The best bands to see at Outbreak 2026
- Ellen Lovell
- 13 hours ago
- 5 min read
For their 15-year anniversary, Outbreak Festival isn’t pulling any punches. Started in 2011 by 14-year-olds Jordan Coupland and Lee Fellows, Outbreak has blossomed into one of the biggest hardcore festivals in the UK, bringing fans from all over the world to the North of England for a weekend of barrier-free chaos.
Since 2022, the festival has taken place in Manchester, and this year will see hardcore’s biggest and brightest talents return to Manchester’s Bowlers Exhibition Centre once again. Alongside the main festival, Outbreak will team up with All Points East for the second annual London edition. But the real chaos happens up north.
With almost fifty bands already announced, ranging from hardcore legends to up-and-coming bands on the fringes of the genre, the heartbreak of a lineup clash is almost inevitable – but some acts are simply unmissable. Our list of ten bands not to skip is guaranteed to make your weekend explosive. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
ALEXISONFIRE
There are very few bands that have been as influential on the Canadian post-hardcore and screamo scenes as ALEXISONFIRE over the past twenty-five years, and even fewer that could claim to have released an album as genre and career-defining as their seminal 2006 album Crisis. Now, twenty years on, the band are preparing to headline the festival by playing the album in full.
In the time since the album’s release, the band have broken up, reunited and released two more critically acclaimed records, the most recent being 2022’s Otherness. Known for their explosive live shows, this is a set that would be criminal to miss.
PUP
PUP are masters of not taking themselves seriously, but that doesn’t mean that you should underestimate them. With a discography that bounces between songs about robot love affairs (Robot Writes a Love Song) and gut-wrenching breakup songs (Hallways, Shut Up), there’s something for everyone during a PUP set.
Having spent the last year touring in support of their fifth studio album Who Will Look After The Dogs?, June will see them bring their sarcasm-tinged punk rock stylings to Outbreak Festival for the first time in their 16-year career, in one of their only three festival performances in the UK this year.
TIGERS JAW
Having been a staple in every emo and pop-punk fan’s playlists since 2005, TIGERS JAW will grace the Outbreak stage for the second year in a row, this time hot off the release of their indie-tinged seventh studio album Lost On You.
With soaring, atmospheric guitars and dreamy dual vocals, the emo-indie darlings will offer festival goers an opportunity to slow down and feel something, ahead of the chaos of the rest of the weekend. Whether you have a lover to sway with, or are in need of the catharsis that only comes from scream-singing along to a sad song, TIGERS JAW have got you covered.
LA DISPUTE
A first-time addition to the Outbreak line-up, LA DISPUTE are Michigan’s biggest and brightest post-hardcore export. Since their inception in 2004, they have championed poetry and storytelling in their music, with a spoken-word vocal delivery often set against thrashing guitars and thundering beats. In 2025, they released their fifth studio album No One Was Driving the Car - their most ambitious and narrative-driven album to date, that doesn’t skimp on the heaviness.
In a live setting, LA DISPUTE leave it all out on the stage every time. Even those unfamiliar with the band’s most famous track King Park – a dark, emotional song about a drive-by shooting – will find it impossible not to get swept up in the frantic enthusiasm of the crowd screaming along.
STILL IN LOVE
If you need confirmation that the UK hardcore scene is alive and well, look no further. Arguably one of the most exciting supergroups in the genre right now, STILL IN LOVE is a Frankenstein’s-monster of the best and brightest the UK has to offer, featuring members from DEAD SWANS, BRUTALITY WILL PREVAIL and BRING ME THE HORIZON.
Their first full length album, Recovery Language, was released in September 2025 with little fanfare, but they are steadily building a cult following online. If you enjoy being ahead of the curve, you have to check out their set. STILL IN LOVE are going to be huge.
THE FRONT BOTTOMS
Whilst Outbreak was created to champion hardcore music, following the success of indie-folk artist ALEX G as a headliner in 2025, it’s not too hard to see why a band like THE FRONT BOTTOMS may be chosen to headline too. Whilst their sound leans in a more folk-punk direction, they have been included alongside emo and mid-west emo artists since their inception in 2006.
For their inaugural Outbreak performance, they will be performing their seminal 2013 album Talon of the Hawk in full for the first time since 2023, and for the first time ever in the UK. If you like your emo angst with a side of unbridled fun, don’t skip this set.
TRAPPED UNDER ICE
Formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2007, TRAPPED UNDER ICE have earned their place as legends in the hardcore world, with their second studio album Big Kiss Goodnight being credited with reviving the beatdown hardcore genre. Whilst they haven’t released new music since 2017’s Heatwave, their somewhat elusive status and rare performances make them unmissable when the opportunity arises.
With drummer Brendan Yates being kept busy fronting one of the world’s biggest current bands in TURNSTILE, live shows have dwindled to only a couple of performances a year at most, with Outbreak being TRAPPED UNDER ICE’s only scheduled show for 2026 at the time of writing.
BODYWEB
It’s impossible to talk about UK hardcore right now without talking about BODYWEB. Describing their music as “the sound of someone’s nervous system on the verge of breakdown”, they blend traditional hardcore breakdowns with nu-metal tones and elements of electronic music. With two EPs already released, the buzz surrounding them is palpable – which is probably helped by the fact that they feature members from iconic hardcore bands like HIGHER POWER and PEST CONTROL.
Championing rawness and authenticity, their music is recorded using all of the same equipment as is used during a live show. There are no backing tracks, and there’s no holding back. You’ll be glad there’s no barrier for this set.
BASEMENT
Outbreak veterans BASEMENT are back for the fourth time – and for their first time headlining the festival. Their anthemic emo and melodic post-hardcore sound has captured attention since the band was created in Suffolk in 2009, and an explosion in popularity following their song Covet going viral on Tiktok in 2023 breathed new life into the band.
With their first new album since 2018 Wired slated for release in May, their return to the festival they first played back in 2015 is set to be monumental. Whether you want to dance or cry, or do both at once, this set will be unmissable.
GLIXEN
Formed in 2020, shoegaze up-and-comers GLIXEN will perform at Outbreak for the first time this June. With a wispy, ethereal sound – even for the genre – the Arizona natives still manage to find their own unique edge, balancing dream-like vocals with dark and gritty guitars. With their most recent EP Quiet Pleasures being released in 2025, the band drew comparisons to DEFTONES, NARROWHEAD and MY BLOODY VALENTINE, but on stage is where they come alive.
Whilst not slated to be the most energetic set of the weekend, GLIXEN makes music to wrap yourself up in. Atmospheric and enveloping, it’s music to be felt as much as it is heard. Catch them before they blow up into the stratosphere.
Words: Ellen Lovell
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