Event: ArcTanGent Festival
Where: Fernhill Farm, Bristol, England
When: Thursday 17th – Sunday 20th August 2023
Ticket Info:
3 day ticket: £190.50
Full ticket info and options (including day tickets & VIP packages) are available on DICE
General Info:
We’ve been keeping tabs on independent alternative festival ArcTanGent for a few years now, and their 2023 line-up looks better than ever! Described by Metal Hammer Magazine as “a haven of progressive music across the spectrum of all things heavy,” the festival aims to showcase an eclectic array of artists and bands across five alternating stages.
Things kick off early on Wednesday 16th August with special guest performances from a diverse range of upcoming alternative artists, but the official line-up starts on Thursday 17th August. There’s also a silent disco on each night from 11pm-3am.
Who’s Playing: Check out the full line-up here
There are so many excellent bands playing at ArcTanGent this year, it’s hard to pick favourites! As you all know, at Get In Her Ears, we focus on female, non-binary and LGBTQ+ talent, so beneath the official line-up poster below, there are some in depth recommendations about bands who we have championed via our website, Soho Radio show or live nights in recent years.
We have no doubt that these artists will put on a phenomenal show too: HEALTH, Devin Townsend, Russian Circles, SWANS, CONVERGE, Spurv, Deafheaven, PETBRICK, A Burial At Sea, Loathe and Birds In Row. You can get to know them all better by listening to our accompanying Spotify Playlist at the end of this feature.
BRUTUS
This heavy trio from Belgium will definitely be a festival highlight. We spoke to Brutus’ drummer and vocalist Stefanie Mannaerts ahead of the release of the band’s third album, Unison Life, back in 2022 and she spoke eloquently about the sheer determination that went into creating their strongest record to date. We also caught Brutus’ live at The Garage in London on their UK tour later that year, and they blew us away with their thunderous, triumphant, self-possessed sound. We overheard someone refer to Stefanie as “Bjork on drums,” which we think is an immense compliment. Read our full interview with her here.
CLT DRP
It feels cliche to say it, but Brighton trio CLT DRP (pronounced ‘clit drip’) are a band that need to be seen live to be fully appreciated. Blending punk vocals with wild, idiosyncratic guitar FX and phenomenal drumming; Annie, Scott and Daphne have an unparalleled energy when performing on stage together. We got caught up in the mosh pit for one of their four(!) sets at The Great Escape Festival in May, and we’ve only just recovered from it. We can’t wait to hear their upcoming album, Nothing Clever, Just Feelings, in full when it’s released in September.
STRAIGHT GIRL
This Leeds-based electronic artist is responsible for the first ever stage invasion at a Get In Her Ears gig! if that’s not incentive enough to turn up early for their DJ set on Wednesday, we don’t know what is? They filled the room with candid, chaotic queer joy and fierce synth-driven noise when they headlined for us at The Shacklewell Arms in East London in July. Checkout out some excellent pics that photographer Cassie Barnard took of them here.
TOKKY HORROR
We still haven’t seen the formidable TOKKY HORROR play live, but we’re sure their wild blend of punk, rave and dance music will be a sensational experience not to be missed. We spoke to producer Zee earlier this year about the band’s latest EP, KAPPACORE, and the their ethos of making space in music for marginalised folks and making the mosh a safe and inclusive place. Read the full piece here.
ROLO TOMASSI
After almost two decades of playing together, Sheffield-based five-piece Rolo Tomassi have a distinctive sound that keeps their fans coming back for more. We caught them live at Camden’s Electric Ballroom in February, and we were dazzled by Eva Korman’s elastic vocal range, which was made all the more potent by the crystalline, visceral walls of sound her bandmates conjured.
We were also deeply impressed by their support act; genre-defying, Phoenix-based four-piece Holy Fawn. They have a collective intuition for balancing perfectly timed, blissfully noisy drop-ins alongside more shadowy, majestic sounds. This state of emotional flux is something the band captured on their recent album Dimensional Bleed, and it’s one that translates beautifully in a live setting.
NEW TALENT
These artists are completely new to us, but we recommend you check them out too:
GGGOLDDD, Chinese Football, Cultdreams, Svalbard, Bones Of Minerva, Pupil Slicer, LOS SARA FONTAN, Mountain Caller, Other Half, Parachute For Gordo, Heilung, Liturgy, Ashenspire, Lack The Low, Lys Morke, Witchsorrow, The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, The Callous Daoboys, fakeyourdeath, Naut, Every Hell and Thought Forms.
For more information visit the ArcTanGent official website
Check out our ArcTanGent Playlist below, led by tracks from some of the female & non-binary talent playing the festival this year!
Get In Her Ears 