Photo Credit: Alicia Woods
After taking the year off in 2024, Nottingham’s premier festival Splendour returned for 2025 at Wollaton Park. The line-up included two special anniversary sets from indie rock legends, a star studded line-up covering many important eras of British music, as well as a new wave of acts who are lighting up the UK scene in grassroots venues all year round.
Returning for another year was Vicky McClure’s Dementia Choir. Nottingham native Vicky may be known for her on screen performances in BBC drama Line of Duty and Channel 4’s This is England, but music has been a huge factor throughout her life. As part of The Dementia Choir, Vicky brings people together who are living with dementia and those who care and support them to sing along to some of the best karaoke anthems around. With a mash up of ‘Summer of 69‘, ‘Wonderwall‘, ‘Livin on a Prayer‘ and many more hits, the main stage performance was extra special with the appearance of Emeli Sandé to join in and bring a positive atmosphere to kick off the festival.
Scotland’s Brooke Combe has had a brilliant start to 2025. With the release of her debut album ‘Dancing at the Edge of the World‘ and her biggest UK tour to date, festival season is the next step for the Glaswegian. ‘This Town’ kicked things off with a positive mood and people were up and dancing already. The album’s title track went down a storm too, with Combe cementing herself in Nottingham nicely ahead of future tours.
London based grunge-rock inspired quartet Keo graced the Bodega New Stage, situated in the courtyard of Wollaton Hall. drawing in a packed crowd early in the afternoon proves just how much of a following these guys have attracted in quick succession. Tracks like ‘I Lied, Amber‘ attracted a chunk of their die hard fans to join in midway through the set.
Day time disco Day Fever has been growing rapidly in the last twelve months. Founders Jonny Owen, Vicky McClure and Reverend & the Makers’ Jon McClure have brought the event to all corners of the UK, delivering an afternoon and evening full of classics. This was extra special though, as it was not only the debut festival slot from Day Fever but also the world’s first live performance of Reverend & the Makers’ new single ‘Haircut‘ featuring Vicky McClure. Announced just 24 hours before the festival, the anticipation for this soul future classic brought in a stacked crowd that overflowed the Day Fever tent to the outside.
Down at the Bodega New Stage were London indie-pop quartet Daydreamers to make their return to Nottingham. Having supported Sea Girls last yer and a sold out UK headliner run to kick off their 2025, the courtyard soon filled up ahead of the bands show. This was a set filled with upbeat pop anthems, plenty of dancing from the crowd and familiar faces. Tracks like ‘Call Me Up, ‘Don’t Delete My Number‘ and ‘Colourblind‘ served as standouts throughout the performance as the band look to keep the ball rolling into the remainder of their festivals this summer.
Local lad Jake Bugg returned to Splendour for the first time in twelve years. With a packed main stage crowd welcoming the homecoming, With a set list filled with classics dating back to his debut album all the way through to his latest record ‘A Modern Day Distraction‘. Opening with ‘Zombieland‘, the Nottingham native ploughed through his set, throwing a mixture of heart wrenching songs and upbeat festival anthems. The first of those came in the form of ‘Broken‘, before ‘Seen It All‘ picked up the mood leading into ‘Two Fingers‘ to keep the energy flowing. Edging closer to the end, ‘Lightning Bolt‘ saw people up out of their seats as they joined in before concluding with ‘All I Need‘ to mark a spectacular return home.
Rounding off the first day of Splendour 2025 were London quartet Bloc Party, which saw the band perform a special 20th anniversary celebration of their debut album ‘Silent Alarm‘. As the elegant intro to ‘So Here We Are‘ played out, the park of Wollaton Hall erupted in cheer. ‘She’s Hearing Voices‘ followed before diving into ‘Hunting for Witches‘, indicating that this wasn’t going to be just an album play through, but a night covering all eras of the band. Continuing with ‘Mercury‘ before returning to more debut material such as ‘Price of Gasoline‘ and ‘Blue Light‘. Kele greeted the audience, where he was met with cheers from across the festival site, with fan favourites beginning to come flowing into the latter stages of the set. Popular tracks ‘Banquet‘, ‘The Prayer‘ and finally ‘Like Eating Glass‘ concluded the bands performance, with them exiting the stage. A quick return saw Bloc Party make their way back on stage, kicking off the encore with ‘Signs‘. Further big hitters filled the final portion of the night as ‘Two More Years‘, ‘Helicopter‘, ‘Ratchet‘ and finally ‘This Modern Love‘ rounded off the first night in spectacular fashion.
The Sunday line-up was just as action packed, as a packed out Bodega stage in the courtyard greeted Herefordshire band Pentire to the podium. Having released their EP ‘Love On TV‘ to kick off the year, tracks such as ‘Burn‘ and the EP’s title track played a major factor in the set, with the latter getting the loudest reception of them all, that was until ‘Spinning‘ came around. It was a perfect start to what ended up being a gloomy end to the Sunday.
Lucy Spraggan attracted a huge crowd down at the main stage. Despite her rise to fame on Britain’s Got Talent, Lucy has forged her own path since then. Her hit single ‘Tea and Toast‘ continues to remain in her setlist, honouring her time on the programme but also treating fans to more up to date material such as ‘Run‘ and ‘Lightning‘.
Next up on the main stage were Glasgow legends The Fratellis. As their debut record ‘Costello Music‘ edges twenty, the band still honour their chart topping album with those songs playing a major factor in the set list. The Splendour crowd were in full force at this point, with ‘Henrietta’ kicking things off with ‘Vince the Loveable Stoner‘ and ‘Flathead‘ keeping the energy flowing right the way through to ‘Chelsea Dagger‘ to conclude their emphatic set.
Fellow Scots Travis brought in an even bigger crowd as the festival was edging its conclusion. The rain began to come down, very fitting for one of the bands’ hits. As their latest record ‘L.A. Times‘ turned one year old just a few weeks prior to the festival, Travis opened their set with ‘Bus‘, with ‘Alive‘ coming just a few songs later. The rain continued to drench the Splendour site, but the mood was still high as fan favourites ‘Side‘, ‘Sing‘ and ‘Gaslight‘ rounded off Travis‘ set with an abrupt ending, which saw the band forced off the stage and the entire site halted due to the storm that was passing over Wollaton Park.
Sadly, Travis were not able to return to the stage, and a forty minute delay into Kaiser Chiefs set put the festival in turmoil. Thankfully, the storm passed and it was back under way. The Leeds icons finally made their appearance, and having performed at the site back in 2017, this was familiar territory for the Yorkshire mob. As it was a celebration of their debut album ‘Employment’ reaching two decades, the set heavily featured material from that record. Kicking things off with ‘Na Na Na Na Naa‘, leading straight into ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less‘ and ‘Modern Way‘, Ricky Wilson greeted Travis back on stage and for comedic value, performed ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me?‘ to conclude their Splendour debut in style. Kaiser Chiefs were back in full force now, with ‘Ruby‘ picking up the mood and a cover of ‘Blitzkrieg Pop‘ by Ramones had everyone singing along.
Bringing out all the big hitters for the final portion of the set, ‘Never Miss A Beat‘, ‘I Predict A Riot‘ and ‘The Angry Mob‘ made a it a short, but action packed show leading into the encore. The band returned for two more songs, with ‘Coming Home‘ and of course, ‘Oh My God‘ to settle a very up and down Sunday, but a more than successful return to Wollaton Park and Hall for Splendour Festival.
Taped Magazine 