Since 2006, End of the Road has taken place at Larmer Tree Gardens in North Dorset, closing out each year’s festival season in September. While it began as an intimate festival hosting just 5000 attendees, it has since gained a reputation as the best place to witness not only the biggest and best of established acts, but also to discover the next big thing.
Previous line-ups have featured names as legendary as Patti Smith and Belle & Sebastian, but one look at the smaller stages in recent years reveals performances from some of the most popular artists of today, including Mitski and Geese. The question remains, then, which of this year’s roster are set for a breakthrough, but if there’s one place to see them before that happens, it’s sure to be End of the Road.
This year’s first headline performance is due to come from Pulp, who will bring their wide array of hits and Jarvis Cocker’s eccentric stage persona to Larmer Tree Gardens following their own show at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park in the week prior. Irish superstar and self-proclaimed “Dunboyne Diana” CMAT also tops the bill, after selling out two nights at O2 Victoria Warehouse as part of her EURO-COUNTRY tour. Returning eleven years after his appearance at the festival’s 2015 edition, Mac DeMarco is set to close out the main stage on Sunday, easing four-day hangovers with his woozy indie-rock. In addition to the announced headliners, a secret special guest is also due to headline the festival, and who that may be is anyone’s guess.
Below the headliners, this year’s edition of End of the Road features plenty of exciting names that don’t often crop up anywhere else. Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE are due to deliver a collaborative performance, while psych-rock hero Kurt Vile will also bring his Kurt Vile & The Violators project to Larmer Tree Gardens. Iggy Pop collaborator Anna von Hausswolff is also sure to be a highlight of the weekend, though not a joyful one if her emotionally charged sixth album Iconoclasts is anything to go by. Von Hausswolff has always been an interesting, experimental figure, and thus sits perfectly within an End of the Road line-up: let’s just hope her clerical imagery doesn’t cause the set to be pulled, as it once did in Nantes.
If there were any upcoming artists on this year’s line-up that we would hedge our bets on, it would be the vast array of Manchester-based acts due to perform. One highlight amongst these is TTSSFU, who has crafted her own unique blend of shoegaze, grunge and indie pop. TTSSFU is a truly singular artist, and has been hotly tipped by both BBC Introducing and BBC Radio 6 Music after appearing at the two stations’ collaborative night at Band on the Wall at the end of March. This is an artist destined for greatness, and not one to be missed this summer.
Another Manchester act hotly tipped by BBC Radio 6 Music appearing at End of the Road is SILVERWINGKILLER, the abrasive electro-punk duo consisting of Ni Yushang and James Baca. The two have carved out their own sound in the world of post-punk, and have quickly gained a reputation for their relentless, high-energy live shows. Following support slots for Fat Dog (who also appear on this year’s End of the Road line-up), Machine Girl, Mike Skinner, and more, the duo have come to the attention of most major media outlets, and are shortly due to take the world by storm.
Another Country $$$$ and Shaking Hand round off the list of the most exciting Manchester acts appearing at End of the Road, with the former due to bring their own twist on experimental dance music to the festival. Shaking Hand provide quite the contrast, drawing on influences ranging from early post-rock to Midwest emo, but both are bound to put on unmissable sets. To say that End of the Road prides itself on bringing the best international talent together throughout the weekend, the level of north-west representation is striking, yet thoroughly merited.
