by Gaz Coombes for a joyful version of their 90’s anthem ‘Alright’, before performing a cover no one knew they needed. Cockney cheeky chap Danny Dyer took over the vocals from Phil Daniels for a cover of Blur’s charming ‘Parklife‘.
(Photo by Dave Hogan/Hogan Media Shutterstock)
Visibly emotional, he declared he is now the happiest he has ever been in his life, thanks to his wife Ayda and his young family positioned on the nearby sound-stage.
Hit after hit followed, with fans enjoying ‘Millenium‘, ‘Kids‘, ‘Feel‘, ‘No Regrets‘ and ‘She’s The One‘, which, as has become part of his repertoire, Robbie serenaded a young Italian lady in the crowd with.
There was only one song Robbie Williams can finish with. The epic anthem ‘Angels‘ which elevated him above many of his peers and demonstrated his ability to write an anthem for the generation closed the evening in style with all of the crowd raising their phone cameras and lights.
Fireworks lit up the sky as the 65,000 strong crowd sung every word in unison.
This is how to perform an entertaining headline show. Nobody does it better.
