By Benjamin Ladner, First Year, Geography and Tom Foley, Resident Photographer
Spanning a number of stages and venues in just one day, Outer Town Festival has built its reputation in Old Market for its raucous takeover every April, hand-picking the city’s wildest grassroots bands and acts to soundtrack the madness. Here were just some of our favourites!
Big Long Sun
Hailing from Brighton, Big Long Sun fuse slow, spacey balladry with fast-paced, noisy psychedelic rock, often in the same song. Frankly, the noise they generate onstage is massive: two (sometimes three) guitarists, bass, drums, keys, fuzzed-out echoing vocals, and two members playing percussion and untameably gospel-esque backing vocals. This group were the first to play all day at Outer Town, taking the outdoor stage at the Trinity Centre at 2pm, fittingly just as the rain stopped. They played a half hour set, which due to the nature of the group contained less than 10 songs, as many of them reach the 5/6-minute mark live. The energy they exude live is immense, although markedly different from the almost-pastoral vibe on their studio recordings – the early-doors crowd were enthused with their intense, space-age onstage charisma. When I heard them soundcheck their recent release ‘my stars aligning’, with its multi-part gang vocals, I knew the set would be excellent, and I was right.
Myer U Clark
Myer U Clark is Bristol’s very own homegrown songsmith. Unashamed to be romantic and sincere in an age of veiled emotions, his songs mostly deal with love, friendship and affairs of the heart. Harking back to the 70’s pastoral folk greats like John Martyn and Nick Drake, his lyrics are accompanied by an autumn windfall of alternately tuned, fingerpicked cluster chords. This set took place on Skydaddy’s curated stage at To The Moon at 3pm, which was the most perfect, understated venue for his particular lyrical craft to really hit the mark. Oftentimes he performs solo, or just accompanied by a harmonium, but on this day, there was a full band setup in operation – bass and drums too. One thing about Myer’s sets is that he always throws in a total curveball of a song – and he did not shy away from that at this set either. He performed a PC music-esque experimental rap song about Father Christmas, sang the gospel hymn ‘Kumbiyah’, and pretended to propose to his girlfriend onstage. She said no. His veneration by the South London (Windmill-adjacent: he dates Tyler Hyde) musician Skydaddy is really no surprise. This strange combination of beauty and unrelenting experimentation is something they are used to up there – and Mr. Clark does it as well as the best of them. This performance came nigh on the eve of his new single, ‘Healers’, which everyone should check out as soon as possible.
The Cindy’s
Jack Ogbourne’s The Cindy’s were founded in Bristol, and seem to blow everybody else out of the water. Their high octane, yet approachable pop sound is highly reminiscent of 80’s indie jangle groups like Scotland’s Teenage Fanclub, or New Zealand’s The Chills. The influence of The Clean’s Kilgour brothers shines through particularly, like the ‘so basic that they’re juvenile’ chord progressions, and the raw attitude to music they exhibit. The band is also joined by Naima Bock – a celebrated artist in her own right – on acoustic guitar, adding to the thick, jangly instrument melodies and backing vocals. This set took place in the big upstairs room at The Exchange – and it was packed totally full. The group treated the audience to the entirety of their 2025 full-length debut, (self-titled,) as well as a number of brand-new tracks for their second record. Jack said that they’d been up until the early hours that day finishing the recording – big news for those that are jangle-pilled. One of the great things about the Bristol music scene is its diversity; either in the people out there making stuff happen, or the type of music made. Jangle pop, and this sort of underrepresented, more thoughtful, The Pastels over Oasis stuff is luckily on the rise, so it seems.
The Orchestra (For Now)
What can be said about TO(FN) that hasn’t been said before? Maybe that Joe Scarisbrick looks a lot cooler smoking straights on stage than he does vaping – but that’s irrelevant to this publication. Last time the South London seven-piece were in town, they played a manic sold-out show at The Exchange, which I was lucky enough to bear witness to. If they were firing on all cylinders last time – the engine they used this time relied on cylinders not yet theorised by mankind. Their sound is probably categorised somewhere between avant-folk, chamber pop, post-punk and prog rock. Two members of the ensemble are devoted entirely to strings, wailing out in a staccato fashion on their debut single ‘Wake Robin’, which was the only song played that is released already. The rest of the set was devoted to playing unreleased material, some of which was debuted on this tour, the night before at Cardiff Tramshed. These new songs seem to focus lyrically on youth. I noticed a reference to ‘gold star stickers’ that you would be rewarded with in primary school, in one of the lines. Then once those tunes were done, they finished with the aforementioned ‘Wake Robin’, which drove the mid-afternoon Trinity Centre crowd mad; they started a moshpit for this unassuming song. For a band once attributed with a ‘cult following’, The Orchestra (For Now) had great attendance.
Jenny Kennedy
Tyler Hyde is known predominantly for her success in the post-punk/prog/avant-folk band ‘Black Country, New Road’, but her set at Outer Town proved this wasn’t just a one-off. The group headlined To the Moon at 10:10PM, and the very small room was packed full. Tyler started off playing the set alone, just vocals and keys. These songs were familiar to me, as I’d seen her open solo for Skydaddy’s band at The Louisiana last year. This set was played pretty much the same way as before, but with steadily more musicians joining in as it went on. Next, a bass saxophonist joined – and it very much resembled the scene in Stop Making Sense where Tina Weymouth accompanies David Byrne for ‘Heaven’. This again continued for a few songs, before Skydaddy (who is also Tyler’s partner), and a drummer came onstage for full band arrangements of the once-familiar songs. In this ensemble they played a cover of a Ty Segall song, then finished up the set. The atmosphere in the room was nice, the audience was accommodating of the fact that this was an early gig for this band, being probably the fourth or fifth they’d ever played together. Really, you’d hope that they’d be into the music, because they’d have skipped Honeyglaze to see this instead. Jenny Kennedy played a great set, bringing a cadre of London favourites to Old Market Street.
Lacross Club
Ever wanted to see the Dead Kennedys without having to buy a time machine and book a flight to California? Or to see Blur’s Graham Coxon if he was a dervish of frantic energy hell-bent on taking off his clothes? You can’t get much closer than Lacross Club, a garage-punk trio from Tenby, South Wales. Their slot at Outer Town in the Exchange Basement was a whirlwind, frontman Cai Barry hurling himself across the stage, rolling around on the floor, and plummeting into the sardine-packed audience. (Proggy Windmill-scene BCNR-alike this is not). With breakneck speed and unrelenting energy, Lacross Club were an adrenaline shot of vital punk into the festival’s indie-leaning lineup. If you’re looking for music to jump around to, songs about Wales, or have a distaste for the concept of t-shirts, check them out as soon as humanly possible.
Scuttlers
Few bands in this city’s grassroots scene can truly said to have achieved ‘cult’ status, but it is in seeing Scuttlers perform live that the phrase itself gains new meaning. Fronted by Bristol’s truest eccentric Myer Clarke, Scuttlers are hard to define through genre terms. Their songs are intricate blends of sparkling corkscrew guitar, tightly-wound time signatures, and locked-in basslines overscored by Clarke’s mellowed howls and plaintive, poetic vocal style. None of this can capture, however, the sheer frenzy of a Scuttlers live show. Packed into the sold-out, low-ceilinged Elmer’s Arms, the overlapping crowd of gingham button-ups and bird’s-nest haircuts transformed into a writhing sea of pure explosive movement. Song after song of spiralling, acerbic melodies seemed to entrance the band’s loyal followers into rapturous dance, moshing and crowd-surfing and leaping as one, conducted by the Ian Curtis-like gyrations of Clarke. If you’ve ever wondered where the crossover between Pentecostal megachurch and the Bristol jam community lies, the cult of Scuttlers is the place for you.
Early Bird tickets for 2027's Outer Town Festival are already available! Will you be catching the chaos next year?
Featured image: Epigram / Tom Foley and Sophie StradlingDid you go to Outer Town Festival?
