By Arianna Balsamo, Music Subeditor 2025/26
My first Forwards, and the first Forwards Presents; what a treat to be granted an extra day of this Bristol festival! By Friday afternoon, the Downs had already metamorphosed into their final summer form, bringing us great artists from all over the place to perform for us this beautiful Friday.
The day began on the East Stage with Girl Group, whose sound felt entirely new, somehow striking a perfect balance between softness and spunky moxie. ‘Shut Your Mouth (Sometimes)’ was a crowd favourite and definitely helped to set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Rose Gray followed, pushing the atmosphere a little closer to the club. Her electronic dance-pop is reminiscent of Charli XCX, topped with the promise of going ‘straight from the club to your arms.’ Then came Grove, taking the East Stage somewhere altogether harder. Tracks such as ‘Feed My Desire’ and ‘Been Busy’ brought an edge to the afternoon which fit right in with the classic Bristol sound.
Audrey Hobert brought a quirky performance, arriving on stage in a comically large trench coat before stripping off into a smaller yellow rain jacket. Hobert was dressed appropriately for what was luckily the last opening of the heavens, though the weather did little to dampen her enthusiasm, and her two most popular songs, ‘Silver Jubilee’ and ‘Sue Me,’ were perhaps her most energetic moments as she closed her set.
Esha Tewari offered a quieter change of pace when she arrived on stage. Her simultaneously romantic and poignant sound relied on little more than raw vocals and a sweet guitar strum, with ‘Beautiful Boy’ particularly standing out to me, providing a welcomed calm before the evening began to move towards its bigger performances of the night.
Next was Maisie Peters, who played from her newest album, Florescence, released in May, alongside older material and a Barry Mann cover of ‘Here You Come Again,’ performed as a tribute to the much-loved late Dolly Parton. The Brighton singer possessed a sweet stage presence, addressing Bristol with the simple observation: ‘You’re so good at clapping, do they teach you how to do that here?’ The answer, judging by the response, was a clear yes.
Opening with the rockier, energetic ‘Awake,’ Djo took to the East Stage. I had not anticipated enjoying his set quite as much as I did. ‘Roddy’, from Twenty Twenty (2019), made me feel like I was back in my childhood room in the midst of the first lockdown. There was also the unavoidable realisation that the man on stage was the same person I had watched on my screen for the past ten or so years as Steve Harrington in Stranger Things, however, Djo's stage presence made it difficult to see him simply as an actor who also makes music as he brought plenty of natural swagger to his set. Closing with ‘End of Beginning’ felt particularly gutting for anyone who, like me, has just left uni, but it also served as a reminder that you can take the girl out of Bristol, but you can't take Bristol out of the girl!
Lorde's set left me with my jaw hanging on the Downs, and not just because there was a large chance that I wouldn’t come out of the East-West stage trample alive as the crowd went wild in attempts to get a good spot. Unfortunately, having to leave early for the last train also meant missing the final stretch of the set, including ‘Girl, So Confusing’ and ‘Ribs’ – heartbreaking.
The stage design was suitably grand and so very Lorde, from two people messily eating from the same apple to Lorde gracefully smushing her face against a glass box. The headliner opened with ‘Royals,’ and played one of my favourite songs of all time, ‘Buzzcut Season’ which was the highlight of the set for me. Among the older songs from Pure Heroine (2013) she also performed some newer tracks from Virgin (2025). Lorde repeatedly praised Forwards for its environmental consciousness between songs, as the festival is part of the Clean Power Project, with its main stage powered by a hydrogen system from GeoPura green hydrogen tech, so now there is zero excuse to stop you from coming to the Downs for many Fridays to follow.
Featured image: Plaster Creative Communications / @giugliotto
Which performance stood out the most to you on Friday?
