FEATURE: WAVES FESTIVAL

Image: Everything Everything

Placing the North East at the forefront of the UK’s brightest and best talent, Sunderland’s hit music festival Waves returns to city venues on Saturday 11^th November with a line-up that’s more electric than ever. In this third mighty return, music lovers can enjoy a whole day of discovering new music across eight venues in the city. In partnership with more local promoters and organisations, this year’s festival is focused on creating an experience that’s enjoyable for audiences and bands alike, thanks to a line-up of diverse and relatable artists. With up to ten hours of live performances to enjoy, there’s huge amounts to choose from, and far too much to do justice to here.

Of particular note, be sure to trample down the doors of The Fire Station to watch Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs and their riotous, primordial grooves, braced to shower listeners in exuberant fury with the sound of their latest release Land of Sleeper. Or find local faves bigfatbig bringing their energetic, punk-emboldening raucous sound that has time and again made it big on hit UK radio stations, and solidified them as a band everyone wants to hear. 

Waves’ triumphant return is set to hone in on eclecticism, new talent and the outright entertaining power of counter-culture repertoire

As the city’s premier grassroots venue, Independent will showcase exciting artists such as Glasgow natives Dead Pony, South Shields’ alt. rockers Camel Island and Twister, who bring expectation-defying, cutting-edge music that embraces the heart and soul of modern rock. Also performing here is one of the UK’s most intriguing viral pop acts, Deco, mixing classic songwriting with 80s synth pop, with a career spanning across sold-out shows to several award nominations and viral online videos. There’s also a chance to delve into noughties indie and Britpop reminiscences with four-piece driving force The Voyd, and also an appearance by North Eastern indie maverick Trunky Juno, performing his stash of masterful lyricism, warped sounds and bold ideations which define his off-kilter artistry. 

Also among the highlights are headliners Everything Everything, Manchester’s chart-topping pop-fuelled art rock outfit who have spent their years touring to tens of thousands with their boundary breaking sound and picked up several prestigious award nominations along the way, including two for the Mercury Prize, and five Ivor Novello Awards. Performing at The Fire Station, this not-to-be-missed band promises an almighty set of adrenaline-charged, ecstatic rock to leave audiences buzzing. 

There’s explosive anticipation from emerging talents in the North East and beyond peppered throughout the line-up, include sibling duo ZELA, a hard-hitting alt. pop band who have burst onto the scene with a their imaginative Charli XCX meets Wolf Alice style, as well as dreamy, renegade sounds of the Lambrini Girls, singer-songwriter Patrick Gosling, Hartlepudlian newcomers Northern Hospitality, thrilling intelligent popsters Komparrison, the jazz-meets-indie pop of Sarah Johnstone and more. 

In this carefully compiled line-up, Waves brings international, national and regional artists together, as promoter Ben Richardson explains: “There’s always been two major aims for Waves: to bring amazing talent into the city and to showcase the amazing talent that’s already here, and I think with this line-up we can tick both boxes.” Waves’ triumphant return is set to hone in on eclecticism, new talent and the outright entertaining power of counter-culture repertoire. Be there!

Waves festival takes place at various venues in Sunderland on Saturday 11^th November.