Summer Assembly returns to The Castle this Saturday (July 27) for its second annual celebration of up-and-coming new indie and alternative live music, including some homegrown heroes handpicked by Luton music collective Vandalism Begins at Home.
Nine acts will soundtrack this outdoor all-day musical extravaganza, with Broken Castles headlining and Luton bands Tooth Marks, ScreamingMechanicalBrain and SOURDOUGH among the noiseniks making a glorious racket.
Vandalism Begins at Home (VB@H) are one of the town’s leading live music promoters, and with a podcast and a record label to their name, there’s a good chance music fans will seen or heard them champion the acts billed to play Summer Assembly.
VB@H co-conspirator, Ben Barry, said: “Festival season is upon us and we’re buzzing with excitement over the strength of the line-up we’ve put together. We’ve banged the drum for these acts, whether that’s at our regular gigs at The Castle, or on our new music podcast, but now it’s over to the fans to come and make this a special day-long celebration of some of the best and brightest new bands. You might just find your new favourite band… or nine.
“There’s no doubt that around the country grassroots music venues are under threat, but we’re thankful that in Luton the appetite for live music continues to grow. We saw the success of the Big Weekend in May, but the likes of Coldplay don’t fill Stockwood Park out of the blue, they all start in small venues like The Castle.
“So, Summer Assembly is as much about our favourite church of live music in Luton as it is the bands and we look forward to celebrating with people. Plus, for so much music action in one day, the ticket prices are a steal!”
While all the early-bird £5 tickets are already sold out, don’t fear because there are still advance tickets available for £6 online or £7 on the door from 2pm on Saturday.
But if you’re new to the bands on the bill for Summer Assembly, then here’s your handy guide to to get you in-the-know:
BROKEN CASTLES
Headliners Broken Castles released their sophomore EP, ‘The Smell of Victory’ in June and, for the last few years, have garnered a fierce live reputation, particularly at The Castle, which the Milton Keynes three-piece have turned into a second home.
Expect a band of brothers forged in the fires of a golden era. Pummelling out distorted groove-laden 90’s riffage whipped up into a brutal delivery of fierce vocals, sludgy guitars and pounding drums, like one of their recent singles ‘It’s A Beautiful Life’.
FRENCH MOTHERS
Enter the post-indie wonderland of French Mothers, whose latest single ‘Lovely Day To Die’ has been earning plaudits in the music press, with tastemakers Indie Central Music saying “the song is an anthemic gem which stops you in your tracks and makes you pay attention to every detail.”
With new single ‘The TV’s Snowing’ ready to drop in August, now’s the time to catch the Leighton Buzzard five-piece on a crest of a wave, as regular gig-goers at The Castle will have seen twice before. Expect singalongs as the sun goes down.
BLUE CABS
The prolific rockers have been named as on the Vandalism Begins at Home Podcast as one of discoveries of 2024 – and you could hardly miss them as they’ve been launching a flurry of spiky indie punk grenades in the run up to their second EP ‘Ignorance Is Not Bliss’, which will be out early in August.
And the Milton Keynes foursome are the latest stars of the VB@H Live Sessions, filmed in The Castle, to highlight the importance of local grassroots music. Blue Cabs’ three-song stripped-back set providing a more mellow take on the all-out aural assault that their Summer Assembly performance is sure to bring, as well as giving you an insight into what makes their meters tick.
SOURDOUGH
Speaking of VB@H Live Sessions, the frontman of hometown heroes SOURDOUGH, Jacob Kyte, was the inaugural star of the series, delivering an exclusive, never-recorded-before hat-trick of soon-to-be fan favourites.
But back at The Castle on Saturrday, Jacob will be joined by his brothers in arms Connor Bishop and Charlie Burnett for their very own brand of explosive noise-rock, perhaps featuring cuts from their devastatingly good debut EP ‘Outlet‘.
SCREAMINGMECHANICALBRAIN
All hail Luton’s new kings of epic! ScreamingMechanicalBrain crashed onto the scene this year with two single releases – ‘Connie Was a Reptile’ and ‘Cardboard Hand Me Downs’ – totalling just shy of 18 minutes. But more is most definitely more with these boys as they create a lucid dream of pounding rhythms, cyclonic guitars and soulful vocals, creating a musical journey to lose yourself in.
They’ve only played a handful of gigs, but they’ve already proved to be an unmissable live act, while racking up the streaming numbers to be one of the town’s most listened to bands of the year, and and on home soil they guaranteed to bring the noise and alter your reality.
TOOTH MARKS
Tooth Marks make it a Luton double-bill as they return to The Castle where they’ve played live and loud and have also laid down some acoustic versions as one of the other VB@H Live Session alumni.
THE NIMBLEWITS
There’s not a more perfect band to celebrate summer with than the legendary Bedfordshire folk-pop trio The Nimblewits. Expect catchy off-kilter harmonies straight from the heart from their impressive cannon.
PEACHSTONE
What would a summer’s day be without the shimmery dreampop of Stevenage’s Peachstone. Theirs will be a special acoustic jaunt through their impressive catalogue, from last year’s sun-kissed ‘Off/On’ to their stunning self-titled debut EP.
ARUN ENTWISTLE
Opening the Summer Assembly festival will be the quiet riot of Milton Keynes singer-songwriter Arun Entwhisle, with his songs about life and discovery, and hopefully a track or five from his debut EP ‘Good Way Out’ which celebrated its first anniversary last month.
So, there you have it, there’s plenty of new music to discover. Get £6 advanced tickets here.
Summer Assembly is also in association with Castlefest UK and Seeing Eye Rum, with the team from Bedfordshire’s most rock n roll rum outfit there on cocktail making duty.
