DOWN at the Abbey returns for its second day of music– here’s what’s on the bill.
On Saturday, The August List is set to begin proceedings on the Main Stage, bringing and ethereal element to their funky but folky output.
While their music is edgy, even misanthropic at times, it is all the more energetic and infectious for its occasionally acid tendencies and melodies.
The August List take to the Main Stage from 14.15pm.
The Band of Hope is next up, beginning their set at 3.15pm.
Hailing from Reading and Wallingford, the six-piece mixes classic country sensibilities with modern influences, bringing a retro old-west aspect to their output.
While largely hopeful and sunny, as the name might suggest, Band of Hope has no fear of dipping into more introspective, reflective fields, particularly in their latest album, 2021’s Thin Places.
Madalitso Band follows from 4.15pm with shimmering, sun-drenched sounds from the Malawi two-piece.
They bring an optimistic and up-beat disposition which is easy to get swept up in, carried along by thumping drums, skipping strings, and shout-along vocals to marry their numerous traditional influences.
From 5.30pm, Pale Blue Eyes will perform, with the Devon-based guitar group performing peremptory pop.
Their sparkling brand of shimmering pop harks back to the most ebullient, celebratory bands of the 80s, full of euphoric synth and spangly guitar melodies, all driven by uplifting, up-tempo drum beats and wistful vocal stylings.
From 6.45pm, Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage will flip the script with tongue-in-cheek, country-fused punk.
Lewis merges melodic punk and acoustic influences for a mile-a-minute mix of hoot-and-holler country and sparky, post-modern Americana, layered with cheeky but approachable lyrics and earnest vocal performance from the leading performer.
From 8pm, the effusive enigma of Los Bitchos will take to the stage as part of their continued acceleration through the ranks in the wake of their breakthrough in 2022.
The band marries influences from around the globe, wrapping Peruvian chicha, Turkish psychedelia, and Argentine cumbia in a bow of surf rock and exploratory pop.
BC Camplight will close the Main Stage from 9.45pm with his brand of introspective, down-to-earth pop-rock.
While occasionally downbeat, BC Camplight mixes Euro influences and space-age synth with foreboding but hopeful wistfulness for a heady combination of the everyday with the out-of-this-world.
Over on the Second Stage, Sweet Baboo will mix cinematic orchestration and complex harmonic composition from 1.30pm, followed by the infectious invective of Kah’Nya from 2.45pm.
Ben Marwood follows from 3.45pm, performing fun but ferocious fingerpicking along with poignant and poetic lyrics ahead of a DJ set by Andrew Fursedon from 5pm.
Cornelia Murr is next up at 6pm, bringing glassy, accomplished vocal style and spacey, sonorous instrumentation reminiscent of Beach House, laced with sultry, classical songwriting.
From 7.15pm, Oxford-based Tiger Mendoza brings ecstatic electro-pop infused with industrial and rock influences for an astral but inviting soundscape full of club callbacks and ethereal asides.
Ziyad Al-Samman closes the stage from 9pm, marrying ebullient, euphroic electronica and soulful sensibilities for an infectiously funky offering.
