One Headlining festival spot is enough, but two shows packed full of pyrotechnics, production and immense presentation? TYLER, THE CREATOR has officially left his mark in London’s biggest summer festival, All Points East. With a weekend takeover, the best Rap, R&B, genre-blurring multi-instrumentalists pack the lineup. From up-and-coming artists on the X-Stage to headliners taking over West and East stages respectively, there truly is something for everyone. LA REEZY New Orle

There was something special, something fitting about three of Toronto’s most enduring musical exports sharing a stage together. All three bands had spent decades orbiting the same venues, they had members collaborating and moving between projects as well as real friendships running through each other bands’ foundations. The ‘All the Feelings Tour’ brought all of their tangible history together on one stage and proved to everyone just how much warm, ear-happy noise can come fr

For so many millennials, EVANESCENCE has been a lifeline, a band whose fusion of vulnerability, theatrical darkness and raw catharsis offered a language for emotions they didn’t yet know how to name. With their songs shaping adolescence, survival and identity in ways that still echo through the people who grew up with them, seeing them perform over twenty years since they arrived on the scene is something special. An EVANESCENCE live show does not ease you in, it hits like a

It’s not often that a death metal band hailing from Colorado visits the UK, even less so when it’s The 1865 stage in Southampton where ALLEGAEON decide to start their UK tour. The metal community of Southampton were ready for a night of headbanging with the US band, alongside French rockers GOROD and UK metal risers DEFECTS. Opening up the night were DEFECTS. A band that ingrained deeply cathartic lyrics and themes throughout their songs were the perfect openers for the nigh

It’s a balmy day in London, a welcome change from the sudden downpours recently experienced. Obviously, this is due to weather doing its normal thing - to the more delusional and whimsical of us though, we’d like to think the sun showed up to welcome KAREN DIÓ fans as they crowded early outside The 100 Club. If you were to question who beamed the brightest that night, Dió wins out over the sun without question, though her fans came a close second as they rushed toward the bar

There is something different about a festival day built around one band. Before the gates had even opened at Victoria Park, Sunday at All Points East already felt like more than a collection of performances. Fans arrived dressed as characters from TWENTY ONE PILOTS' lore, while the queues became a sea of band shirts and handmade creations that were traded between strangers, creating a community before anyone had reached the stages. When the gates opened, the excitement only g

ArcTanGent is a festival built for its community. For 3 days or 4 (if you’re really up for it) you will be surrounded by likeminded music fans who enjoy a good mix of everything heavy, experimental and well written. It’s a music festival where the music shines louder than anything else possibly could. Platforming many artists who wouldn’t typically get a place at a festival in the UK, the biggest strength of the festival is curation. You can enter the festival knowing no one

Nothing says a gig is a hardcore gig more than a performance in an unexpected place. Tucked away in Southampton is the Edmund Kell Unitarian Church. An unassuming building from the outside, but a transformative space that is perfect for a hardcore show. The show was everything that a UK hardcore fan could dream of. It gave the reminiscing feel of a basement gig whilst showcasing talents of the present and future. With no barrier, a homemade set up of amps and cabs, and the h

It’s been almost a decade since Californian four-piece AFI has graced the UK with their presence, and sixteen years since they last embarked on a headline tour here. In that time they have released four new albums – including 2025’s synthwave and post-punk tinged Silver Bleeds the Black Sun... – signed two separate record deals and constantly evolved their sound. Now, fans pack into Birmingham’s O2 Institute to see how those sixteen years have worn on them. But first, the sta

Walking into HECK’s last ever (but one) show at Signature Brew Haggerston, the room is packed and full of energy from doors - friendly and familiar faces in all corners. There’s a feeling of enthusiastic anticipation - it’s clear from the vibe that it’s not this crowd's first rodeo with HECK and they know exactly what they have got themselves in for. The gig kicked off with RUENA who, fresh off of her first tour where she cycled cross country from gig to gig, you’d think she

“200 STAB WOUNDS?” A passerby smiles tentatively at the name as excited fans gathered to see the death metal legends, the band gaining such acclaim they've been upgraded to the upper floor of The Dome, London, all the better for people to lose their shit on a night guaranteed to give us whiplash. MUTAGENIC HOST didn't ease us in, they grabbed us by the throat and hauled us around, Swarm thundering out across an already full room. By Genestealer, there's a sizeable pit collidi

Fresh off their appearance at Bloodstock Festival, CASTLE RAT swapped gigantic stages for the smaller, sold out 1865. From the moment the doors opened the anticipation seemed to be building with an almost full crowd from the get-go ready for a theatrical night of music ahead of them. Opening the show were Birmingham based Meatdripper. Bringing the perfect fusion of sludge and doom rock, this band seemed other-worldly and truly set the scene for the night ahead. Han Al-Shemerr

In the centre of London, up a staircase below a neon sign blazing the venue’s name into the sky, is Scala - and for one night only, in the height of summer, it became the home of the most uplifting prog band in music, PROTEST THE HERO. With two bands opening for them, there were mere hours between arriving and the time to finally witness their glorious live show - but first, the supports. OBEYER took to the stage first - with a sound that landed somewhere in the djent/deathco

After their big cover in April, PINKSHIFT were back in the UK! And together with HEART ATTACK MAN were ecstatic for their final show at the Signature Brew in London. Both American bands are quite familiar with UK crowds and have built a devoted fanbase eager for more shows. Since forming in 2013, pop-punk band HEART ATTACK MAN has made consistent efforts to perform in the UK, particularly from 2023 onward. PINKSHIFT has been performing pop punk and post hardcore music since 2

Pulling up to the O2 Academy Brixton, you would be forgiven for shuddering at the extremely long snake protruding out of the entrance. But slithery bastard it is not, those are the attendees. The sheer number of people lining up outside the venue is actually staggering (in fact we measured it, by the time we got to the back of the line we were half a mile from the entrance). There’s a very, very good reason for the volume of attendees tonight; the ever-elusive BREAKING BENJAM

2000Trees is the hottest weekend of the year. No, seriously - it scorches any other competition as one of the flaming flagbearers of the UK underground. Vying for your attention, amongst the chaos of BRING ME THE HORIZON's northern exposure and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE's London residency, is a stellar roster of future talent gleaming with the promise of a loud and urgent tomorrow. Matched only by PITBULL's immense can-do party attitude (and we haven't even included the infamous si

Outbreak has gone all out for their 15th anniversary, taking over the nation with festivals, pop-ups, and re-release showcases celebrating some of hardcore’s most prominent bands and their humble beginnings. The cycle begins anew as Outbreak gave the stage to up-and-coming SHOWING TEETH on their history-making debut headline show at The Barfly, Camden, having flown across an entire ocean to prove without a doubt they can command any stage anywhere. EXIT DREAM are no strangers

Tucked into the iconic North Wales venue, Llangollen rocked on Friday night as Texan pop-punk legends BOWLING FOR SOUP joined forces with folk-punk favourite FRANK TURNER AND THE SLEEPING SOULS for a huge co-headline show, bringing their Bowl My Bones Tour to TK Maxx presents Live at Llangollen Pavilion. Thousands of fans attended for an evening packed with pop-punk, folk and alternative rock, complete with massive singalongs, plenty of laughs and a setlist full of crowd favo

The heat inside Foundry feels less like weather and more like the kind of pressure that builds in a room when everyone knows they’re about to be hit square in the chest. PUP (an acronym for Pathetic Use of Potential) has that effect on people. Before they even step out, the crowd is already vibrating: people clinging to the barrier, older fans grinning like they’ve survived this chaos before, everyone braced for the kind of night where catharsis comes loud and fast. Opening

This weekend saw London packed to the brim thanks to METALLICA’s final tour dates, colour-bursting London Pride, and the continuing beautiful weather (or as we like to call it, Satan’s holiday home) - this heated, vibrant energy of London was felt at full force in the Electric Ballroom, Camden, with a crowd spilling out all the way to the entranceway to see Nashville emo band FREE THROW on their immense world tour for all-hits-no-misses album Moments Before The Wind. Gig-goer