Arguably all multi-day, multi-venue, city-based music festivals have the Camden Crawl to thank for establishing the concept back in 1995. It returns once again in 2012 over the Bank Holiday weekend in May. So far, the list of acts due to appear include Death In Vegas, Glasvegas, The Raincoats, The Futureheads and Gaz Coombes. Lesser established names include And So I Watch You From Afar, Baxter Dury, D/R/U/G/S, Spector, Charlie XCX, Toy and Willy Moon. They will all appear across venues such as KOKO, Electric Ballroom and Dingwalls as well as many smaller locations. Watch out for more bands to be announced over forthcoming weeks.
The Camden Crawl takes place from 4th 6th May across various venues in Camden, London. Tickets and further information are available here.
The Great Escape Festival returns to Brighton again this year, boldly claiming to be Europes leading festival for new music, promising over 300 new bands over 30 venues. Maximo Park and The Temper Trap are confirmed to play the 2000 capacity Brighton Dome but elsewhere there is an impressive array of smaller shows by exciting new bands. Stand-out names include Grimes, Perfume Genius and Django Django who have all already made sizeable impacts with their latest albums this year. Two American bands to have created similar ripples in 2012, Friends and Howler, are also lined up to play as are three acts signed to Berlin based label Erased Tapes Nils Frahm, A Winged Victory For The Sullen & The British Expeditionary Force. Other notable names due to appear include When Saints Go Machine, Francois & The Atlas Mountains and Seattle hip-hop outfit Shabazz Palaces.
The Great Escape takes place from 10th 12th May across various venues in Brighton. Tickets and further information are available here.
Further north, Liverpool Sound City takes place across the weekend of 17-19th May. Death In Vegas, Professor Green, White Denim, Michael Kiwanuka, Ghostpoet and Niki & The Dove are all scheduled to appear over several venues. More names will be announced soon and the event promises keynote speakers and special guests. More details can be found here.
The Dot to Dot festival follows a slightly different format to other events in how it moves from city to city over the course of the Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday. It begins in Bristol on 2nd June, moves up to Nottingham on 3rd June and finally reaches Manchester on 4th June. The Drums, Pulled Apart By Horses, Willy Mason, Summer Camp and Deaf Club are all confirmed to appear. Expect more names to be added soon and get further information here.
The north-east of England boasts three distinctive events this year. First up is the Evolution Festival which takes place over 3rd-4th June on the Newcastle quayside. Dizzee Rascal, Deadma5, Maximo Park and Noah & The Whale will be appearing amongst others. Get more details here. Next up is the SummerTyne Americana festival which takes place in and around the Sage in Gateshead over 20th-22nd July. Acts confirmed to appear so far include Wanda Jackson, John Hiatt & The Combo Michael Chapman, Darrell Scott and Lera Lyn. Therell be other events taking place along the south bank of the Tyne (including free events and special performances aboard a boat that will cruise down the Tyne). More details can be found here. Finally, back over the river in Newcastle the second TUSK festival will take place at the Star And Shadow and other venues over 5th-7th October. Last years event showcased a pleasing balance of highly regarded experimental / unapologetically obscure acts and early signs indicate 2012 will be similar. The first announcement of names to appear included Keiji Haino, Pelt, Gate and Hieroglyophic Being. Therell also be films, installations, workshops and discussion panels. Read more about TUSK here.
