So Stag & Dagger was crap. Get over it. With some new entries, here’s SOIWT’s updated guide to the capital’s indie parties:
Field Day (6 August)
Last year’s Victoria Park indie-fest-meets-village-fete-meets-acid-disco was dry! Dry! And it had a proper banging headliner (Phoenix) for once. The same again would be nice. It’s a week later so everyone can go to the Croydon Summer Festival the Saturday before.
Top of the bill: Warpaint, Jamie Woon, Wild Beasts, Electrelane, Jamie xx, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, James Blake, Zola Jesus
Impress your friends by knowing about: Hype Williams, Trophy Wife, Prizes, Willy Mason
Tickets from £44
Lovebox (15-17 July)
Camp pop, dance and indie kicks for non-campers in Vicky Park, with a line-up that starts mainstream and ends up cool.
Top of the bill: Snoop Dogg, The Wombats, Scissor Sisters, Robyn, The Drums, Kelis and Katy B
Impress your friends by knowing about: Fenech Soler, Flying Lotus, P Money, Dry The River
Tickets from £108.50 for the weekend.
Macmillan’s Big Mix (18 June)
One day multi-venue Shoreditch event in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
Top of the bill: Clare Maguire, James Yuill, cocknbullkid
Impress your friends by knowing about: Giles Cynics, Emily & The Woods, Treetop Flyers
Tickets from £15.
Wireless (1-3 July)
Super-extensive Hyde Park hullabaloo with faintly alternative edge, but sadly no camping
Top of the bill: Pulp, Chemical Brothers, Black-Eyed Peas, Plan B, David Guetta, TV On The Radio
Impress your friends by knowing about: Battles, Summer Camp, The Naked & Famous, Devotchka, Wretch 32
Tickets from £142 for the full three days
South West Four (27-28 August)
Electro-focused excitement on personality-free flatlands known as Clapham Common
Top of the bill: Underworld, Pendulum, Magnetic Man
Impress your friends by knowing about: No-one else yet announced
Tickets from £85 for both days
The 1-2-3-4 (9 July)
Poor man’s Stag & Dagger? Clever clogs’ Field Day? Talent-spotter’s wet dream? All of the above?
Top of the bill: Black Lips, Autokratz, Raveonettes, Lydia Lunch
Impress your friends by knowing about: Echo Lake, Fair Ohs, Becoming Real, Sex Beet
Tickets from £22.50.
Sundae Festival (23-24 July)
The London instalment of this two-dayer promises a faux-fete feel, straw hats, plenty of unsubtle Ben & Jerry’s marketing and some decent bands of yesteryear. It’s held on Clap Common these days, not baronial Regent’s Park.
Top of the bill: Maximo Park, Ocean Colour Scene, Gary Numan, Ash
Impress your friends by knowing about: Little Comets
Tickets £22 per day.
The Big Feastival (1-3 July)
More fake fete-ness on the Common here, this time all in the name of Jamie Oliver charity. Ostensibly, ”The Big Feastival is a new three day family friendly event combining food from some of the country’s top chefs with a top drawer selection live music acts”.
Top of the bill: Mystery Jets, Guillemots, Athlete, New Young Pony Club, Roots Manuva, The Charlatans
Impress your friends by knowing about: Saint Saviour, The Bees, Trophy Wife
Tickets from £40 per day or £70 for the weekend.
