Festival headliners of the future

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We are knee-deep into festival season with the likes of Glastonbury, Download and The Great Escape offering punters a brilliant time, whatever the weather, and we’ve still got the annual chaos of Reading & Leeds to look forward to.

• READ MORE: Latitude Festival 2023 review: ’90s nostalgia paired with an exciting future

So far this year, audiences have seen some brilliant headline sets, from Pulp’s glorious encore at Latitude Festival and Bruce Springsteen’s epic showing at BST Hyde Park to Elton John’s emotional Glastonbury farewell. And while there’s nothing wrong with The Greats, this big summer of live music has allowed the next generation of headliners to stake their claim. Below, we’ve rounded up 11 of the most exciting, interesting, vibrant acts who we think will go on to headline British festivals at some point in the future.

Lizzo

After *that* performance at Glastonbury, it can’t be much longer before Lizzo is asked back to Worthy Farm to headline the festival outright. She’s already topping bills across Europe and North America, while a string of sold-out UK arena shows earlier this year saw the popstar make those gigantic rooms feel intimate. 

Reviewing the London leg of the ‘Special’ tour, NME wrote: “Throughout, she displays a peerless ability to connect with a crowd. She wells up several times when her enormous warmth is reflected back at her by fans. By the time she ends with a triumphant ‘About Damn Time’ – accompanied  by a giant disco ball – it’s clear her job here is done. Lizzo isn’t just a great entertainer, but pop’s foremost purveyor of unadulterated joy.”

Lizzo Specials tour UK dates saw buyers flock from 23 countries. Lucky buyers were able to cop tickets for as low as £7.89 on viagogo.

SZA

SZA’s always been a bit of legend, inspiring a whole new generation of R&B storytellers, but with the release of ‘SOS’ at the end of last year, she entered a whole new level of stardom. The arena tour she undertook to support it was a “star-studded spectacle” with the likes of Cardi B, Phoebe Bridgers and Travis Scott all guesting at various points of the run but ultimately, it was SZA who owned those arena stages night after night. 

“Few, if any, can hold a candle to SZA’s supreme talent, as tonight shows,” wrote NME after watching her at a sold-out Madison Square Garden.

Måneskin

Måneskin’s third album ‘RUSH!’ saw the Italian four-piece prove they were so much more than a Eurovision band while their ongoing world tour has seen them dominate arenas across North America while they’ve also made themselves at home in stadiums across Italy. A recent run around London’s O2 was an extraordinarily good time, with the production practically begging for festival headline slots while their set on Glastonbury’s Woodsies Stage saw them more than capable of bringing people into their melodramatic rock & roll circus. 

The Last Dinner Party

Yes, The Last Dinner Party have only released two singles but they’ve spent the past 18 months slowly crafting an exceptional live show and all that hard work is now paying off. They’re currently smashing their way through their first proper festival season, their upcoming slot at Reading & Leeds has all the makings of a legendary one, while a sold-out show at London’s Camden Assembly earlier this year was “impossibly beautiful, ecstatic and ridiculous all at once”. There’s absolutely no reason not to believe the hype.

Dylan

Dylan is also somewhat of a festival newbie. Last Summer, she played her first one at Barn On The Farm and turned up wearing a hoody, because she didn’t expect anyone to come watch her. Twelve months later, she’s been a highlight at both Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds, while a six-week stadium tour of North America supporting Ed Sheeran has given her a crash-course in bringing everyone into her giddy world. Her pop-rock anthems are made for massive singalongs while her onstage enthusiasm is as infectious as they come.

Self Esteem

Self Esteem has been touring her brilliant second album ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ for two years now, but the end is very much in sight with just a handful of live dates remaining. Over those past 24 months, the show has evolved into a cathartic pop spectacle, complete with dance routines, choreography and an ambitious sense of grandeur. She’s remained tight-lipped about whatever comes next, but it feels like it’ll be special.

Spiritbox

At the heavier end of things are Spiritbox. The band released their brilliant debut album ‘Eternal Blue’ back in 2021 while their debut performance at Download the following year saw a non-stop sea of crowdsurfers in a very busy tent. Since then, they’ve toured arenas with Bring Me The Horizon, released a handful of forward-thinking singles and completed a very sold-out tour of the UK including two nights at London’s Roundhouse. At every turn, they feel like superstars in the making. 

Nova Twins

Not many bands have been shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize and then gone on to smash main stage appearances at both Glastonbury at Download but Nova Twins are a very special prospect. Their music is ridiculously heavy, but there’s a poppy-undertone weaving its way throughout. They’ve toured with everyone from Bring Me to Muse, so have seen first hand how to put on an impressive live show and their onstage energy is unmatched. The pair thrive on those big, unpredictable stages, and have the songs to back it up. 

Becky Hill

Later this summer, Becky Hill will subheadline Reading & Leeds, taking to the stage before Billie Eilish and Imagine Dragons. It feels like a trial run for a full-blown headline set. Over the past few years, Hill’s electrifying, empowering, feel-good dance music has soundtracked festivals, raves and house-parties while Hill herself has become a bonafide popstar in the process. Just imagine how much fun it would be.

Phoebe Bridgers

Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Punisher’ took the singer-songwriter from cult icon to global superstar. Last summer, she sold out four-nights at London’s Brixton Academy with each gig a fiery, cathartic and unifying experience. Since then, she’s reunited with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker for boygenius’ “instant classic” debut album ‘The Record’ and she looked entirely at home supporting Taylor Swift on her ‘Eras’ tour earlier this summer. There’s no telling where album three will take her.

Bellah

Bellah stole the show at SXSW earlier this summer, with NME declaring “the future of R&B is in safe hands”. It’s been a whirlwind 18-months for the London-based singer, who released their debut EP ‘Adultsville’ in September before a string of triumphant headline shows. Reviewing her set at The Great Escape, NME said: “She has the sort of charisma most artists would kill for, yet it’s Bellah’s powerhouse vocals that really do the talking.“ This week, she said how there’s going to be a worldwide explosion of British R&B and “I’m gonna lead it”. You’d be a fool to stand in her way.

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