Who Was The Buzziest New Band At Glastonbury 2015?

Yes, of course most of the headlines you’ll read this weekend from Glastonbury will be about Kanye’s Saturday night set, the enormous crowd who watched Lionel Richie on Sunday or Florence grabbing her chance create a slice of Worthy Farm history. But, what about the artists who’ll be making next year’s headlines? Or the year after? NME caught six of the most talked about new artists on site. Here’s what we had to say about them.

Hooton Tennis Club
William’s Green

Advertisement

Pre-set buzz:
Hooton Tennis Club tune up in front of a tent packed with people sopping wet from the downpour outside. Other than a muted chant of ‘Hooton! Hooton!’ it seems like most are here to shelter.

Post-set buzz:
The Liverpool quartet walk offstage soaked in sweat, leaving a tent full of converts to their heavy-riffing indie rock, reeling from the racket of Merseyside’s answer to Parquet Courts.

Best song:
It’s all about ‘Powerful Pierre’, a three-minute barrage of sandpaper-rough guitars and shouted vocals from singing guitarists James Madden and Ryan Murphy.

Fear factor:
Ryan’s muttered asides about “being ill recently” can’t hide the fact that Hooton are itching to make as much noise as possible.

Size matters:
The rain does Hooton Tennis Club a favour, and their fuzzy melodies and headbanging stage presence ensure a bustling crowd stays put.

Twelve months’ time:
This time next year they’ll be powering through songs from debut album ‘Highest Point In Cliff Town’ on the John Peel stage. With a year to bed in, and on a much bigger PA, they’ll be massive.

Advertisement

Score: 8/10
Ben Homewood

Circa Waves
John Peel Stage

Pre-Set buzz:
Promising pretenders to the indie pop crown, but can they win over a drenched, glum-looking Glastonbury crowd?

Post-Set buzz:
Not only do the crowd fall for them like young lovers, they also bring the sun out. “When we started it was raining outside,” remarked frontman Kieran Shuddall, “but now it feels like…” before launching into crowd-pleasing closer ‘T-Shirt Weather’ – during which Shuddall launches himself into the crowd.

Best Song:
‘T-Shirt Weather’ just about edges it, but ‘Stuck In My Teeth’ produces undoubtedly the biggest singalong of the set. The crowd roars the chorus back at the grinning band.

Fear Factor:
None. They couldn’t have been more confident if Max McConfidence, last year’s winner of Britain’s Most Confident Man, fronted them.

Size Matters:
The John Peel tent was rammed, to the band’s delight, as it was a much bigger turnout than last time they ventured to Pilton. “This is our second-ever Glastonbury,” remarked Shuddall, “and last year we played to 200 people so this is pretty fucking cool.”

Twelve months’ time:
From 200 people to a packed John Peel is a great progression in the last 12 months. You could easily imagine them winning over the Other Stage next time around.

Score: 7/10
Kevin EG Perry

Hinds
John Peel Stage

Pre-set buzz:
A pair of moustachioed Spanish men in matching dungarees are screaming the name of Hinds singer Ana Perrote before the punky Madrid quartet – the first Spanish band ever to play a main stage at Glastonbury – strike the first note of their midday set. Their incessant racket is the perfect intro to 40 giggle-filled minutes.

Post-set buzz:
Hinds look desperate to incite one of their now-traditional stage invasions. The dungaree twins are still chanting, and guitarist Carlotta Cosials continues posing and grinning at the front rows long after the clattering conclusion of closer ‘Davey Crockett (Gabba Hey)’. To her right, bassist Ade Martin bounces on the spot like an excited toddler.

Best song:
Still Hinds’ biggest tune, ‘Bamboo”s rickety riffing sounds meatier than usual, pumped up by thumping drums and Carlotta’s wide-eyed screaming.

Fear factor:
“We only slept one hour, we were so nervous!” Carlotta tells the crowd. You wouldn’t know it. Hinds are brash, jubilant and wild; fear is not their thing.

Size matters:
Modest at first, the crowd stretches to the back of the tent by the end, with Drenge guitarist Eoin Loveless skulking just outside.

Twelve months’ time:
Mid-afternoon, Park Stage. Hinds will sound great shaking woozy punters out of a falafel haze.

Score: 7/10
Ben Homewood

Declan McKenna
Rabbit Hole

Pre-set buzz:
Chants of “oh-oh, Declan McKenna” echo around the tent; impressive for an unknown who’s here because he won the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition. When a roadie comes on for a pre-gig soundcheck, the crowd effortlessly slips into a new chant of “you’re not Declan McKenna”.

Post-set buzz:
Even louder chants of ‘Oh-oh, Declan McKenna’. He’s won an already supportive crowd over, for sure.

Best song:
The crowd go wild for closer ‘Brazil’, which sounds like a one-man Clash covering Cornershop’s ‘Brimful of Asha’. He seems to know they will, as he’s wearing a Brazil football shirt. The Jamie T-tinged ‘Paracetamol’ runs it a close second.

Fear factor:
Thereare definitely a few nerves from the 16-year-old, and his voice almost breaks when he says “I’m really excited, this is my first time at Glastonbury”. He apologises for not playing a longer set as his throat is going.

Size matters:
A good couple of hundred people squeezed into the Rabbit Hole.

12 months’ time:
On this sort of form, a John Peel stage slot awaits

Score: 7/10
Kevin EG Perry

KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD
Park Stage

Pre-set buzz:
The latest, greatest psych-rock band to come out of Australia. What is it with this country and it’s never-ending production line of mind-bending rock ‘n’ roll?

Post-set buzz:
Tame Impala? Pffft. Music for daytrippers.

Best song:
The whole set feels like a single, very long, very weird song, but if we had to pick a highlight it would probably be Hot Water, if only for frontman Stu Mackenzie’s jazz flute exertions.

Fear factor:
Frankly, they look like last night’s high hasn’t worn off yet. Which is exactly as it should be.

Size matters:
The crowd is pretty respectable, especially given the time of day, but there’s a significant drop-off from Pussy Riot’s in-conversation appearance just before them.

Twelve months’ time:
If all goes well, you imagine a reasonably prominent slot on the John Peel tent is within their grasp. But the Park stage – located way out on the fringes and populated with people who look like they’ve been doing the same drugs as them – feels like this band’s spiritual home.

Score: 9/10
Barry Nicolson

Benjamin Booker
Park Stage

Pre-Set buzz:
Quiet. It’s been over a year since Booker’s excellent debut album ‘Violent Shiver’ came out, so he needs to do something special to win people over.

Post-set buzz:
Booker’s sound is raw and scintillating. He’s a riff-heavy, whiskey-soaked one-chord delta bluesman.

Best Song:
Smokey roadhouse blues anthem ‘Old Hearts’ kickstarts the set early on. But it’s ‘Violent Shiver’ that fizzes and sparks like early Kings Of Leon at their debut-album best. It’s a two-minute glam stomp that gets the masses moving.

Fear Factor:
Booker isn’t totally at ease at first, remaining silent between songs and staring at the floor. But after a cigarette and swig of beer mid-set, he loosens up.

Size Matters:
The singer-guitarist has the misfortune of following some torrential showers, so most festivalgoers are ducking for cover as he takes to the stage. As the sun rises, the audience grows.

Twelve months’ time:
Booker’s not a natural live performer, and relies on his riffs to do the talking. But with a bit of spit and polish, a daytime slot on the Pyramid Stage is on.

Score: 6/10
Dean Van Nguyen

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories