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The soundtrack for the year to come has officially clicked play.
Words: Jamie Muir.
Photos: Daisy Kent, Ewan Williamson, Harvey Steele, Jake Haseldine, Marie Junker, Ollie Riddoch.
If you’re looking for critical dates in your new music diary, Dear Reader, circling Dot To Dot weekend is essential. Pulling in the thrilling artists lighting up scenes worldwide, it’s a coming together of the soundtrack for the rest of the year and beyond. Taking over venues across Bristol and Nottingham, the cities showcase their muscle as musical hubs thriving with community. As Nottingham picks up the mantle for day two, it sees a festival in full flight, packed with moments of feel-good fun. It’s right up our street.
What’s evident from the get-go is Dot To Dot’s commitment to platforming the exciting sounds of both Bristol and Nottingham. Take Otala, who open Dork’s stage at the nestled Beta in the famed Rock City. Hypnotic post-punk and feverish experimentation reach together like the glorious offspring of Black Country, New Road and Sorry with hints of Fat Dog. It’s a fully-formed sharpness that signals a very exciting new band just waiting to take over venues up and down the land.
Likewise, the factually inaccurate (probably) Wizards Can’t Be Lawyers fill the Black Cherry Lounge to sweaty heights. With fingerprints across the Nottingham music scene, their mix of ramshackle indie, funk, Alex Turner-esque croons, spinning disco flourishes, and ripped-raw punk ferocity stands them apart from the pack. That palpable hotbed of artists in Nottingham, fuelled by collaboration and a community bond that spans across shows and scenes, rings loud and proud. Wizards Can’t Be Lawyers are a you-need-to-see-it requirement.
Soaring psychedelic magic shines off of Hutch at Rescue Rooms. With tracks glossed in sun-kissed magic, it’s a warming trip through early Tame Impala and whirling Temples magic that revels in creating a soundtrack that everyone can dip their toes in.
With a wink and a nod, Welly are the band you want to host your birthday party. Bursting with fun and making every single moment ooze with bonafide pop nonsense, it’s an insatiable celebration from start to finish. Laugh-out-loud lines and wonky-pop hilarity ring true, already pointing to a band ready to stamp their authority across venues and playlists. Pogoing crowds and bustling rooms already in their pocket, Welly are set to be your new favourite band.
Bleach Lab continue to reveal just how magical a band they truly are. Their mid-afternoon show at Rock City is stacked to the gills, flourishing across their catalogue to date with dream-gaze ease – that ability to switch a room into the world of Bleach Lab is indescribable and jaw-dropping in equal measure. It lays a marker in the ground for where they can go from here, leaving Dot To Dot in awe and writing in big letters: it will only get bigger from here.
Talking of leaving Dot To Dot in awe, Panic Shack step onto the stage of Rock City like a box of firecrackers that sets light to anything and everything. Popping and ripping with a punk immediacy that leaves no room for doubts, each step sees them get better and better. New tracks slot into a set that goes off at every turn and refuses to leave any room for breath. Leaving a trail of fire in their wake, Panic Shack don’t wait around for applause – they grab your hands and do it for you.
Over at the Dork Stage, Beta is fit to bursting for Man/Woman/Chainsaw. With people turned away and fans packing into areas where there’s not even a small line of sight to the band on stage, it’s clear that buzz is well and truly here. They take that energy and turn it into a must-see set. Sweeping orchestral turns and roaring punches say it all – if you’ve got people willing to simply stand near the door just to hear what’s being served, then you know you’re on to an exciting must.
Ducks LTD follow up in a similar fashion, with the sort of precision-focused NY indie that you could serve the finest steak off. Each cut and track is razor sharp, echoing bands that have come before yet fired out with a refreshing new edge.
That feeling of packed-out venues and real “moments” rings true for Antony Szmierek. To say there’s no artist right now doing what Antony does would be an understatement. Dot To Dot becomes The Antony Szmierek Show from the moment he gets on stage. Made up of the euphoric, the uplifting, the raw, and the ridiculously fun – if his show were a cocktail, it’d be a Gold Fashioned. Rich storytelling and whipping breakdowns complete a set that sees lasers burst across the room, transforming Rock City into an all-encompassing party. ‘Twist Forever’ and the pure release of ‘The Words To Auld Lang Syne’ soar, while a triumphant cover of Happy Mondays’ Step On’ has Antony crowd surfing across the room. Packed full of showmanship, The Antony Szmierek Show is the real deal, and it’s only just getting started.
Soft Launch are one of the most exciting new bands going. Fizzing with the sort of emphatic disco-soaked grooves that’d make a chair get up and dance, it’s a fully formed package that you could drop into any circumstance and come away from smiling. ‘Cartwheels’ may be their only track out, but it serves as a crunching introduction to their popping-candy world, while ‘Milkshakes’ points to just how bold and brilliant everything else they have in the tank is going to be. Embracing the technicolour, Soft Launch are the live band you need to see next.
It’s buzzing in Rescue Rooms for Daydreamers. With only two tracks out, their surge of devoted fans already stands massive. Surging indie-pop delivered in the largest fashion, they embrace the setting and see a crowd with arms in the air even for new tracks. Every move screams ambition, marking today’s set at Dot To Dot one of those that, in a year, we’ll all be looking back on as a lucky chance to catch them in such an intimate setting.
Over at Rough Trade Nottingham, it’s the turn of Keo to lay out just how wide-eyed their future is shaping to be. Gripping and dense rock licks puncture the air time and time again with a sound that thrives on pulling that tension close and releasing with a bang. New cut ‘Fly’ is a highlight for a band revelling in bringing light to darkness.
What’s brilliant about Dot To Dot is that jumping between completely different worlds doesn’t make things any less exciting or jarring. Back at Beta, Babymorocco is getting sweaty. Like the greatest party coordinator on the planet, it’s a whipping set of hyperpop clubland that makes the festival feel like a house party. With vocoder vocals and booming breakdowns (while getting drinks passed to the stage), it’s a playful introduction to the best mate we’ve always wanted. Give Babymorocco the aux lead, and you won’t be disappointed.
The Magic Gang take to the Rock City stage as part of their farewell tour and with that added dose of ‘can’t miss’ in the air, it adds another level to your usual festival day – and they live up to every expectation. Spanning their career to date, the likes of ‘All This Way’, ‘Just A Minute’ and a rapturously sung-along ‘Jasmine’ are met like national anthems and solidify what we’ve known about The Magic Gang from day one. Sung at the top of your lungs, there’s nothing better. Regaling tales of playing Nottingham over the years at The Bodega and Rescue Rooms, it feels incredibly personal. With ‘Death Of The Party’ and its swooning vibes met with moshpits, by the time ‘Take Back The Track’ and a closing ‘How Can I Compete?’ come into frame, Dot To Dot is crying out for The Magic Gang to stay.
Jockstrap have always pushed against the expected, leading a new wave of new music culture, and it makes their bill-topping slot even more perfect, Rock City feeling like a ready-made ascension. ‘Jennifer B’ and ‘Good Girl’ are gripping; the band’s playful experimentation – branching from underground club dizziness to weighty, raw songwriting – written into their DNA, shines. It all feeds into a set that screams ‘headliner’. ‘Glasgow’ is drowned out in unison, while ‘Greatest Hits’ is met with collective celebration, and when ’50/50′ kicks in, tonight is theirs.
How do you follow that? Co-headliners Wunderhorse have cemented their position as quite possibly the most exciting guitar band going right now. One look at the reaction to ‘Leader Of The Pack’ tonight says it all. Purely primal and fiery in its immediacy, their set doesn’t relent and paves the way for just how big their exciting new chapter will be. A band born for the stage, it’s pulled straight from the soul, feeling at all times both unpredictable yet also the safest pair of hands in town. ‘Purple’ and ‘Butterflies’ may now sit as old favourites from the first album, but they serenade Nottingham tonight in a manner that few others could even muster. Showcasing new material, it feels like a pivotal moment where Wunderhorse go from beloved scene leaders to big-time superstars.
Dot To Dot ain’t done yet. As midnight calls, Picture Parlour take to the stage at the Bodega and serve like an adrenaline shot in the arm. The hypnotic ‘Moon Tonic’ is a grandstand introduction, but the swaggering ‘Judgement Day’ defiantly casts its spell across festival-goers as crowds gather outside, eager to sneak a peek. At a point of the day when everything is up for grabs, Picture Parlour seize it all. With a confident nod of showmanship, it’s a breathtaking set that feels distinctly fresh and immediate in their cinematic indie-rock flourishes. A new track taken from recent writing and recording sessions is ready to set off pogoing masses, and if any further proof is needed of Picture Parlour’s prowess, closer ‘Norwegian Wood’ sees singalongs ring out. It’s a set that truly signals something Very Exciting Indeed.
As the night winds out and the festival draws to a close, one thing is clear: Dot To Dot shines not only in discovery but also in the ridiculous fun of a day full of unforgettable live moments. The soundtrack for the year to come has officially clicked play.
Dot To Dot Festival returns to Bristol and Nottingham from 24th-25th May 2025. Tickets are onsale now at alttickets.com/dot-to-dot-festival-tickets.
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