Well, it’s been a while, but after a year of not doing anything for Moshville Times I’m back. Normally Kristal does the words while I’m in charge of photos however, this weekend she is at home with our baby, so you’ve got me pulling double duties.
I’ve been looking forward to RADAR Festival since the line-up was announced. It’s a mix of bands I’ve already seen, some I like but haven’t caught live yet, and a few I’ve never heard of—a great chance to discover new favourites.
On the topic of the lineup, there has obviously been a lot of discussion in the news over the past weeks about the planned Saturday night headline act Bob Vylan. I won’t talk about that too much here, but I will pick that up in tomorrow’s review on the day they were due to headline.
RADAR Festival is held at O2 Victoria Warehouse and those that have been to gigs here before will notice nothing different when entering the Kerrang Stage area of the venue, although it is a little weird walking into a gig venue at lunch time.
The first act on the Kerrang Stage were German pop duo Floya, one of the bands I hadn’t heard of before, but I was impressed. They might have been in a warmup slot, but this didn’t limit the energy of the set, with lead vocalist Phil Bayer spending as much time on the barrier as on the stage, while guitarist Marv Wilder took a trip into the growing crowd during one of their songs. The band even took the opportunity to bring out a guest during their final song of the set, although I completely missed them introduce him, so unfortunately I can’t pay them any credit here.
Located behind the main bar, the Sneak Energy Stage was a newly discovered part of the venue to me. This section features an unfinished, industrial design and will host several heavier bands throughout the weekend.
Although not the first band to play here this weekend, the first band I caught at the Sneak Energy stage were Tropic Gold. There were some impressive vocals from Jacob Parris during first few songs, however not even the volume of the band could drown out the growls from my stomach, so I went in search of the food trucks.
Food options were limited but adequate: a burger van, pizza truck, and poke bowl stand. I plan to try each one during the festival and share my thoughts. The cheeseburger from the burger van cost £12.50. A little pricey for the quality, but typical for festivals.
I returned to the Kerrang Stage for Lake Malice. While I have heard the name before, mainly due to their recent support slot on the March tour with RØRY (that I unfortunately missed), I knew little else. Well, it turns out I’ve been missing out. During a captivating set featuring impressive outfits and several dancers, the band ensured that I will definitely be listening to more of their material in future. With tracks about empowerment and ADHD, the crowd grew steadily throughout the set and even saw the first crowd surfers of the festival. The final song of the set “Bloodbath” was a fitting song to end the performance as a huge circle pit formed.
There was a bit of a theme emerging with the lineup with Avralize being the next (but not the last) German band to take to the stage. This was another flying visit to the Sneak Energy Stage as the lineup was particularly gruelling at this part of the day with back-to-back bands between the two stages and a lot of running around. In the few songs that I caught they had a similar sound to Electric Callboy, but maybe a little heavier. Lead vocalists Severin Sailer was rocking a very impressive mullet and quirky clothing style that made him look a little like an 80s footballer, but they were impressive none the less.
Returning to the Kerrang Stage before the start of As Everything Unfolds, it was nice to experience the powerful air con system in the huge warehouse building, a definite perk of an indoor festival, although it was starting to get rather warm at the much more cramped Sneak Energy Stage.
Unfortunately, As Everything Unfolds experienced the first technical difficulties of the festival (that I witnessed) with lead singer Charlie Rolfe’s microphone cutting off during the first song. Without missing a beat, Rolfe turned the performance into what she later described as an impromptu “karaoke session” until a replacement microphone could be brought out. In a funny error, at the end of the bands third track Rolfe thanked the crowd saying “Danke”, before quickly correcting herself to saying “thank you”, then explaining that the band have recently been playing a lot of shows in Germany while laughing at her mistake. There was talk of how the band released their first album during the pandemic, a risky move, but one that they acknowledge seems to be working out for them, before launching into the title track of that album “Ultraviolet”. It was then time to weave my way through the crowd to get back to the Sneak Energy Stage for the first band of the day that I had seen before.
Hailing from Finland it was Cyan Kicks‘ first time playing the festival, but I was lucky enough to catch them when they supported Smash Into Pieces a couple of years ago in Glasgow and this afternoon’s performance from the disco rock band was just as impressive as the first time around. Having followed the band since I last saw them, it was nice to be able to sing along to tracks including “Let Me Down Slowly” and “Dancing With My Demons”. The temperature was definitely rising at the second stage, which meant that lead vocalist Susanna Alexandra only kept her signature leather jacket on for a couple of songs, revealing a rather risqué outfit of a black bikini with fishnet bodysuit. Alexandra checked in with the crowd to make sure everyone was still having fun before introducing a newer song “Gasoline”. It was during this song that someone appeared in the crowd wearing a full dinosaur costume, although I don’t think the meaning of the song is about the fact that gasoline comes from decomposed dinosaurs. We had been tipped off by the bands PR people prior to the festival that the something special was planned for the last song of the set and I wondered if the fact that Sean Smith from The Blackout and the Sappenin’ podcast was stood watching the set next to me might have had something to do with it. However the band’s last song of “Hurricane” passed without anything out of the ordinary taking place.
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Following the dinosaur back to the Kerrang Stage it was time for As December Falls. My knowledge of the band until relatively recently was only that they were the band who keep offering me a free signed CD on Facebook. Then Spotify added their new singles to my Release Radar playlist and well I’ve been looking forward to seeing them at RADAR Festival ever since. The band’s enjoyment on stage was obvious, with every member smiling throughout the set. There was a slight stumble early on with the backing track not kicking in quite right for newer track “Angry Cry”, however with a quick restart things were back on track. When asked, it turned out that the majority of the audience were seeing the band for the first time like myself, and we were all made to hold our little fingers up in the air and pinky promise that we will all be going to the O2 Ritz to see them on their headline tour in November. Unusually it seemed like the band’s newer material had the crowd singing along louder than some of the older tracks, clearly showing the band are on the verge of something much bigger with their new album Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine which drops in August. The fact that As December Falls are completely unsigned, with “no label, no management and no one bank rolling the band” makes their current trajectory with singles like “Therapy” “going viral” even more impressive. The band closed the set with one last request, “a huge circle pit” to get the audience going round, like a “Carousel”. This was a brilliant set from the up-and-coming band, and I will definitely be trying to keep my pinky promise in December.
It was back to the Sneak Energy Stage for Germany’s Future Palace to experience their first time ever playing a music festival in the UK. While I knew what to expect having caught there set at Nova Rock in Austria a year ago, the rest of the people that had made the effort to see them were in for a treat. While there were no homemade banners declaring love for the band this time around, the crowd definitely enjoyed their chance to see singles “Dreamstate” and “Dead Inside” performed live. There was also the treat of As Everything Unfolds vocalist Charlie Rolfe joining the band on stage to perform “Echoes of Disparity”, the band’s song about gender equality, or the fact there is still a lack of it at times.
After deciding that the penultimate act on the Kerrang Stage, Zeal & Ardor weren’t exactly my cup of tea, I climbed the stairs at the venue to explore the marketplace. This is an excellent addition to the festival where you can buy musical instruments, jewellery or a coffee from the coffeeshop. For those wanting to stay in this area a little longer there is also the options to take a drumming lesson, paint some Warhammer figures or get a manicure. Definitely something for everyone.
GHØSTKID are a band that seem to be popping up quite a bit for me over the past couple of years and it now seems like an annual event to see them play live. Having previously seen them in a supporting role to Bad Omens and as a last-minute stand in at Nova Rock last year, it was great to see them in a well-deserved headline festival slot.
Unfortunately microphone issues popped up again with it taking three attempts for lead singer Sebastian Biesler to be given a working one to sing/scream into. As usual for a GHØSTKID performance, it didn’t take long for bass player Stanislaw Czywilto to leave the stage to join a huge circle pit that had formed. After a few songs to settle into the evening, Biesler announced that this was a special way to celebrate guitarist Jan Marco Heinz birthday, before inviting the audience to sing happy birthday to him. Biesler had the check the setlist to see which song was up next prior to “DAHLIA” but the crowd didn’t seem to mind the few seconds to rest in the sweltering room. Closing the set with three massive tracks “SUPERNØVA”, “START A FIGHT” and “HOLLYWOOD SUICIDE” the band proved themselves worthy of the headline slot on the Sneak Energy Stage for the first day of Radar Festival 2025, even if they were without their usual drummer for the evening, with a friend of the band stepping in for him.
At first glance Carpenter Brut, a French darksynth act might seem like a slightly odd choice to headline a festival with so many rock and metal acts on stage throughout the day. However, the festivals manifesto states “RADAR will always push musical boundaries whilst simultaneously breaking them down left, right and centre”, and that is exactly what they have done here. With the amount of people wearing Carpenter Brut t-shirts around the venue during the day, it was clear that they were a popular choice on the lineup. While I can’t say I was a huge fan of the music, this is simply personal choice, and I can confirm the performance overall was enjoyable to watch from my vantage point towards the back of the room.
With day one complete, I went to check into my hotel nearby to get some sleep ready for the next two days.
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Photos by Jack Barker Photography
