No Play Festival is back and, this time, it’s taking over Liverpool city centre. With three stages including the newly reopened Arts Club along with EBGBS and The Jacaranda, No Play promises to once again bring the best alternative artists to Britain’s iconic music city.
After bursting on to the UK festival scene last summer with a line up that included YONAKA, VUKOVI, Higher Power and Conjurer alongside an incredibly special secret set from local heavyweights LOATHE, it was going to be no small feat for No Play to follow up their debut. Booking your first international headliner is one way to do it!
San Diego’s SeeYouSpaceCowboy lead the mainstage billing this year for their first time playing Liverpool. The band released their third album, Coup de Grâce, 28 April and have a busy schedule lined up as they complete a huge US tour this summer. Forming in 2016, the band’s previous works have combined intensely dark punk and metalcore with writing that reflects frontwoman Connie Sgarbossa’s difficult experience as a trans woman dealing with grief and addiction. With a live show that is no less hard-hitting than their lyrics, it’s safe to say we’re in for a special performance.
The main stage also sees a Merseyside debut for Heriot. Since signing to Century Media late last year, the band have dropped two new singles and been announced as the openers for a huge UK/European tour with Sylosis and Fit for an Autopsy. 2024 is shaping up to be a massive year for the metal quartet; it feels like only a matter of time before they’re headlining those huge stages themselves!
Featuring staples of the UK hardcore scene: Grove Street, Cauldron and Cruelty, the lineup this year is notably heavier. This is something Ted MacDonald, No Play founding member, says was very much a deliberate choice: “2023 was incredible but we realised a lot of our audience felt most at home at the Guillotine Stage. Heavy tunes and basement shows are what we do so, whilst we want the fest to feel huge, we don’t want to stray too far from those roots!”.
It seems fitting then that No Play host this year in two venues they frequent so often: EBGBS and The Jacaranda. It’s the EBGBS basement that is hosting No Play’s Guillotine Stage this year and with viral stars Split Chain headlining, it promises to be no small venture.
The stage takes its name from The Guillotine Sessions, No Play’s monthly showcase of North West artists, designed to help younger acts cut their teeth and find talent to elevate to larger stages. In testament to this, after a basement-ripping Guillotine Stage performance last year, fan-favourites Forager graduate to the Main Stage for 2024.
Lead singer Oli says, “We feel so blessed to be playing the Main Stage. No Play has been a champion for our band’s music for the longest time and helped us find a second home within the heavy music scene in Liverpool. Some of our newest and hard hitting tracks were written specifically for the Liverpool crowds and we can’t wait to debut them at No Play Fest!”.
The Jacaranda Stage is powered by Royal Artists, a local management label that, much like No Play, rose from the ashes of the pandemic. Company founder, Danny Boland stated: “Royal Artists are extremely proud to partner with No Play to showcase a collection of our talent alongside the incredible artists already performing at this year’s event. Operating out of Liverpool, we’ve worked closely with No Play to bring exciting, up and coming artists from around the UK to the North West in a bid to re-establish the alternative scene. It’s a pleasure to be a key part of No Play Festival 2024.”
Tickets are on general sale now, available from: seetickets.com/tour/no-play-festival
Follow No Play Festival on Instagram @noplayfest for updates.
