Most Anticipated Bands at Wide Awake Festival, Brockwell Park, 23rd of May 2025

As the end of the winter concert drought is not yet on the horizon, there is a little bit of comfort to be taken from the deluge of artist announcements coming from every festival across Europe and its reluctant step-child, our lovely home of England, UK. One of the earliest festivals in the circuit, London’s own Wide Awake has been preparing a wonderfully diverse lineup of musicians from across the world and across multiple ear-expanding genres. We’ve got EDM, garage punk, mosh-pit-making psych, we’ve got sexy music, angry music, shoegaze and the like, and there are still many more artists to be announced.

It will be a packed day on the 23rd of May, in Brockwell Park, so let’s take a look at my most anticipated bands for this year’s Wide Awake Festival.

1. Gaye Su Akyol

The Anatolian rock scene has been active and thriving since the late 60s and Gaye Su Akyol’s own blend of Turkish traditional soundscapes and psychedelic rock’s trance-inducing grooves is a breath of fresh air. It is also notably the only one of three bands on the current lineup singing primarily in a language other than English. Matrix glasses, neon makeup, they conjure a time-warped vision of the lavish richness of the Ottoman Empire via Cowboy Bebop. With pretty heavy riffs in between luring sailors to their deaths, there is no other act I’m as pumped to see live.

2. Frankie and The Witch Fingers

Except maybe this one. The four-piece were a killer opener at Desertfest London 2024, getting a 2pm crowd ready to be rowdy over the three days of festival. I’d say, if you’ve never listened to psych/garage rock, they’re a great band to ease into the genre with, bringing super danceable grooves, the energy to keep you jumping through a full-hour set and so much stage charisma, you’d have to be Medusa’s ex to resist them. It’ll be so fun.

3. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

Following in the footsteps of last year’s headliners and fellow Aussies, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the Crumpets have been fine-tuning their own particular psych rock centrifuge over the last three years of relentless touring. Having seen Sheffield’s own Crookes Social Club implode into mosh pits and synchronized rowing when they played there in 2023, I expect equally unhinged behaviour if the gods allow us a sunny day in May.

4. Kneecap

I’ve had a fun time listening to Irish rappers live before (Denise Chaila, when she opened for Sampa the Great at KOKO in 2023), but I’ve not heard the Irish language in modern music much. The hip-hop trio Kneecap are not only rapping in Irish and English, are not only one of the most politically engaged groups on this year’s lineup, they are the headliners, and if their latest album is any indication, we’re in for a rollercoaster ride. Also, Kneecap have been shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, featured in the eponymous movie, selected as Ireland entry for Best International Feature Film. Stay tuned.

5. SPRINTS

If you’re looking for something to wash away the work week, Sprints is just the garage punk brew your weary soul needs. Give their KEXP set a good listen, it was love at first sight for me: the expressiveness and rawness in the voice of Karla Chubb, the clean-cutting lyrics, the inexhaustible whirlwind energy of punk. This is a band I’ll 100% brave a front row spot (and potential mosh injuries) for.

6. W.I.T.C.H.

The third and (currently) final non-English singing band, W.I.T.C.H. have been around for a while. Coming to prominence in the 80s, the golden age of Zamrock, their sound has found new life of late, with renewed interest in their psych funk blend (Frankie and the Witch Fingers credit Zamrock’s influence on their album Data Doom). They bring an incredible life story, endlessly danceable tunes and the heavy-hitting world-bending beauty of psych rock to this already incredible lineup.

7. Nadine Shah, Chanel Beads, Ugly

I’m shocked I’ve not heard Nadine Shah before, she’s everything I wanted to be in my deepest “gonna be a film composer” phase. The use of heavy percussion balances out her rich voice, so she can truly trod and soar. It will pair wonderfully with Chanel Beads, with their spacious sound and dream-like instrumentation. As for Ugly, what can I say? I was listening to their song “I’m Happy You’re Here” while two turtledoves on the neighbour’s roof were pecking at each other, it was too romantic to ignore.

8. The Weird and Wonderful – Mermaid Chunky, Marie Davidson

Then there are artists I await with the alarmed curiosity you feel at a spoken word event when a really earnest performer won’t break eye contact with you. That would be both Mermaid Chunky and Marie Davidson for me: eye contact notwithstanding, it’s gonna be an experience watching them pull off their experimental electronic music sets live.

Who are you most excited to see at Wide Awake this year? Let us know in the comments below.

Tickets are already on sale on Wide Awake’s website, with more artist announcements to come.