UK/Euro Lineups: Truck, Sound City & North Sea Jazz Fest Anniversaries, Stars At Lowlands & More

Truck Festival in Oxfordshire, England, is celebrating its 25th anniversary July 22-24, with a bill led by  headliners Sam Fender, Kasabian, Bombay Bicycle Club, and The Kooks (special guest co-headliner), plus a Thursday headline performance from Blossoms.

The lineup, comprising established and breakthrough artists, also features Sigrid, Sea Girls, Kelis, Sundata Karma, Inhaler, The Murder Capital, Jaws, Noisy, Cassia, Courting, Grandmas House, and many more. Wilkinson, Bru-C, Ewan McVicar, Chloe Robinson, Mollie Collins, A Little Sound, Mozet, Kara, and more will make sure fans of electronic music get their money’s worth, too.

90% of tickets have already been snapped up, according to the latest press release. Festival organizer Conor Burns commented, “the whole team are truly overwhelmed with the response and still in awe of the demand for tickets this year, July cannot come quick enough!”

Download Festival returns to Donington Park in Leicestershire, England, June 10-12, headlined by Kiss, Iron Maiden, and Biffy Clyro.

Hard rock fans can also look forward to A Day To Remember, Deftones, Korn, Volbeat, Megadeth, Steel Panther, The Distillers, Airbourne, Rise Against, Powerwulf, Sepultura, an acoustic set from Myles Kennedy, and a lot more.

Live Nation’s famous hard rock brand Download will also launch in Germany this year, after spawning offshoots in France, Spain, Australia, Japan. The Germany premiere, currently scheduled as a one-day event on June 24, will be headlined by Metallica, marking their only concert in Germany in 2022.

Standon Calling has revealed what promoters describe as the festival’s “strongest and most eclectic lineup to date.” It is led by headliners Anne-Marie, Loyle Carner, Primal Scream, and Madness, who will take the stage at the Hertfordshire event, July 21-24.

The family-friendly festival is going down for the 16th time in 2022, after already pulling off the event last year, against all odds. Festival founder and director Alex Trenchard commented, “We could not be more pleased to share this unbelievable line up for 2022. So many incredible artists are coming to Standon for the very first time, and with each year we get to enjoy this magical weekend with new and old friends from all around the UK!”

Lowlands has unveiled the first 68 names, scheduled to take over Walibi Holland in Biddinghuizen, Aug. 19-21. The impressive list includes Arctic Monkeys, The Opposites, Stromae, Balthazar, Bring Me The Horizon, Glass Animals, James Blake, Jungle, Lewis Capaldi, Liam Gallagher, Mahalia, Michael Kiwanuka, Pendulum (live), Noord Nederlands Orkest, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Sam Fender, slowthai, and Tash Sultana.

There’s a wellness village with saunas, hot tubs and sports facilities, dozens of restaurants offering cuisines from all corners of the earth, a large market with everything from clothes and vinyl stores to a barber’s shop, its own currency, a local radio station, a daily newspaper (Dutch only) and, last but not least: seven luxury campsites with flushable toilets, hot showers and dressing tables. 

Another Mojo/Live Nation festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, is all set for a triumphant return, July 8-10. After having to be postponed twice, the 45th edition will take place at the renewed Rotterdam Ahoy venue.

Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Gregory Porter, and Michael Kiwanuka lead an impressive bill that also features BadBadNotGood, Black Pumas, Diana Krall, Ibrahim Maalouf, Jacob Collier, Marcus King and Melody Gardot, among others.

John Legend will open the festival on the Thursday, July 7, and legendary jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock will feature as Artist in Residence. Another special jazz project comes in the form of Ravi Coltrane, who will play the music of his parents John and Alice together with Brandee Younger.

In addition to the big names, the festival will also present new, up-and-coming artists such as Alfa Mist, Emma-Jean Thackray, James Francies, Tems, Nona, Yola, Melanie Charles, and The Fearless Flyers with Joe Dart, Cory Wong, Mark Lettieri and Nate Smith.

We Are Fstvl announced the addition of a new live stage to its location, the Damyns Hall Aerodrome in Upminster, East London, Aug. 6-7. This means, that in addition to some of the world’s hottest DJs the 2022 edition will also see a range of live artists take the stage.

KSI, Craig David Presents TS5, Tyga, Mabel, Bru-C, Chip, Hardy Caprio and Yungen have been confirmed as live performers. They join previously announced artists including Andy C, Tale Of Us, The Martinez Brothers, Patrick Topping, Todd Terry, Adam Beyer, Carl Cox, Marco Carola, Loco Dice, Deborah De Luca, Michael Bibi and many more. 

Steve Durham, We Are FSTVL CEO, commented, “The ultimate highlight of the festival calendar is returning for the hugely anticipated 9th edition and heads back to The Airfield of Dreams, bringing together some of the most iconic names in Bass, Techno, Drum & Bass and Dance music.”

The festival’s main sponsor is PrettyLittleThing, one of the fastest-growing fashion retailers in the world. That’s why it says PrettyLittleThing presents We Are Fstvl on the poster this year.

Sound City celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, April 30–May 1. The lineup is led by The Lathums, Self Esteem, Yard Act, Alfie Templeman, The Reytons, Mae Muller, Baby Queen, Crawlers, Matt Maltese and many more, who will perform across multiple venues in Liverpool, England.

Sound City prides itself on showcasing some of the hottest emerging talent in the UK. The event is also running an “Apply To Play” program for up-and-coming artists looking to perform at the festival. The musical program is preceded by the Sound City+ Conference on April 29, which brings together around 100 industry professionals.

“Apply To Play” is realized in cooperation with music distributor TuneCore. Applications can be submitted from Friday, Feb. 4. Speaking about Sound City 2022, managing director Becky Ayres said, “What Sound City does best is showcase the best in new music across a wide array of genres, and to be able to bring some of the most essential new voices in pop, indie, rock, soul and much more to the festival this year is something we take huge pride in.

“Complete with the return of the Sound City+ Conference, which welcomes the wider music industry to Liverpool each year, it’s clear that Sound City 2022 is going to be a special one with the eyes of the music world firmly on our city once again!”

The star-studded one-day event TW Classic takes place on June 25 this year, just a week ahead of Rock Werchter, and at the same location, the Festivalpark Werchter.

TW Classic 2022 is headlined by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. As was revealed yesterday, The Smile, the supergroup formed by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner, and Courtney Barnett have joined the bill. They complete the lineup that also comprises Placebo, Sleaford Mods and Whispering Sons.

The Azores are an archipelago off the coast of Portugal, which it belongs to.  Sao Miguel is the largest island of the group, and it hosts a festival for adventurous and experimental music, called Tremor, April 5-9.

This year’s lineup features UK composer Alabaster DePlume, Moroccan iconoclasts Taqbir, Swiss septet L’Eclair, Portuguese songwriter Maria Reis, Lisbon saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, Azorean acts Jonathan Tavares and Victoria, and more.

The program of Tremor also comprises artistic residencies and special projects. The event takes place across multiple venues.