It’s official! Swedish powerhouse GAUPA is announced as the final headliner in this year’s packed Stoomfest festival, London’s freshest doom, stoner and psych rock event, taking place 4-6th of July, at the Garage.
After lifting Camden’s Underworld into a shimmering forest of the Arctic circle at Desertfest 2023, GAUPA is set to make a dramatic return to the capital after two years on the festival circuit, including a high-profile performance at Hellfest 2024. Emma Näslund continues a vocal tradition brought to the mainstream by the likes of Björk, infused with the hypnotic flow of stoner rock.
What can you expect from Stoomfest 2025? If last year’s lineup set a precedent for insanity and talent (with Slomosa, Greenleaf and Sleeping Mountain headlining), you can rest assured your blood pressure and ears are in good hands once again.
Friday, 4th of July
Kicking it all off, we have the Bordeaux-hailing Mars Red Sky, a staple of my playlists for years, who go as heavy as they are melancholic. Polish Moonstone with their trance-inducing sound, Canadians Sons of Arrakis (on their first ever UK performance – please bring the Arrakis sun with you), Welsh Goat Major and London’s Flamebearer with their rock’n’roll fusion doom will mark an electrifying start.
Saturday, 5th of July
Day of the headliners, with GAUPA, the legendary instrumental band Monkey3 and Red Sun Atacama taking the stage. There will be a Polish takeover with both the sludgey Spaceslug and the mystical Sunnata. Valley of the Sun, Circus Cannon and Alunah should tickle whatever fuzz-parched corner of your brain remains untouched by then, and finally Wyatt E promises a “pilgrimage to a Neo-Babylonian Empire”, so we’ve got that to look forward to.
Sunday, 6th of July
Bring your best ear protection, because this is the day with all the loudest grungiest heaviest bands: we’ll see the return of Sleeping Mountain, before diving into the lowest bass the amps can handle with the likes of post-metallists Novere, Scottish build-up kings The Cosmic Dead and Brighton psych band Outback. Transcendent Witchfinder and Wormsand, with their high energy sets should deliver us back into our normal lives with an extra heartbeat and renewed conviction that psych rock is very much thriving.
Lineup order will be announced nearer to the date. Tickets can be found on Stoomfest’s website here. See you at the Garage, 4-6th of July!
Artists: Alunah, Circus Cannon, Flamebearer, Gaupa, Goat Major, Mars Red Sky, Monkey3, Moonstone, Outback, Sleeping Mountain, Sons of Arrakis, Sunnata, The Cosmic Dead, Valley of the Sun, Witchfinder, Wormsand, Wyatt E