Celebrating the 10^th Anniversary of CloseUp Festival

After interviewing Sam Tucker, the founder of CloseUp Festival, as well as a few of the artists on the roster, I was lucky enough to be thrown a couple of tickets for each day of the festival. There were also rumblings of a free pint or two. That was enough for me.

The interviews took place a few weeks back. I sat down with Sam and WØLFFE in the Shoreditch Radio studio and spoke to LALA HAYDEN via Zoom. Before these interviews were booked, I hadn’t heard of CloseUp Festival. This was despite spending a year of my time in London living on Columbia Road, a five-minute walk away from the recurring venue, Colours Hoxton. After going for all three days of this year’s edition, I can say with my full chest that I wish I’d heard about it earlier.

CloseUp Festival is a resounding success. It’s a hotbed for the best of the UK & Ireland’s indie talent. What rose from the ashes of a gig with an attendance of around six people has quickly become the most exciting festival for true lovers of music.

I must’ve said this at least ten times over the three days (including one time when the man in question overheard me from a toilet cubicle), but I’ll say it once more for the people in the back. Sam Tucker has a fantastic ear for music. He’d told me that he effectively just books his favourite artists. If you’ve got the combination of a music taste like this and the knowledge of all these up-and-comers, you should start a festival too.

The 10^th edition of CloseUp Festival kicked off on Thursday the 22^nd of May with what I will both reluctantly and reductively title ‘Girl Pop Day’. This might be doing a disservice to the range of the three acts that played but between the punk-esque elements from the trio kicking us off, Carpark, the disco infused alt pop of LALA HAYDEN (think somewhere between Jessie Ware and Kate Bush), and the raw but catchy lyricism from the evening’s headliner Catty, girl pop was the throughline.

Thursday’s vibes were immaculate. Although, fair warning, despite the first two days saying that the evening starts from 8pm, which could be interpreted as when doors open, Carpark rocked up at 8:10pm and I ended up missing the first twenty minutes of their set. Alas, I shall simply have to catch them again later in the year to ensure I get to hear what is currently my 8^th most played song of recent weeks, ‘Happy on Mars’.

LALA HAYDEN provided us with, perhaps, my favourite moment of the weekend and I’m not talking about her insane vocals. Indeed, I’m referring to her announcement that she was ‘not alone on stage’ (LALA HAYDEN, 2025). As the audience glanced around the empty area behind her bemusedly, it was revealed that her daughter was up there as well, albeit still in-womb (which is bizarre phrasing, but I think I’m going to keep it).

Finally, we had the instantly likeable, Welsh lass, Catty, who did not disappoint with her huge hits which could (and probably should) be all over the charts. ‘Actress’ feels like it should have 100 million+ streams on your preferred music streaming service.

Day Two was more straightforward in its premise. Indie Rock. This day kicked off with the lads from Leeds who go by Eades. One of them really looks like my friend and partner in gigs, Jonny. They were also brilliant, put on a great show. But apparently, it’s the Jonny thing that’s stuck with me. What can you do, eh?

Next up were The Hubbards, from Hull. There’s something Brandon Flowers-y about their frontman. I wonder if Brandon Flowers has ever been to Hull. City of Culture, 2017. You never know.

I liked The Hubbards. Not every song hit for me, but I liked them. Then again, they’re Sam’s favourite band and were my +1’s top act of the evening so I’ve been outvoted. You win this time Hubbards.

Finally, we got to Indoor Pets. The boys from Kent released their second full-length last year, ‘Pathetic Apathetic’, a solid listen. I love their song Pro Procrastinator (from the previous project) so much. I hope it’s not because I relate too closely with the message. If it had been released ten years earlier, it would’ve been on FIFA. Overall, they were a great way to end the night.

And I guess this takes us to the final day. I was basically the first person to turn up. Sam decided not to take me up on my offer of a spare pair of hands to help around before the rest of the Shoreditch Radio team turned up. A wise decision. I’m severely dyspraxic. That being said, I was later employed to throw balloons up in the air for the final act and I did a fantastic job. This was also the day when I got to go into the private room, and I tried to make as many trips back and forth as possible so everyone could see how important I am.

Before she kicked off the day, I had the opportunity to sit down with my new best friend WØLFFE for the second time for another exclusive interview. Strangely, I think about 65% of our interactions have been with a camera and mic pointed at us. We talked about mental health, dreams of Glastonbury, how she prepares for a gig, and her upcoming EP, titled ‘Yuck’ (great name).

Thirty-five minutes after we’d finished talking, she was up on stage, delivering a stripped back set, as her band were on holiday. Joined by friend, and incredible musician in her own right, Frances Lion, WØLFFE reimagined her project Honeymoon Season to great results with just a keyboard and a guitar between the pair. Huge fan, would see again.

There were six acts on the Saturday so I’ll give a slightly shorter synopsis of the other ones:

• VICTORS – Leeds’ answer to Two Door Cinema Club, instrumentally at least. Not everyone agrees with me on that, but I’m happy to die on this hill.
• cruush – Manchester shoegaze extraordinaires. Their use of space in their music to make the harder elements of their tracks truly hit is at an expert level. A mad achievement for a group who told me that they only started releasing good music post-covid.
• Scout – based in London but originally from Sweden. If Taylor Swift released her track ‘Who’ it would be the biggest song of the year. That’s not to say her work is in any way similar to Taylor Swift’s, but two and a half days into the festival, this was the most unique thought I had. She’s only been releasing music for a couple of years and she’s great. Check her out. Check them all out.
• Beaux – I’m not sure how old Beaux is. I’m going to Google it. One sec. Apparently, he’s older than I thought. He’s going to age well I reckon. Beaux has been making a huge name for himself over the past few years and I can see him being massive. Well crafted, ethereal songs, that translate well to the live stage. New album coming out June 3^rd, ‘I Thought We’d Live Here Forever’. Listen to it.
• milk. – the Irish quartet have had multiple hits with well-over one million streams and gave us the promise of more music later this year. I hoped to interview them as well, but complications meant that I couldn’t. Which was a shame. But at least I could clock off early. Less milk and more beer, amirite??? I was reliably informed that many of their songs sound similar to counterparts from The 1975. Not in a derivative way though.

milk. were a perfect way to end the festival. Great energy, catchy tunes that were just as enjoyable whether you’d heard them before or not. It felt like the soundtrack for the end of a coming-of-age film, as if we’d all grown as people over those three days. Lots of hugging, dancing, smiling, people letting themselves get a little bit silly. A real heart warmer. Almost enough to bring a tear to your eye.

On a seriousish note, one challenge the CloseUp team face is navigating the full day of the festival. The tickets say the festival starts at 1pm. However, the first act doesn’t come on until 2:30pm, and from what I was seeing some people are only really there for the headliner, who came on just after 9pm. There are no set times announced before you get there, a decision I stand behind. This isn’t a gig where everyone’s a support act, this is a festival. I saw a decent number of people leaving early doors to return many hours later, and I get it, but it’s called ‘CloseUp Festival’ not ‘milk. gig’. Anyway, the people who left missed out on the stacked roster of talented indie musicians. Still…something for the team to ponder over the next 12 months.

First festival of the year is over. Next up, Charli XCX’s Lido Day, more girl pop here I come. It’s been given a tough act to follow. So much of CloseUp Festival’s charm simply won’t be able to translate to the much bigger day festival. CloseUp Festival had a feeling that only a festival of that size can give you.

The team don’t know whether next year’s edition will look the same as this year or if it will be a two-full-day festival (Saturday and Sunday), as it was last year. Only time will tell. One thing’s for sure though, I’ll be there again (even if I have to pay this time).

Did I mention Sam Tucker has a fantastic ear for music?

– Alex Ferry (Head of Music)