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Little Sims, Wet Leg, Amyl and the Sniffers And Others To Headline Forwards Festival 2026

Holly Farmer — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:17:42 +0000

Forwards Festival has dropped the first major names on its 2026 line-up, including Little Sims, Amyl and the Sniffers and Wet Leg. So far, it’s setting up to be one of the most exciting late‑summer bills on the UK calendar. Taking over Clifton Downs across the August bank holiday weekend, the festival is doubling down on its reputation for smart curation with high-energy, multi-genre-spanning lineups.

The Bristol-based festival has always pitched itself as a city festival with a conscience, pairing heavyweight headliners with conversations about culture, community and social change. Early signs suggest 2026 will be no different, with the first wave of names balancing chart‑storming success and genre diversity.

For Little Simz, Forwards 2026 appears to be a victory lap. Having already collected a Mercury Prize and BRIT Awards for her generational run of records, Simz has evolved into one of British rap’s most commanding live performers, known for staging that folds orchestral heft into razor‑sharp lyricism. A late‑August headline in Bristol should find her in full control of a catalogue that runs from the widescreen ambition of ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert‘ to the steely minimalism of more recent work.

Wet Leg’s inclusion brings festival‑tailored chaos back to the Downs. The Isle of Wight duo have graduated from viral beginnings to bona fide indie heavyweights, surfing deadpan humour with jagged guitars. They’ve since landed BRIT‑red‑carpet notoriety. With their second album maturing their sound without sanding off their edginess, a Forwards slot promises the kind of mass sing‑along that turns a hillside into a chorus.

On the other end of the spectrum, Australian punks Amyl and the Sniffers are poised to deliver the most feral set of the weekend. Fronted by the endlessly charismatic Amy Taylor, the band’s shows are notorious for ascending into mosh‑pit mayhem, powered by hard-hitting riffs and shout‑along hooks. Their presence fits in perfectly with Forwards’ legacy of loud, physical, cathartic performances that still carry a political charge.

Beyond the marquee names, Forwards has made a habit of threading rising talent and global voices through its lineups, previously hosting everyone from LCD Soundsystem and Loyle Carner to Olivia Dean and Barry Can’t Swim.

Further 2026 headliners announced include Tems and Dijon, who will join Wet Leg as the Friday headliners, marking a tone that swerves from alt‑R&B elegance to intimate indie songwriting. Self Esteem joins Amyl and the Sniffers and Little Simz on Saturday, promising a closing run that stitches together sharp pop theatre alongside punk-rock and heavyweight hip‑hop, making for one of the most exciting closing stretches the Downs has seen yet. Other major names on the latest line-up include Kraftwerk, Goldie, Viagra Boys, Oklou, and Tricky. See the full line-up so far here.

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Amyl and the Sniffers Add Alexandra Palace Date as Demand for 2025 UK Tour Soars

Ciarán Donnelly — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 14:55:36 +0000

Amyl and The Sniffers have announced their largest headline show to date, set to take place at London’s iconic Alexandra Palace on 15th November 2025. This highly anticipated performance follows a successful UK tour and the release of their upcoming third album Cartoon Darkness, which will debut on 25th October 2024. The announcement arrives in the midst of the band’s rapidly sold-out UK tour in support of Cartoon Darkness, which includes dates in major cities like Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, and London.

The Alexandra Palace show comes in response “to high demand”, the band wrote on its Instagram, and is set to be the group’s only UK headline gig of 2025 – and their biggest crowd – along with their scheduled appearance at Finsbury Park in July, where they will support Fontaines D.C.

With a 10,000-capacity, the venue solidifies the band’s rise from underground punk beginnings to major international stardom. Tickets for the Alexandra Palace show will be available for purchase starting 18th October.

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Cartoon Darkness comes three years after their second album Comfort To Me (2021), a record that helped further cement the band’s status in the global punk scene. The new album, according to frontwoman Amy Taylor, takes a darker, more introspective approach, inspired by contemporary political and social tensions. In a recent interview, Taylor described the album as addressing “climate crisis, war, AI,” and “people feeling like they’re helping by having a voice online when we’re all just feeding the data beast of Big Tech.” The record is produced by Nick Launay, who has worked with post-punk legends such as Public Image Ltd. and Gang of Four.

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Taylor has become a distinctive voice in modern punk, often using her platform to critique Australian and global politics. On Comfort To Me, she tackled issues like governmental neglect and societal inequality, criticising former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handling of the country’s bushfire crisis and his failure to address Indigenous concerns.

The band’s rapid rise has been marked by a consistent refusal to be pigeonholed into any particular genre. While rooted in punk, they have also drawn on influences from pub rock and post-punk, with songs like ‘Don’t Fence Me In’ from Comfort To Me speaking to their defiance of musical categorisation. Reviews of Comfort To Me highlighted the band’s growing versatility, with NME praising it as proof that there is “far more to them” than just pub rock, while also acknowledging the album’s “stronger seam of politicised anger” compared to previous works.

Fonatines D.C. Announce Huge Headline Show At London’s Finsbury Park

Charlie Axworthy — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 13:50:14 +0000

Irish superstars Fonatines D.C. have announced that they will be playing their biggest show of their careers so far next summer at London’ Finsbury Park next summer. The Dublin band will play the date on the 5th of July next year and will be supported by Aussie punks, Amyl & The Sniffers, and Fellow Irish trio, Kneecap as well as more acts who are yet to be confirmed. Tickets go on general sale at 10am BST next Friday (August 9) and you can sign up for tickets here. Fans can access pre-sale tickets if they pre-order the band’s upcoming album, ‘Romance’, by 2pm BST on the 6th of July from their official store.

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This huge outdoor show will follow the group’s 2024 headline tour which will take place in November and December and is set to be their biggest tour to date. They will be putting on two shows at London’s Alexandra Palace, three dates in Manchester and two shows in Dublin as they return to a home crowd on the 6th and 7th of December.

They are also set to perform on the main stage at Reading and Leeds Festival 2024 later this month following the release of their upcoming album ‘Romance’, which is set to be released on the 23rd of August. Earlier in the year, the group headlined the Park stage at Glastonbury, an acclaimed performance. Singer Grian Chatten also joined Kneecap for their performance at Worthy Farm.

The full list of Fontaines D.C.’s upcoming Headline UK and Ireland dates are below:

NOVEMBER 2024
20 – The Halls, Wolverhampton
22 – Alexandra Palace, London
23 – Alexandra Palace, London
24 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff
26 – Pavilions, Plymouth
27 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
29 – Aviva Studios, Manchester
30 – Aviva Studios, Manchester

DECEMBER 2024
01 – Aviva Studios, Manchester
03 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
04 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
06 – 3Arena, Dublin
07 – 3Arena, Dublin

JULY 2025
05 – Finsbury Park, London

Fontaines D. C are releasing their fourth studio album, which will be titled ‘Romance’, on the 23rd of August via XL Recordings. They have so far previewed the upcoming project with two singles, ‘Starbuster’ which sees Chatten switching from his usual singing to almost rapping, and ‘Favourite’ which sees the band reminisce about their childhood.

‘Romance’ will be the follow up to their highly acclaimed 2022 album ‘Skinty Fia’ which reached number 1 in the UK and Irish album charts as well as seeing the band win a number of awards including ‘International Group of the Year’ at the BRIT Awards in 2023.

Talking about the title of the album bassist Conor Deegan says ““We’ve always had this sense of idealism and romance. Each album gets further away from observing that through the lens of Ireland, as directly as Dogrel. The second album (A Hero’s Death) is about that detachment, and the third (Skinty Fia) is about Irishness dislocated in the diaspora. Now we look to where and what else there is to be romantic about.”

Singer, Grian Chatten said about the album: “We say things on this record we’ve wanted to say for a long time. I never feel like it’s over, but it’s nice to feel lighter.”

Amyl And The Sniffers Announce U.S. Headline Shows, With Support From Lambrini Girls

J.S. Morton — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 13:00:14 +0000

As well as supporting the Foo Fighters, Amyl and the Sniffers have just announced a bunch of UK headline shows, along with support from Lambrini Girls.

It’s safe to say that Amyl and the Sniffers have an exciting summer planned. The punks, who hail from Australia, were already set to support the revered Foo Fighters in several stadiums across the pond, and now they have added a bunch of headline shows of their own with support coming from the always incredible Lambrini Girls. (announcing their slot, LG simply wrote: “Touring North America this summer supporting @amylandthesniffers yum yum handburger time”).

Amyl and the Sniffers will be joining Dave Grohl and co. at various dates throughout July and August in New York, Boston, Hershey and Los Angeles, and around those shows, you can also catch them everywhere from Detroit to San Diego.

Amyl and the Sniffers are an Australian pub rock and punk rock band based in Melbourne, consisting of vocalist Amy Taylor, drummer Bryce Wilson, guitarist Declan Martens, and bassist Gus Romer. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, their self-titled debut record won the Best Rock Album category.

This caption was taken from The Lambrini Girls Bandcamp: ‘Imagine your nan is in the boot of your car with a croissant in her mouth and hears bikini kill for the first time. That could be you. It will never be us as we are not bikini kill and we are not your nan. We are Lambrini Girls. Bon appetite xoxox’

If you are a fan of fast-paced, female-fronted punk rock, then this US tour is the tour for you.

Check out Amyl and the Sniffers here:

And The Lambrini Girls here:

Amyl And The Sniffers’ full U.S. run looks like this:

July

19 Citi Field – New York, NY (with Foos)
20 White Eagle Hall – Jersey City, NJ
21 Fenway Park – Boston, MA (with Foos)
23 Hersheypark Stadium – Hershey, PA (with Foos)
25 The Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI
28 Venue TBA – Denver, CO
30 Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS
31 Mercury Ballroom – Louisville, KY

August

1 HI-FI Annex – Indianapolis, IN
3 Asbury Hall – Buffalo, NY
5 Higher Ground – South Burlington, VT
7 Pioneer Courthouse Square – Portland, OR (with Sleater-Kinney)
9 BMO Stadium – Los Angeles, CA (with Foos)
13 The Sound at Del Mar – Del Mar, CA
14 The Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
15 The Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

Preliminary Line Up Of Bearded Theory 2024 Announced

Jake Watkins — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 17:29:50 +0000

The countdown to the 2024 edition of popular Derbyshire festival Bearded Theory is now officially underway as the first artists for next year’s event have been confirmed. American alt rock band Jane’s Addiction will make their first appearance in the UK in eight years at the festival, situated at Catton Hall, next year, while Australian punk powerhouses Amyl And The Sniffers will also be in attendance.

The festival, which is set to run from 23 May to 26 May 2024, will also welcome Nottingham based grim duo Sleaford Mods, London based grime-punk duo Bob Vylan, and American synth pop group Future Islands. Other acts scheduled to appear include festival favourites Gentleman’s Dub Club, electronic music duo Orbital, Bradford post-punk outfit New Model Army and Dutch indie rock group Pip Blom.

Next year will be the festival’s 15th year, and is set to showcase the remarkable transition from its humble beginnings in 2008 to becoming one of Britain’s most loved music festivals, with Bearded Theory being shortlisted for Best Medium-Sized Festival at the UK Festival Awards this year.

This year’s edition of Bearded Theory saw the introduction of two brand new stages, Big Ed and the Meadow Stage, playing host to bands such as Echo And The Bunnymen and Viagra Boys. These two stages are set to return in 2024.

Festival organiser Ben Ryles has said, “We’re very excited to have two of our favourite alt-rock heroes choosing Bearded Theory as their only UK festival for the year. We also can’t wait to welcome Amyl and the Sniffers and Future Islands, who are so widely renowned for their incredible live shows, as well as festival favourites Sleaford Mods and electronic icons Orbital.”

He continued, “Across this first batch of almost 50 acts there are fast-rising artists at the forefront of their scenes, legendary performers, and plenty of Bearded Theory crowd-pleasers. We’re really pleased to finally reveal them and get the countdown on to the start of the festival season.”

Watch the music video for “Nudge It” by Sleaford Mods, featuring Amy Taylor from Amyl And The Sniffers, below:

With this announcement, almost 50 acts have been confirmed, and there is yet more to come. Other bands that are set to feature at next year’s event include: Ibibio Sound Machine, Jane Weaver, Panic Shack, Jim Bob, Peat & Diesel, Beans on Toast, His Lordship, Divorce, Sprints, Green lung, English Teacher, BDRMM, Big Special, Bis, Roni Size, The Orb, 808 State, System 7, Utah Saints, The March Violets, The Bar Stool Preachers, Hotwax, Trout, Katie Malco, Girl Scout, Liines, Problem Patterns, 3 Daft Monkeys, Spunge and Sonic Boom Six.

Tickets for Bearded Theory 2024 are available to purchase here.

Wide Awake Festival 2022 Add Amyl And The Sniffers to the Lineup

Gus Teakle — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 17:45:16 +0000

Wide Awake have piled on a bunch of new scintillating artists to it’s line-up for 2022, among which are the die-hard Australian rockers Amyl And The Sniffers, who will take the stage in Brockwell Park on Saturday, 28^thMay. Take a gander at the updated billings down below.

NEW LINE UP ADDITIONS. @amylandsniffers @notionofanguish @PistIdiots and more join Saturday’s bill. Tickets https://t.co/d8KQPh9INr pic.twitter.com/dgYiy5th12

— Wide Awake (@wideawakeldn) March 31, 2022

Alongside Amyl And The Sniffers, the Brooklyn synth-pop act Nation Of Language will join the roster, totting up to a total of 11 additional acts which also include; Fergus Clarke, Harry James, Curses, Pist Idiots, Veronica Vasicka, Tia Cousins, Trish K, Marcus Harris and Nathan Gregory Wilkins.

Three years after its inception, the independent festival has been going from strength to strength, having been named as the Best Small Festival by at the BandLab NME Awards in 2022 hosted at Brixton Academy, London (pipping other such festivals as End Of The Road, Lost Village, Mighty Hoopla and Live AT Leeds to the post), amassing an impressive line of credits of acts such as Metronomy, Idles, Black Midi, Crack Cloudand Black Country, New Road. Looking forward, the festival seems set to become marked on calendars year on year for its championing of the most exciting indie/alternative talent.

The rise of Wide Awake has led to spanning 2 full days that boast a broad and eclectic mix of artists old and new. Friday will see Bicep close out the night with a live headline set that follows performances from Caribou, Working Men’s Club, Alewya, Overmono, Sofia Kourtesis, Leon Vynehall and Club Fitness to name a few.

Announced back in December 2021, Saturday’s main event will see Primal Scream cap off the weekend with an extra-special Screamadelica set that will mark the iconic album’s 30^th anniversary, supplemented by appearances from Fat White Family, Yard Act, Billy Nomates, The Comet Is Coming, Boy Harsher, Alex Cameron and Kevin Morby (among many others).

Tickets for both days of Wide Awake Festival 2022 available on their website.

Amyl And The Sniffers have released a double-disc expanded edition of their latest album Comfort To Me, which also features a live recording from a show in Williamstown, Australia. Copies of this latest release along with other goods can be purchased here.

Details of the Aussie punk quartet’s upcoming UK shows can be found down under;

28/05/2022- Wide Awake Festival- Brockwell Park- London, UK
29/05- Stylus- Leeds, UK
31/05- Albert Hall- Manchester, UK
01/06- O2 Academy Brixton-London, UK
05/06- Rock City- Nottingham, UK
06/06- O2 Academy Bristol- Bristol, UK
07/06- O2 Academy Oxford- Oxford, UK

Tickets for the shows are located here.