10 must-see acts at Wide Awake Festival
One of London’s best new festivals, Wide Awake, returns to Brixton’s Brockwell Park for its third year on May 27th. The festival debuted with great success in 2021, featuring artists such as Dry Cleaning, Black Midi, IDLES, Yard Act, Black Country, New Road, Shame, Daniel Avery and many more.
In 2022, the festival expanded to include two dates, with Primal Scream headlining the Saturday by playing Screamadelica in full. Now, Wide Awake is back to hosting just one day, but the line-up is incredibly stacked with some of music’s hottest acts, from established psych rockers to up-and-coming electronic outfits. Moreover, the festival is highly committed to sustainability and safety, providing ethically-sourced food and using local materials.
According to Shame’s Charlie Steen, the festival is “a celebration of independent bands who’d come up through independent venues and worked really fucking hard.” Wide Awake highlights countless small acts alongside legendary alternative heroes, with no artist seemingly too big or small to share the bill. With several stages named after popular local venues, such as The Windmill, The Shacklewell Arms and Moth Club, Wide Awake maintains an indie ethos that feels genuinely authentic and celebratory.
This year, alternative pop artist Caroline Polachek, indie rocker Alex G, and post-punk outfit Black Country, New Road have lined the top of the poster, who will all be well worth catching at Wide Awake. However, we have compiled a list of ten more artists you’d be silly not to miss, including some of the festival’s lesser-known acts.
10 must-see acts at Wide Awake Festival:
The Bug Club
Welsh trio, The Bug Club, are masters of glorious lo-fi garage pop, drawing influence from bands like Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. Their quirky lyrics, often shared by both vocalist/guitarist Sam Willmett and vocalist/bassist Tilly Harris, are utterly endearing. Their sound might be rough around the edges, but that doesn’t mean each song isn’t crafted with extreme precision.
According to Harris, the band formed because “our shit time at uni really gave us a kick up the arse to start doing something we actually wanted to do,” and their sheer love for making music bleeds through every song. The Bug Club’s idiosyncratic sound is instantly loveable, seemingly existing without regard to one specific time or space.
Coucou Chloe
French producer Coucou Chloe doesn’t make your average club-ready hits. After finding her start at alternative club nights in London, Coucou Chloe eventually co-founded the Nuxxe label in 2018. This was after she’d DJ’ed for NTS, Boiler Room, and many fashion week runways, even walking a few herself.
Her music contains vast influences, from Snoop Dogg to Ween (“I love the freedom they had, they were making everything they wanted to make,” she told Crack). However, it would be easiest to describe Coucou Chloe’s sound as a uniquely dark mix of intense experimental techno and hyper pop, with plenty of trap beats and avant-garde production thrown in.
CLAMM
If you’re looking for a burst of classic high-energy punk, look no further than Australian trio CLAMM. Emerging from Melbourne’s bursting punk scene, CLAMM was formed by Jack Summers and Miles Harding, who recorded their debut album, Beseech Me, with bassist Luke Scott, who was eventually replaced by Maisie Everett.
In their current line-up, the band have released the album Care, which features additional musicians on synth and saxophone, giving the record a more dynamic sound. Proving that Australia is producing some of the most captivating current punk acts, CLAMM are definitely worth catching at Wide Awake.
Gilla Band
One of the finest modern noise rock bands, Gilla Band, will be gracing the stage at Wide Awake, and you’d be a fool not to catch their set. The Irish four-piece formed in 2011 as Girl Band, releasing two albums, Holding Hands with Jamie and The Talkies, before rebranding as Gilla Band. Their third album, Most Normal, came out last year, and it was easily one of 2022’s most underrated releases.
The sheer abrasion of many of their tracks, such as ‘Biner Liner Fashion’ and ‘Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage’, never fails to get crowds moving. From Dara Kiely’s witty and surreal lyrics (and passionately intense stage presence) to the band’s innovative musical skills, Gilla Band are well worth your time.
Glass Beams
Melbourne-based Glass Beams don bejewelled masks as they perform hypnotising, silky-smooth instrumental psychedelia. The band have given little away about themselves; however, they are known for their mesmerising live shows, and they’re sure to put on a beautiful set at Wide Awake.
Discussing their influences, Glass Beams explained, “My father was born in India and moved here when he was 17, and in searching for new energy and inspiration to write music, I dug around for music from my father’s hometown and surrounding areas. I found a wealth of Indian classical, 70’s disco and pop music.”
Jockstrap
Not only does Georgia Ellery play the violin in one of the UK’s current biggest post-punk acts, Black Country, New Road, but she is also one half of the experimental electronic duo Jockstrap with Taylor Skye. The pair create music that melds classical instrumentation and artificial beats, with Ellery’s vocals often whispered or electronically manipulated.
After releasing their debut EP, Love is the Key to the City, in 2018, they collaborated with Injury Reserve in 2020 before dropping their debut album, I Love You Jennifer B, last year. Jockstrap never fail to put on an enigmatic show, and their recent sold-out UK and US tours are proof.
Naima Bock
After co-founding post-punk outfit Goat Girl as a teenager, Naima Bock left the group in 2018 to try something new with her life. “I was feeling quite lost. I had this kind of void of blackness ahead,” she told Uncut. However, after meeting the producer Joel Burton, she decided to return to the studio, this time as a solo artist. The result was her 2022 album, Giant Palm, a stunning folk-rock record with plenty of Brazillian influence, inspired by her own heritage.
Deeply melodic and beautifully written, Bock’s record is somewhat of a hidden gem from last year. She will appear on the main Wide Awake stage earlier in the day, so make sure you get down early enough to catch her haunting slices of alternative folk.
Nuha Ruby Ra
Citing some of her biggest influences (via The Route) as Bjork, Portishead, Sonic Youth, Billie Holiday, Aphex Twin, and Daft Punk, Nuha Ruby Ra is a London-based musician unafraid to push boundaries. Her debut EP, How To Move, released in 2021, evokes her eclectic taste, moving between dark, experimental post-punk cuts and electronic jolts of spoken word.
Blending industrial pop, electronica, free jazz and punk into one distinctive sound, Nuha Ruby Ra is destined to rise over the coming months, thanks to her new EP, Machine Like Me. She has already toured with the likes of Yard Act, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Warmduscher (also well worth watching at Wide Awake), proving she has what it takes to dominate England’s alternative scene.
OSees
If you’ve got a ticket to Wide Awake but aren’t planning on catching American garage/psych/alternative legends Osees, then what are you doing? Although they are perhaps the best-known band on this list, we can’t stress enough how magnificent the Osees are. Known under various monikers, like Thee Oh Sees and Oh Sees, the John Dwyer-fronted band are constantly evolving, just like their name.
The prolific rockers have released 26 albums since 2003, so we can’t guarantee they’ll play your favourite song, but when it comes to OSees, that doesn’t really matter. Their live shows are impressive, to say the least, with the band members all harnessing plenty of energy to create a terrific, high-octane set.
Wasted Youth
The beauty of Wide Awake Festival lies in its spotlighting of new and old acts. Wasted Youth fall somewhere between the two, having enjoyed a three-year career beginning in 1979 before reuniting in 2021. The band were early members of the British post-punk scene, even releasing a single produced by Martin Hannett. Drawing influence from ’60s bands such as The Doors and The Velvet Underground, Wasted Youth garnered a small but devoted following in the early 1980s.
Although two members of Wasted Youth have passed away over the last decade, that hasn’t stopped bandmates Ken Scott and Rocco Barker from regrouping and bringing their music back to life. They’ve already teased a new album for release later this year, so it’s likely that Wasted Youth will play a mix of old and new cuts.
