So the Kendal Calling 2025 lineup is out, much earlier than usual too, and as always a great mix of old and new:
The headliners are a split between indie and dance music, which is a bit of a change but I’m sure will go down well with many, especially the younger audience.
Courteeners are a tried and tested festival band and always a welcome addition, and Kaiser Chiefs doing the ‘Employment’ album in full adds an extra dimension to their festival appearances, as there are plenty of great songs on that album that haven’t been played in years.
Prodigy and Fatboy Slim are huge names for KC to get also!
Strength in depth
Below the headliners, there is a lot of strength in depth. Travis are the ones that stood out to us, they’ve got so many hits and suit the Kendal crowd perfectly.
Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls are Kendal favourites and always put on a great show, The Last Dinner Party are one of the bigger bands to come through recently and were brilliant at Reading and The Wombats, Maximo Park, The Pigeon Detectives Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Inspiral Carpets are all festival veterans with many hits each. James Walsh from Starsailor is on our list too, we caught him doing a secret set at Tim Peaks in 2022 and his solo versions of the Starsailor songs get such a good sing along.
They’ve also continued the tradition of recent years of having pop acts that don’t play as many festivals with Daniel Bedingfield and Pixie Lott, both of which will be on our list if there are no clashes.
Hidden gems
Lower down the bill is where festivals like Kendal Calling really come into their own, as you get to see a lot of up and coming acts alongside the more established names. This adds to the already excellent value for money to us too, as we discover a lot of new stuff and want to see them live, but the cost can add up especially with us not living in a city.
Below we’ve highlighted a few of the emerging and newer acts that we already know and like from lower down the poster to check out to help you make the most of the festival:
The Royston Club
A modern take on traditional indie, these guys are going to go far. We’ve seen them twice this year, and they’ve got a proper devoted following, are brilliant live and have some great tunes. They’ll be near the top of the list for us at this festival.
Songs to check out: The Patch Where Nothing Grows, Mrs Narcissistic, 52, Blisters, Shallow Tragedy, Cold Sweats, Mariana
Nieve Ella
Very catchy guitar pop, and starting to pick up a big following and getting a lot of Radio 1 play. She won’t be playing stages this small for long. Another one that we’d highly recommend you check out:
Songs to check out: Sugarcoated, The Things We Say, Sweet Nothings, Car Park, His Sofa, Ganni Top (She Gets What She Needs), Your Room
STONE
Politically charged band from Liverpool. Very impressive live, we saw them supporting DMA’s and their sound quality was perfect, which is very rare for a support act. They played Kendal a couple of years back, and I’d expect they’ll get a bigger crowd this time. Despite only having one album, they have 25 songs on Spotify so there’s plenty of music to get into.
Songs to check out: Money (Hope Ain’t Gone), Queen, Let’s Dance to the Real Thing, I Gotta Feeling, Leave It Out, My Thoughts Go, Waste.
The K’s
I wasn’t sure whether to include these as they are getting bigger, but only in certain circles. If you haven’t listened to these and like indie music with raw social commentary, you should check them out. Anthemic indie and works well on a big stage as we saw at Reading.
Songs to check out: Chancer, Hometown, Sarajevo, Glass Towns, Heart on My Sleeve,
Daydreamers
Up and coming indie band, if I was doing comparisons then I’d say they were along the lines of The 1975, especially their big hit ‘Call Me Up’. They were good at Neighbourhood Festival, and are definitely worth checking out.
Songs to check out: Call Me Up, Beach House, Don’t Delete My Number, Colourblind
Chloe Slater
Insightful modern day social commentary with lots of humour. We saw her at Neighbourhood Festival and she was so good live. Really looking forward to watching her journey!
Songs to check out: Price on Fun, Death Trap, 24 Hours
Sports Team
Now these guys have been around for a few years so many of you will know them already, but if you haven’t seen them, I’d highly recommend it. High energy, great music with a mid-00s feeling (in the best way) and witty lyrics.
Songs to check out: M5, Here’s the Thing, Fishing, R Entertainment, The Drop
The Clause
Another indie band building up a decent following – they got a good crowd on the Y Not main stage this year. ‘In My Element’ has everyone bouncing!
Songs to check out: In My Element, Sixteen,Time of Our Lives.
Overpass
Slightly rockier indie, and some catchy tunes.
Songs to check out: 3am, Right Time, On Your Own
KC Playlist
I’ve put together a playlist of a few of my favourite songs from acts at the festival, including both the bigger ones and the hidden gems
Tickets
Tickets will go quick for this one, they’ve already sold 70% without the lineup!! Sign up for the pre sale here. If you miss out on tickets, Tixel is the official reseller of Kendal Calling, and you should be able to pick up face value tickets nearer the time.
