When I opened my tent on 2 September I saw little more than fog. I could barely make out the toilet and shower blocks at the end of the sloping field in which I was camping. It was as if the weather was saying, "The festival season is over".
Many artists preforming over the weekend made a point of mentioning that the End Of The Road is their favourite festival and how grateful they were to be there. I felt it really made me end my summer on a high note, and I went home with new music, new discoveries, new ideas.
There is hardly any phone reception at the festival site, so when the world was stressing over Oasis tickets, I was at the Talking Heads stage, an amphitheatre in a forest, listening to book talks. Amongst the books discussed were a Richard King book about Arthur Russell, Simon Raymonde’s ‘In One Ear’, Joe Boyd’s new tome about world music and Will Hodgkinson’s 'Street-Level Superstar' about Lawrence from Felt / Denim / Mozart Estate, who himself appeared alongside Will.
One of the joys of the End Of The Road is finding yourself amongst like-minded music nerds. Whenever I was waiting for a set to start, or just sitting down sharing a bench somewhere, people immediately started up a conversation: Who had I seen that was good, who was I looking forward to seeing. Some are happy to wander from stage to stage; others have clashfinder printouts. Clashes are frustrating, but the site is small enough that it is possible to quickly get from one stage to another. I prefer to try and see full shows. This list of highlights are all shows I saw in full (or almost).
1. LANKUM - Garden Stage
Lankum clashed with Idles, who I have never seen, but even though I had seen Lankum recently at Glastonbury, I could not pass up on the chance of seeing them at the End Of The Road’s atmospheric Garden Stage. Lankum headlined the Friday night with a monumental set. It is unfortunate that one is forced to choose between watching from the front, where people listen attentively but sound may not be optimal, or further back, where the sound will be better but you have to suffer the chatter of less dedicated listeners. I opted for the front and it was too drony at times, with the fiddle barely audible. Despite this, it was still the most impressive show I saw all weekend. Special mention for the lights, which were amazing. ‘Rocks Of Palestine’ got huge cheers and “Free free Palestine” chants, and their truly mad version of ‘The Pride Of Petravore’ remains one of my favourites of their repertoire. They finished with ‘The Turn’, which I had not heard live before and was truly jaw-dropping. Years ago, when they were still Lynched, I felt I was witnessing something as extraordinary as the Velvet Underground. It’s still that way, even more so now, and how great that the world is paying attention.
2. Phosphorescent - Garden Stage
I watched Phosphorescent from a bit further back at the Garden Stage, and was rewarded with perfect sound. Guitar, organ and pedal steel all sounded gloriously jangly. The band are back after an extended break and Matthew Houck said repeatedly how happy he was to be back and how grateful that people were still interested and listening. The vibe was melancholy and all the songs were quietly beautiful. ‘Revelator’, title track of the new album, and ‘Song for Zula’ were the standouts for me.
3. Alabaster DePlume - Garden Stage
One thing that was less cool was the many last minute cancellations that affected the festival: Fever Ray, Mdou Moctar, Lisa O’Neill and several others cancelled. I have been going to gigs since 1982 and I can count on one hand the amount of times I encountered cancellations prior to Covid. Now they happen all the time and it makes you think twice about travelling for gigs.
That said, the festival did a great job at finding worthy replacements. Floating Points I was able to hear from my stewarding spot on closing night and sounded fantastic, and I saw all of Alabaster DePlume’s set. Alabaster came accompanied by a three woman band. I had seen him once before with a bigger band, and I actually preferred this pared-down set up. Alabaster improvised as usual, encouraging us to live in the moment and amusingly singing that he did not know what he was doing, as he had only found out he was playing 24 hours prior.
4. SANAM - Garden Stage
Sanam from Lebanon were a band that had jumped out at me during my pre-fest research. On their Bandcamp bio they are described as a free-rock post-folk sextet. They have released a studio album, ‘Aykathani Malakon’ (An angel woke me) and a live album recorded at London’s Cafe Oto. Their songs are long and slow-paced with a fair amount of drone and distortion. Singer Sandy Chamoun has a deep voice and sings in Arabic. Instrumentation includes a buzuq (an oud-like string instrument) , a guitar, frequently attacked by a violin bow, and unconventional percussion. Discovery of the festival. Check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4UKsiDH_Hk
5. Slowdive(band) - Woods Stage
A band I had never seen, though I have always been aware of them. Slowdive played the Woods Stage, the festival’s biggest stage, on the Saturday night. A big sound and incredible lights made for a proper headline show. I am generally not keen on reunions, but if bands reform and then go on to release new material I am okay with that. The only element missing was interaction with the crowd.
6. Mary Lattimore - Garden Stage
Mary Lattimore is an American harpist. She performs solo, using a loop pedal. She builds beautiful ambient pieces, layering her harp and adding taps and scrapes for percussion. Her songs are instrumental, but she has plenty to say about them. In sharp contrast with Slowdive, after half an hour in Mary’s presence you really feel that you got to know her a little bit. Sample Mary’s playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS6YnbaleeY
7. HOUSE Of ALL - The Folly
One band I regret never to have seen live is The Fall. There were opportunities but I never got around to it and then it was too late. House Of All is a five piece band, consisting of five former members of The Fall, with Martin Bramah, also of Blue Orchids, on vocals. They sound exactly like The Fall, but their songs are all new and self-composed. Mark E. Smith’s family apparently do not approve of this project, but the audience, all original Fall fans by the looks of them, loved it.
8. Curtis Harding - Woods Stage
Curtis Harding and band delivered a perfect set of soul music on the Woods Stage. Soul is possibly the musical genre I know least about, but the End Of The Road always schedules a quality act, generally in the afternoon, and so over the years I have broadened my horizons and seen Charles Bradley, Durand Jones & the Indications, Ural Thomas & the Pain and now Curtis Harding.
9. Kassi Valazza - Garden Stage
Kassi Valazza is a country singer from Portland, Oregon. She has a beautiful voice, good songs and two excellent musicians playing with her. The only thing that let this gig down was the subdued atmosphere. I am not sure if Kassi is just a woman of few words or if something was bothering her. Musically however it was top notch.
10. Brown Horse - Woods Stage
Brown Horse are a young yet old-fashioned band, reminiscent of the Band. I had read up on them and loved the fact that they had been on an extended tour of Sweden to gel as a band and road-test songs, as this was cheaper than renting rehearsal space. They are a six-piece, including accordion and pedal steel. Several of the band are songwriters. They drew a large crowd for their early show (12:45 p.m.). I spotted the band at various times over the weekend in the audience watching other acts.
Least liked: CMAT - Woods Stage
The Mercury Prize nominee from Co. Meath proved very popular. Many people knew the words to all her songs and CMAT herself seemed to be having a whale of a time on stage, so good on her. It’s just not for me. Not keen on her vocal style nor the over-the-top presentation.
Tickets for the End Of The Road 2025 are on sale now, including a payment plan option.
Helen