Festival review: Saturday at Worcester Music Festival 2026
On a very pleasant Saturday afternoon, Charlie Williams is singing the chorus to ‘Let It Be’ as a soundcheck for his set on a stage in Cathedral Square. He’s playing in front of Five Guys and plenty of others (lol). I spot Ant Robbins, one of the curators of Worcester Music Festival. Like Paul McCartney, Ant is responsible for bringing happiness to more people than he will ever know. One of Charlie’s songs is like peak Travis and it’s “about doing things you think you should do.” As such, it could be an anthem for Worcester Music Festival, as you really should go to it if you haven’t been already.
Brummie thrash metallists Deuteronomy come straight out of the blocks at the Oil Basin.
Their second song is “a Black Sabbath song from 1970.” Theo Neave’s guitar solo makes me think of being on a US highway in 1983 while looking forward to an episode of Miami Vice. A tempo shift brings out the “yeah!”s from the crowd. Luke Dudley on lead vocals swaps places with bassist Oscar Neave. Luke stands with legs wider apart than Peter Hook trying to ride two horses at the same time. On final song ‘Break the Chains’, Oscar grips the microphone like Popeye crushing a can of spinach, and his brother plays a guitar solo that makes Brian May seem intermediate.
Local acoustic artist Jennifer Ludlow is at The Conservatory. Her cover of ‘London Calling’ is sublime, and we’re also treated to covers of Bob Dylan’s ‘Man in the Long Black Coat’, ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, and ‘Another Brick in the Wall’. An original song is like Sade but livelier, and another includes lyrics such as “a perfect place just for you and me”. In a pub that has no fewer than seven screens showing football, Jennifer deserves even more credit for such a captivating set.
Back at Spin The Black Circle, Upper Roommates are delighting a large crowd with their Brand New Heavies-like funk rock. ‘Colour TV’ could soundtrack a teen drama involving gratuitous slow-mo hair flicking and gradual displays of perfect teeth. ‘Maverick’ is inspired by Top Gun and is “for everyone born before colour TV.” Lead guitarist Ben Ayling casually knocks out a riff to make Mark Knopfler jealous. A significant percentage of the crowd may be elderly, but this doesn’t stop them dancing in the street.
Stuart McGoo (buttons/knobs) and Luke Bishop (knobs/buttons) are Flam and Flange, and they are also responsible for the riveting podcast of the same name. It’s standing room only at The Firefly. A modem-like melody and thumping kick drum kick off proceedings. I spot Jonny Rose from Hurricane Tapes. A robot voice creeps into the mix, and the bass causes every atom in my skeleton to move a micrometre to the side. Hands are in the air, except for one man’s, who presses his together in prayer formation and slices the air like a very gentle ninja. If you shut your eyes, you’re in Ibiza in ’98, as I’m sure most of this crowd were. A local computing lecturer looks in awe at the Flam and Flange set up as if he’s never seen a computer before.
I have a few minutes to wait until Asbestos Farmer take to the same stage, so I treat myself to a drink. I think I’ve found a relative bargain – a pint of 8% Belgian beer for £6. However, the barman says it’s two thirds of a pint, which was indeed stated in very small writing on the chalkboard that I didn’t scrutinise properly. Therefore, my drink is not a bargain, but it is very nice (Kasteel, if you really want to know). Asbestos Farmer are two bald-headed chaps who make dance music, so they’re basically Orbital. The projection on the screen behind them is ‘butter coalescing with cherry coke’. Front man Boz Za urges hands to be raised. His subsequent words are indiscernible – he could be repeating an extremely iffy political manifesto and we’re all nodding our heads like stunningly compliant lemmings. The band’s name, the silly glasses worn by Ben Sparrow, and the hi-vis wristbands worn by both bandmates are all very silly, but nothing can change the fact that Asbestos Farmer absolutely slap. “I feel the love inside!” Boz hollers. “Big up Malvern…big up Manchester…big up all the MCs and DJs from back in the day…big up Kraftwerk…Big up all the people in Palestine, in Iran…all the people who are suffering…but most of all, big up all the people in St. John’s in Worcester.” And so say all of us.
Bromsgrove band Elm Grove arrive very punctually on the Copper Beech stage, and front man Jake Cluely is wearing his baseball cap the right way round (Fred Durst, take note). For the second day in a row, the Copper Beech crowd enjoys a Nirvana cover (‘Come As You Are’ this time). Lailah Mole on bass takes on lead vocal duties, and highlights include a song that could soundtrack a montage of Central Perk moments, and ‘Pennies’, which is about Smashing Pumpkins and involves Lailah’s brother Kieran battering his drums à laJimmy Chamberlin.
By: Neil Laurenson
Check out Neil’s Reviews of the Friday & Sunday at Worcester Music Festival.
Many thanks to everyone who gave up their time to organise and run this year’s festival. Thanks also to everyone who donated to Onside Advocacy, you can also still donate to the festivals Just Giving Page.