Neighbourhood Weekender is always one of the highlights of my year, so I was gutted when I discovered that it wasn’t happening in 2024.
The first line-up in 2018 is still arguably the best, with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds topping the bill alongside Courteeners – who had just sold out Old Trafford Cricket Ground and were probably at the peak of their popularity.
Blossoms, Jake Bugg, Miles Kane, Editors, DMA’s and Tom Grennan were also on the bill, but it’s actually further down the poster that things get really interesting, with relatively unknown acts (at that time) such as Gerry Cinnamon, Lewis Capaldi and Sam Fender… I wonder what happened to those three?
In that spirit, I thought I’d look past this year’s headliners Stereophonics and James, to delve a bit further into the line-up and bring you five non-headline acts that I really think you should try and see at this year’s Neighbourhood Weekender.
1) The Royston Club
I actually discovered The Royston Club when I did a similar deep dive into the 2023 line-up and they ended up being one of my highlights of the entire weekend, along with Paul Heaton and Confidence Man.
Since then, I’ve seen the Wrexham four-piece another three times, including a very intimate set at the Bread & Roses pub at Glastonbury Festival the following month.
Aside from knowing how to write super catchy indie songs, with great melodies and witty, self-deprecating lyrics, they’re really tight musically.
Their live performances are brilliant – full of energy and with frontman Tom Faithfull’s charisma shining through, as well as his excellent vocals, that sound just as good as the record.
For me, their debut album ‘Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars’ has no skips and their most recent single ‘The Patch Where Nothing Grows’ is an exciting sign of what’s coming next.
2) CMAT
Okay okay, she’s hardly a secret anymore but I really don’t think it’s going to be long until she’s headlining festivals like this.
Another artist that I discovered through 2023’s line-up (on the second to bottom row), CMAT’s popularity has skyrocketed in the past 18 months, with a Brit nomination for International Artist of the Year, swifty followed by Ivor Novello and Mercury Prize nominations for her sophomore album ‘Crazymad, for Me’.
‘Crazymad’ is actually quite a good description of her stage presence and her bonkers live performances are a bit Marmite, as the online reaction to her appearance on Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny shows.
In fact, when I saw her for the first time at Neighbourhood, I did think that she spent too much time of her 25 minute set ‘messing about’ and I do think her style works better when she has more time to play with, which hopefully she should this time around, as she’s higher up the bill.
But she has some brilliantly written songs and there’s no denying that her voice is incredible, so if you just let yourself get swept up in the silliness then it makes for a very captivating and enjoyable live music experience.
3) Arkayla
Arkayla are bit more of a wildcard and the only act from last week’s second wave annoucement on this list.
With under 10,000 monthly listeners, you would imagine that the Manchester four-piece are nailed on to play the festival’s Viola Beach Stage, rather than either of the main two stages.
Their catchy guitar melodies and vocal harmonies are a bit of a throwback and it’s difficult to deny that their most recent release ‘Ella Malone’ bears a more than passing resemblance to The Fratellis’ ‘Whistle for the Choir’, but it’s still constantly stuck in my head and after dipping into the rest of their discography, I’m excited to see if their live performances match up.
4) Chloe Slater
Chloe Slater had a big 2024, racking up over a million streams on a number of her politically-charged alt-pop songs.
Her targets include influencer culture, technology, and landlords, tearing all of them down with very pointed lyrics, over explosive guitar riffs and punchy drum beats.
At just 21, she has already been on the cover of NME and had features in Rolling Stone UK, so it she seems to have a really exciting future ahead of her.
Whether she’s in the big top, on the Viola Beach Stage, or even early on the main stage – Chloe Slater’s definitely worth 30 minutes of anyone’s time.
5) Sunday (1994)
The band on this list that I’m most looking forward to seeing – by quite a distance – is one that I had no idea existed about 5 months ago.
Sunday (1994) only released their debut single ‘Tired Boy’ in February 2024, but it blew up on TikTok and has since racked up almost 3 million streams on Spotify.
Formed by real life couple Lee Newell, from Slough, and Paige Turner, of California, the band write dream pop anthems that already seem destined for arenas and bigger festival stages.
The cynical, melancholic, and often very dark lyrics are delivered by Turner over dreamy guitar licks in a captivating, ethereal way and they don’t really sound like anyone I’ve ever listened to – despite definitely sharing qualities with bands such as Cigarettes After Sex, and I even hear subtle shades of Wolf Alice and The Cranberries at times.
Their exceptional self-titled debut deluxe EP became one of my most listened to on Spotify last year, despite only dropping in September, and when they announced the vinyl version I couldn’t order it quick enough.
Neighbourhood Weekender comes towards the end of their debut UK tour, with other dates in London, Brighton, Liverpool, Leeds, and Glasgow. Even if you’re not going to Neighbourhood, I’d highly recommend seeing them elsewhere while they’re still playing intimate venues.
Honourable mentions
I think the line-up is generally really strong this year and there are a few other acts who just missed out on this list, such as Luvcat, Cliffords, Florence Road, Picture Parlour, and Overpass.
There’s loads of hype around Wunderhorse at the moment as well, and while I like a few songs, I’m not sure I fully ‘get it’ yet, so I’m also really looking forward to seeing them.
To see the full line-up and buy tickets, visit the Neighbourhood Weekender website.
I’ve also made a Spotify playlist with some of the artists mentioned, which you can listen to below.
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