Festival Preview: ArcTanGent

Bristol, England
18th – 20th August

Returning once again to the farmlands just outside of Bristol, ArcTanGent is bringing the cream of noise-rock, post-rock and math-rock back to the UK once again, with a wealth of exclusives and rare bookings. Located a few miles south of the airport and based in the Mendip hills (areas awarded for their outstanding natural beauty), the festival is a relatively small affair running from a Thursday to a Saturday. Ticket numbers are capped at 5,000, which is a switch up from the near 100k attendees of rock festivals such as Download. The organisers somehow manage to pull absolutely interstellar bands to the line-up, with last year’s headliners including The Dillinger Escape Plan, Deafheaven, and 65daysofstatic, alongside a personal favourite of The Fall of Troy playing their album Dӧppelganger in full.

This year’s line-up seems to be stretching to even bigger and bolder heights, with tried and tested legends having already been announced, alongside some home classics. A headliner this year that has sparked excitement is American Football, who will hopefully be performing many tracks from their eponymous, and only album, perceived by many critics to be absolutely perfect. The second recently announced headliner is Canada’s ethereal and enigmatic post-rock legends Godspeed You! Black Emperor, who have been given a 2-hour set and will be bringing their full film projection setup—a phenomenon that is not to be missed.

A lot of this year’s line-up will appease those with an ear for the heavy, with UK Mathcore favourites Rolo Tomassi returning once again after surfing last year’s crowd in a dinghy, as well as Tosin Abasi’s 8-string ungodly guitar playing abilities gracing the stage with Animals as Leaders. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of room for a softer approach, with even more UK festival exclusives coming from the emotive Japanese bands Mono and Toe alongside the recently reformed Meet Me St. Louis. ArcTanGent this year is lining up to be something really special, and with its fantastic atmosphere, it’s great value for money.