What are you doing this weekend? Pfft, that sounds shit. Come to Standon Calling instead.
From Friday 29th till Sunday 31st July, the beautiful Hertfordshire village of Standon will play host to three days of terrific music, surprisingly decent beer, delicious food and a whole bunch of people with nice faces having a lovely time.
And… uh… us. Sorry.
In honour of our attendance (yeah I know, check out the ego on these fuckers) we’ve put together a shortlist of our very favourite, can’t-miss artists playing over the weekend.
Be sure to visit the Standon Calling website for full line-up and ticket details.
Kelis
The term spirit animal is bandied around so much these days that it’s lost all meaning. But if we could go back in time three years and be one of the first to say the phrase “Kelis is our spirit animal” we would. But we can’t. So let’s just go and shake your asses off to ‘Trick Me’ and ‘Milkshake’ then marvel at how her latest material from the albums Food and Flesh Tone is somehow EVEN better than those stonecold classics. There’s no better way to spend a final Sunday evening at a festival.
Suede
Fresh from their two triumphant shows at Primavera Sound 2016, Suede are the perfect Friday night headliners. Sure you’ll here all the glam-filth hits of the 90s you love, but make sure you’re familiar with their latest album Night Thoughts as it’s their best yet.
Gold Panda
Immerse yourself in the shimmering, electronic wonder of noted Japanophile Gold Panda, whose latest album Good Luck and Do Your Best is a gorgeous kaleidoscope of dance floor smashes and simple textured rhythms.
Hackney Colliery Band
They obviously have tonnes more material than their sexy-as-hell brass covers of Toto’s ‘Africa’ and Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’ but… well… sometimes you just want to lose your shit in a field to one of the best covers EVER made…
Ghostpoet
The UK’s most thoughtful and sympathetic hip-hop artist, whose work can be broodingly intense but always full of clarity and wit. He’s a phenomenal presence live too.
Teleman
Elsewhere on this site Teleman have been described as “like a Krautrock Pet Shop Boys” and if that appeals to you, then pop along and lose your heart completely to some intellectual yet always catchy indie-pop.
Blood Red Shoes
Yes Blood Red Shoes are back! Although they didn’t really go away to be fair, it just seems like ages since their last album in 2013. Thankfully new material is on its way, and the Brighton alt-rock duo will hopefully preview some of it right here.
Hot 8 Brass Band
The other brilliant brass ensemble that does a mean line of brilliant cover versions of established classics who are NOT to be confused with anyone else we may have mentioned in this round-up.
Pins
The Manchester four-piece, who came to our attention while supporting Sleater-Kinney on last year’s reunion tour, are fricking awesome. They play around with shoegaze but spike it with vicious guitars and punishing beats. New single ‘Trouble’ hints at a darker, even more brooding sound.
NZCA Lines
Our resident pop expert Lee Bennett describes the band with the most sparing Wikipedia page ever as “sci-fi pop at its finest” and it’s hard to disagree. Plus they’ve now added Charlotte Hatherley to their live line-up too, so they’ve genuinely become even more unmissable.
Or if you’re looking for a totally different UK festival experience, check out Supernormal 2016.
