Preston Pop Fest announces August line up

Preston Pop Fest announces August line up

Man From Delmonte headline Preston alternative music event of weekend indie frolics with the Nightingales, Desperate Journalist, The Yummy Fur and many others…Tickets from here

Friday August 8^th to Sunday August 10^th

Venues :  The Continental (Friday from 5pm and Sunday from 1.30pm)  

South Meadow Lane, Preston PR1 8JP

www.newcontinental.net

The Ferret, (Saturday from 1.30pm) 

Fylde Road, Preston PR1 2XQ

www.theferret.live

Blitz, (Saturday from 5pm)

Church Row, Preston PR1 3BX  

The UK’s only music festival curated by a Shih Tzu – Preston Pop Fest – is back for 2025 over the weekend of 8/9/10 August with a ginormous line up of indie-pop superstars.

Like all cute pups, Coco, who belongs to the family of Preston promoter Tuff Life Boogie, is an indie-pop expert and has once again drawn upon her 63 (dog) years of experience to put together a selection which puts all this Summer’s human festival bookers to shame. Preston Pop Fest covers acts from all the different eras of the UK pop underground, from C86 through proto-Brit Pop to the present day, from classic jangle-meisters to the scratchy awkward squad beloved of John Peel.  Preston Pop Fest will take place in three venues in Preston city centre, across two stages in The Continental on the Friday and Sunday and at The Ferret and Blitz on the Saturday.

Festival headliners are Nightingales, “the ‘misfits’ misfits” according to John Robb whose mainman Robert Lloyd has been ploughing his own furrow since the early 80s and is now enjoying a career renaissance thanks to Stewart Lee’s film about him, ‘King Rocker’, The Man from Delmonte, the much-loved Manchester act who beamed in from the late 80s this year for a string of ecstatically received sold-out shows in their hometown, The Tubs, the Welsh college rock band based in London who have just released their second LP ‘Cotton Crown’ in Spring 2025 to huge acclaim (fellow Gob Nation collective members Ex Void are also playing the Pop Fest) and Desperate Journalist, the spell-binding goth-tinged four piece currently on their 5^th album ‘No Hero’ and selling out shows across the UK and in Europe.

There are plenty of other highlights across the weekend.  Scotland is the well-known home of indie-pop and a clutch of top-notch acts heading over the border to Preston at Coco’s bequest, including Creation Records heroes The Jasmine Minks who are re-grouping at The Ferret on Saturday for a super-rare outing.  New buzz band The Cords – two teenage sisters from Inverkip in the West of Scotland have captured the hearts of the cognoscenti and on Sunday merry pranksters The Yummy Fur hit The Continental along with new acts The Muldoons and Brenda plus Coco’s favourites, James King and The Lonewolves, a legendary group from the Postcard era.  The Lonewolves put out a single on Alan Horne’s Swampland’s label in 1984, recorded an LP with the Velvet Underground’s John Cale in 1985 which was never released and finally unleashed their debut album almost 30 years later in 2014.  The Lonewolves are one of Glasgow’s best-kept secrets and cannot be missed.

Other indie-pop legends appearing over the weekend include Davey Woodward from The Brilliant Corners fronting power trio Karen, impeccable El Records poshos Would Be Goods featuring the cut glass vocals of Jessica Griffin and David Lance Callahan from Coco’s other favourites, The Wolfhounds in solo guise.  Wolfhounds guitarist Andy Golding will also be playing the Pop Fest in his new act Dragon Welding.  As well as Man from Delmonte, the Saturday night line-up in Blitz also features late 80s indie hitmakers Bradford and The Train Set plus the excellent Welsh band Melys who scored a memorable Festive 50 Number 1 in 2001 with ‘Chinese Whispers.’

Coco has also sniffed out a shed load of the best new bands for your delectation including Nottingham’s brilliant Guided by Voices fans, Stuart Pearce, Sassyhiya and Crumbs from the stalwart Skep Wax Record label run by Amelia and Rob from Heavenly, Chorley’s 6 Music favourites British Birds and clutch of Manchester acts including Yaang!, Tigers and Flies, Big Other, The Complaint that Creeps and Autocamper.

Last but not least, there are a number of superb wildcards you simply would find on any other festival line-up which underscore what a top notch curator Coco is.  Jack Straker, front-man of 90s/00s garage punkers from an actual garage, Beach Buggy, who had a number of great records on Alan McGee’s Poptones imprint re-emrges with his new act, RRRapid Kool.  John Hogarty, guitarist with The Pastels since the late 2000s, reconvenes his majestic pastoral group National Park for their first show in eons.   Moderate Rebels, a criminally underrated London act combining rhythmic repetition, discordant guitar fuzz and hazy psychedelia are going to blow the minds of anyone wise enough to seek them out in The Ferret on Saturday.  The Bordellos from St Helens have been proving for over 20 years to a small but perfectly-formed audience that If it’s Brian Bordello and his brother on bongos it is The Bordellos.