Worcester Music Festival Friday 11th September with Mark Jackson
Stepping into the streets for the Friday leg of the Worcester Music Festival 2026, the city immediately hits you with a feel-good, fiercely supportive atmosphere. As the UK’s largest donation-entry festival, boasting over 350 performances across 25 venues, the sheer scale of the event is impressive, but the community spirit remains beautifully grounded in its mission to support this year’s chosen charity, ONSIDE.
The evening began at Tonic Bar, where Abi F Jones perfectly matched the cosy, intimate aesthetic of the room. Armed with angelic, soulful tones that echoed beautifully around the venue, she delivered a deeply personal set, taking the time to explain the meaning behind originals like Our Love and Outside. Backed by her guitarist Loz, who harmonized and kept pace brilliantly, she held the crowd captive, capping things off with a uniquely soulful twist on Jealous Guy.
Over at the Kings Head, the crowd swarmed the stage the second Nigel Clark of Dodgy stepped up for his acoustic set. Delivering crisp acoustic notes paired with his iconic vocal range, Clark’s crowd interaction was an absolute masterclass. A stand-out moment came when he treated the room to a reimagined version of Staying Out for the Summer—slowing the melody right down from the original, yet retaining all the warmth and charm that made it a classic, which the crowd completely soaked up. He rounded off a fantastic set leading a roaring room as they sang along to the ultimate classic Good Enough word for word.
Copper Beech Brewery provided a brilliant lesson in sonic contrasts. Out on the patio, Poppy WS set a wonderfully ambient atmosphere, utilizing loop techniques to build tracks instrument by instrument beneath her soulful voice before closing her set with a fantastic cover of The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights. Inside, however, recent Cheltenham Metal 2 The Masses winners, Chug, unleashed a monumental two-piece wall of noise. Drummer and vocalist Doug Knight delivered huge drops and deep vocals straight from the gates of hell, perfectly matched by Jacob Durrant’s finger-shredding guitar riffs.
The night hit its absolute climax at a packed-out Marrs Bar. Darius Zaltash whipped up a perfect storm on the floor, blending rock and dance energy into a fresh sound that the crowd immediately embraced. By the time Nuns of the Tundra took the stage, the atmosphere was at a sweaty, adrenaline-fueled fever pitch. Locked in by Hugo Bowman’s slick, high-tempo drum beats and Mikey Long’s heavy, driving basslines, guitarist Dan Goode laid down riffs that felt almost Tony Iommi-like in their weight and crunch. Frontman Troy Tittley whipped the packed room into a full mosh pit frenzy, proving exactly why they have such a massive following and cementing a truly unforgettable night of live music.
By: Mark Jackson