End of the Road’s 20th anniversary and my ninth EOTR. And as good as ever. It felt like there were more people there than before, and it’s certainly selling out faster these days. There were a few adjustments to the venues to accommodate the greater numbers: both the Big Top and the Folly were a little larger than before, and the stage in the Folly had been repositioned, to good effect. The best new feature, though, was the introduction – at last! – of screens on both sides the main stage, the Woods. That really made a difference, especially if you weren’t standing near the front. Maybe they’ll come to the Big Top in the future.

The organisers pulled out the stops for the headliners, with Geese on Thursday – quite a coup – Mac DeMarco (less exciting, but an EOTR stalwart) on Friday, Pulp on Saturday and CMAT on Sunday. I didn’t go to Pulp – except for one song – or CMAT, so I won’t be reviewing them. But read any of the reviews in the media and it will be mostly about those two. You get the alternative EOTR here!

The weather forecast looked dire a couple of weeks ago, but gradually it improved. We were still expecting some rain and packed accordingly. Cold evenings were anticipated too, so long trousers were part of the rucksack’s contents. Never used them; likewise the walking boots, to deal with the mud, never found their way out of the Sainsbury’s plastic bag. There was some heavy rain in the early hours of Friday, but that was largely it. And the weather on Saturday and Sunday was lovely – in fact we were starting to complain about it being too hot on Sunday!

Thursday 3 September

End of the Road has always had a decent selection of music on the Thursday, but it’s limited to the Woods Stage, the Folly and the Boat, which is tucked away in the woods. Unlike the Woods stage, which is not in the woods!  Our first band of the evening was Modern Woman, on the Woods Stage. Fronted by Sophie Harris, they released their debut album, Johnny’s Dreamworld, in May this year. I’ve seen them play EOTR, Latitude and Wide Awake in the past few years, and have always enjoyed the wild mix of punk, folk and prog, with David Denyer’s violin adding to the mayhem. Sophie can wail in the manner of Kate Bush, howl like PJ Harvey, but is capable of tender moments too. I haven’t listened to the album properly yet, but first impressions were that it was mellower, more discursive than their early efforts. That was borne out by the show, though it was still pretty lively. They had a few sound problems at first – we couldn’t hear Sophie – but once they sorted that out, they were impressive.

We stayed at the main stage for the next act, YHWH Nailgun, acclaimed New York noise rockers. I did listen to their 2025 album 45 Pounds on Louis’ recommendation, but struggled to get through it. It’s discordant, very rhythmic, a bit lacking in tunes. And singer Zack Borzone shouts his way through it. I was interested to see how it came across live, expecting to like it more.  But it didn’t work out that way. The sound was relentlessly percussive and rather monotonous. Borzone writhed and howled like he was on something. I stuck it out until the end, but was glad when it was over. One for the hipsters, I fear.

Over to the Folly next, for Pollyfromthedirt, who is a young man hailing from Darlington – nicknamed The Dirt, apparently – whose mother is called Polly. He’s a balladeer of Broken Britain. His best known song is called There’s No Such Thing as England. There’s another one about brawling in Majorca. Sort of Sleaford Mods meets Billy Bragg. He wears a mask while performing, though he didn’t have it on during the warm up. Seems entirely pointless. The music was fine, easy on the ear after YHWH Nailgun. Passed the time before Geese.

Oh yes, Geese. They have become hugely popular recently. Their 2025 album Getting Killed was very distinctive and main man Cameron Winter had a successful solo album, Heavy Metal, the previous year. I liked Getting Killed and was very struck by Winter’s angsty, overblown vocal style. I missed out on the sell-out tour of the UK earlier this year, so was looking forward to seeing them at EOTR. And they didn’t disappoint. The essence of their sound is a raw, jagged blues, which reminds me of Tom Wait’s Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs phase. But the focus is very much on Winter, who has a compelling presence, which the new screens helped us all enjoy that bit more. His singing is discursive and often almost against the beat of the songs. It exists in its own world, but it works. As well as Tom Waits, I was reminded of Nick Cave, another powerful, dramatic personality who is not averse to the odd biblical reference in his lyrics. An engrossing performance, one of the best of the festival.

Friday 4 September

Jon and I began at noon with 1000 Rabbits in the Big Top. I was keen to see them after catching the last three songs of their show in the Alcove at Latitude. I described them as bouncy prog, a speeded up Black Country New Road. Lots going on in the songs, but a lot of fun too. And that’s what we got for forty-five minutes. High energy and intricate. Singer River Fernandez is an expressive singer and jumps around the stage, clearly enjoying herself. Jon thought the wordplay in the sings was almost like a musical at times – there’s a lot packed in. A very enjoyable start to the day.

At the same time, Louis, Callum and others went to see American folk singer Ken Pomeroy – a woman – on the Garden Stage. They reported that I would have loved it – beautiful, wistful songs. They’d gone there partly to get in for the secret show which was on next in the Garden – it was rumoured that it would be Cameron Winter of Geese. Turned out to be Ty Segall!

After 1000 Rabbits, we went down to the Woods stage, got a beer and lay on the grass, which wasn’t wet despite overnight rain, and listened to Junior Brother and his modern take on Irish folk music. I liked the music and his humour but he and his vocal partner had these oddly high and discordant voices. Rather off-putting at first, but you got used to it. Jon loved it by the end. I left early to go up to the Folly for Reni Conti, who had a promising write up in the programme. I liked the track Workhorse, which was on the EOTR playlist, too. Folky Americana was on the menu. And I loved it! It was more upbeat, rocky than I’d expected, which was just fine. Great, rolling Americana rhythms, sweet harmonies and some classic guitar solos. Another take on an old formula, but done so well. I could have listened to a lot more. If you like this kind of thing, he released a self-titled album last year and has a new one, Split Second, coming out later this month.

After that, we all met up in the Woods stage bar and talked rather than going down to see Wild Pink, so I can’t really report on that. But they sounded good on Spotify – some Neil Young guitars in there. We then went over to the Big Top for young Irish indie-punk band Cardinals. I was a bit disappointed with them. I could see the appeal, but for me they needed to look a bit more like they were enjoying themselves. Louis thought they were great, and he’s probably a better judge. Musically, they were somewhere between early Fontaines DC and U2, but lacked the dynamism of either. Early days.

An amusing one next, Milkweed on the Garden Stage. We’d heard some good things about them. An alternative take on English folk. What we got was three people sat around a table noodling on various consoles and instruments, with some birdsong from time to time, interspersed with some human warbling. Jon bailed out pretty quickly. A couple of us stayed and I ended up rather enjoying it. I imagine they might be pretty good on record. They started to remind me of the band Caroline, a band I’ve really liked, live, in the past.

Back to the Woods stage for Angine de Poitrine, a Canadian duo who dress in very silly outfits while playing some quite complex but repetitive guitar patterns backed up by a relentless drumbeat. Imagine Count Binface in black and white polka dot, with a long nose and you have the guitarist. It’s technically impressive, but ultimately quite boring – and very annoying. I only stayed for a couple of tunes before I went off to see Prewn on the Garden Stage. She was good. A raw, grungy blues rock, with country rock vocals. The most obvious comparison would be Alanis Morrisette. And maybe one of my favourite recent bands Wednesday. That means they definitely need further exploration!

One of the issues at EOTR is the phone signal. Maybe they just aren’t big enough to have their own mast, as Latitude now does, I think. It’s more a comment on the lack of investment in proper communications infrastructure in this country. The neglect of rural areas in particular is scandalous. I remember a certain J.Corbyn being pilloried for the 2019 Labour manifesto in which they promised investment in a nationwide network. We’re still waiting. Anyway, this is just to say that having gone to see Prewn, Jon and I didn’t manage to get back in touch for the rest of the night – though, absurdly, we were at one point both in the Folly bar without seeing each other! Good planning needed at all times – first rule of festivals. That was for a band called Way Dynamic; but first, I was there for deary (lower case deliberate). They’re a London based band who play what we can only call shoegaze. But with the advantage of the beautiful voice of Dottie Cockram, which floats over the wall of guitars to create a dreamy soundscape which I absolutely loved. This was one of my favourite sets of the festival. Comparisons have been made with the Cocteau Twins – they are justified.

And then it was Way Dynamic. This was Jon’s suggestion – I’d otherwise have gone to see Model/Actriz in the Big Top. But I’m very glad I stayed. The band is the vehicle of Melbourne artist Dylan Young. The music is a classic mix of Steely Dan, Californian soft rock, mellow jazz. The Folly was packed for the show and the vibe was great. Lovely, easy listening music, in a good way. Quality musicianship. Another band in the same mould at the moment are Real Estate. What’s not to like, really?

Afterwards I went for something to eat and wandered down to the Woods Stage for Matt DeMarco. I chose that ahead of Caroline in the Garden as I hadn’t seen him before and thought, he’s a headliner, let’s see what he’s made of. I enjoyed it. It was actually quite similar to Way Dynamic in sound, maybe a bit more soulful. In fact, I was surprised how soulful it was. A slick, seemingly effortless sound – which takes skill. It went down well with the crowd. He finished with a nice version of Michael Jackson’s Human Nature, a much covered song. Still not sure why he was headlining, but it was a pleasant end to quite a gruelling day. Twelve noon to eleven o’clock, on my feet most of the time. Got back to the tent, ready for a glass of wine from the box. Waitrose Chilean white – grassy and vibrant. Nice! Jon was already there. He’d stayed at the Folly for Joshua Idehen, who I think mixes spoken word with dance tracks. The queue outside the Folly when I left it after Way Dynamic was incredibly long. I couldn’t figure out why. I’ve obviously missed something. I can live with that.

Saturday 5 September

We started the day with a couple of talks on the Talking Heads stage. The first was with Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade records in the 70s, and Jeanette Lee, ex-punk luminary, who is now co-owner of the record label. From what Geoff Travis said, she runs it day-to-day. The talk was part of the 20 year celebrations – Rough Trade and EOTR have had a close relationship over the years. There is a Rough Trade record and merch shop on site to this day, and together they produce a CD of artists at the festival. This year’s is a double, commemorating bands who’ve performed over the two decades. It was an entertaining forty-five minutes, bringing back lots of memories of music and bands we’ve loved since the halcyon days of punk. I hadn’t realised they were in the band management business and still manage Pulp. Jarvis Cocker was in the audience.

The second talk was hosted by the Guardian, and was an episode of their weekly Honest Playlist. I think it’s normally just a piece on the website, though it could make a good podcast. The artist in the chair for this live version was Kelly Lee Owens, the electronic musician and producer/DJ. Her choice for first song she ever heard was The Laughing Policeman. Now that is honest! The first record she bought was cooler: Firestarter by the Prodigy. Her pride in her Welsh heritage was evident throughout. A lot of fun, which of course gets you thinking about your own choices.

First band of the day was Spanish Horses in the Big Top. They formed in Paris in 2023, but I think they’re British. They are now based in London. The music is melodic indie, the sort of thing you’d especially associate with Liverpool. I thought they were really good. Distinctive, tuneful songs. A charismatic singer. They were getting the things right that Cardinals weren’t doing.  I’d happily see them again.

Next were Bab L’Bluz on the Woods Stage. They’re from Morocco and France and play a hard-edged blues rock with strong African influences. Not quite the desert blues, but getting close. The singer and lead guitarist, Yousra Mansour, played a double necked guitar, one a conventional western instrument, the other a traditional Moroccan instrument called the awicha. In between songs there were discourses about the need for peace and love in the world. I think we’d all agree with that! An intriguing set – enjoyed from a horizontal position on the grass.

After that we took a break back at the tent – yesterday’s eleven hour stint was a bit much. We returned for the last fifteen minutes of Brighde Chaimbeul on the Garden Stage. She plays the Scottish smallpipes. She was dressed in black on a dark stage. Drone-like music drifted through the air. We may not have lasted a full set.

The choice for next band was a tricky one: Irish band Madra Salach on the Garden Stage or the South African BCUC. Madra Salach were very good at Latitude (and Green Man, I’m told) and are all the rage at the moment. BCUC have you wanting to dance more than most and were sensational at EOTR 2019, again on the Woods Stage in the sunshine. I chose BCUC; everyone else went to Madra Salach! I had no regrets about my decision – BCUC were brilliant once again. The acronym stands for Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness, and like Bab L’Bluz, there was much talk of trying to make the world a better place. They certainly do that with their music. It’s full-on bass and percussion – a variety of drums. The beats are fast, then slow, then fast, mostly fast. Layered on top are some infectious melodies and choruses. It is just so danceable, and absolute joy. Like everyone else there I discarded my inhibitions and grooved.

I reunited with Jon and a few others after that, for Just Mustard in the Big Top. Their set was marred on the Second Stage at Latitude by the murky sound. No such problems here – Katie Ball’s voice was loud and clear. Well, not that loud – it’s a fragile voice that floats over the wails and drones of the guitars. An atmospheric and beguiling set that will have me going back to their records.

After a brief encounter with Fat Dog on the Woods Stage – mainly to get a drink – I headed to the Folly for Kiran Leonard. He’s a guitar virtuoso, who writes meandering but captivating songs. He played a superb set on the same stage in 2019, but seemed to disappear shortly after that. I believe he had some mental health issues, so his career never really took off. Anyway, he’s back, looking good and has an excellent band, including a violinist who may have been Magda McLean, who has played with Caroline. She played an integral role in tonight’s music, which culminated in an amazing piece that built slowly, with juddering violin, until Kiran really let loose on the guitar. It was the most captivating display of guitar pyrotechnics I saw this weekend.

I stayed at the Folly for the next show, Garrett T.Capps and his band, purveyors of Tex-Mex rock’n’roll. He’s from San Antonio, Texas and took the stage in cowboy hat, dark glasses and a rather psychedelic beige outfit. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in Fat White Family – or Fat Dog. But there the similarity ended. He and his band played wonderful, good ol’ fashioned rock’n’roll and downhome country music (with fiddle and mandolin), and it was an utter joy. Another show where dancing felt compulsory. The tent was about two-thirds full – we were there rather than at Pulp – and everyone was loving it. The band were having the best time – this was their first visit to the UK – and that just spread. Garrett was an engaging character. His lyrics verged on the quirky, his guitarist played with a violin bow like Jimmy Page from time to time, his bassist looked like he’d stepped out of the Grateful Dead. Just perfect. Loved every minute.

I’ve nothing against Pulp, by the way. They’ve made some great pop songs that are as symbolic of the Britpop era as those of Oasis and Blur. Jarvis Cocker is an engaging and interesting character – especially offstage. On stage, I find the posing a little irritating, and once you get past the anthems things can get a bit dull. And they were playing for two hours! So Garrett T.Capps gave me a much-needed dose of rock’n’roll and then it was that rare thing at EOTR: an established hip hop name. In fact, two for the price of one: Earl Sweatshirt and Mike. They were on the Garden Stage, and I met Jon and Louis there – they took the same view of Pulp as me. I’m not too familiar with the music, though I knew he’d been in the Odd Future collective, which also featured Tyler the Creator and Frank Ocean. I love Frank Ocean’s albums and I believe Earl Sweatshirt featured on the track Super Rich Kids. As for the show, it was hard to discern the lyrics, which are a key part of the appeal, but I really liked the beats and the resonant bass lines. And it was fun to see something a bit different. Jon and I made the classic error of think Earl Sweatshirt was Mike and Mike was Earl Sweatshirt. This may have been because Mike was wearing a sweatshirt. We quipped when he took it off that he was now Earl T-Shirt. Ok, feeble joke, I know; and around this point Louis corrected our misperception.

After about forty-five minutes we decided that we might just pop down to the main stage to see how Pulp were doing. Our timing couldn’t have been more perfect – the band were just striking up Common People. We watched that from the back, and weren’t bowled over to be honest. The sound seemed a bit weak – maybe in comparison with those Earl Sweatshirt bass lines. We returned to the Garden Stage for remainder of Earl and Mike. Not much had changed!

That was it for me and Jon. Louis went off to meet his mates for a few more hours of rocking. I would have loved to have stayed for Kelly Lee Owen’s DJ set in the Big Top, but it started at 12.30, finishing at two. Gone are the days when we used to stay up to three in the morning. Need to think about the next day. Not that the music was finished with us though. The sound of the late shows at the Folly rang loud and clear in our tent. First some industrial noise from GNOD, then the dulcet tones of Madra Salach. So I did get to hear them after all! I was delighted that just before I went to sleep, they ended with the Waterboys’ Fisherman’s Blues. What a song that is. I dozed off soon after.

Sunday 6 September

A beautiful, sunny day, with temperatures in the mid-twenties. We began again at the Talking Heads. Caught the second half of author and journalist Anne Vincent talking about ambient noise, and then journalist Ian Leslie discussing his acclaimed book, John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs. My reaction when it came out was that I didn’t need another book on the Beatles. After listening to this discussion, I think I may need to buy it!

We joined the others afterwards at the Woods stage bar for Lily Seabird. I’d seen her play a poignant and powerful set at the Folly last year. This time we chatted by the bar and the music wasn’t strong enough for  us to go down to the stage and watch. Maybe got a bit lost in the space of the main stage. There’s a new album out in October: Lightspheres on their Way. I’ll catch up on the new material then.

We lingered in the bar long enough to catch the start of the next show, Ratboys. First impressions were of lively pop-punk, but I didn’t hang around long as I wanted to see SG Goodman on the Garden Stage. Heartfelt country rock from West Kentucky. Her band were variously from Oklahoma, Texas and New York, as she spelled out to us. She’s got a couple of songs, Teeth Marks and Tender Kind, which are plaintive beauties. I don’t think she played either – the focus was more on the rocking kind of country. But she did play the lovely Space and Time, which had the crowd swooning.

It was Americana day on the Garden Stage – next up were Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band, who were excellent on the Woods Stage last year. Reluctantly, I missed them in order to see Little Grandad in the Folly. I’d missed them at Latitude – my friend Steve reported that they were very good. And he was right. I really enjoyed the show. Musically it’s a mix of Brit pop, 2000s indie, a touch of the 60s and a hint of Americana. And occasionally they rock out. So nothing particularly new, but done very well and with two engaging frontmen – the brothers, Jack and Harry Lower – who share the vocals, though sometimes all four of the band sing harmonies. I particularly liked the ballad Sleepwalking, which could easily be the Stereophonics. A band to watch, I think.

We stayed in the Folly for the Glaswegian duo Cowboy Hunters. Described in the programme as punks with boundless energy and infinite rage. Just what you needed on a warm Sunday afternoon! I was surprised, then, when they came on stage in pointy hats and cloaks and proceeded to muck around as much as play their rather basic rock. And it didn’t seem very angry. Three songs was enough for me and Jon – we went over to the Garden Stage to see the Felice Brothers. Good old fashioned Americana from the Catskills in New York state. They have a song called Roll on Arte from their 2007 album Tonight at the Arizona which I loved at the time. It was in my Duende Top Ten, which I wrote about in 2013* – there’s also a chapter on Duende in my book I Was There – A Musical Journey. Ian Felice sings Roll on Arte with a gorgeous vulnerability. That didn’t feature today, but we got an enjoyable, warm set of songs with a definite hint of Bob Dylan.

Next up on the Garden Stage was OXN, an offshoot of the much-admired Lankum. They, rather like Lankum, played atmospheric, doomy, slow-paced tunes for the most part. It had its moments, but we had a rather more upbeat alternative starting at the Big Top about halfway through, and went for it. This was Factory Floor, an electronic band who’ve been around a while, but were new to me when I heard their track Fall Back on the EOTR playlist. I liked that and I really enjoyed the hour of pumping, incessant beats that they treated us to in the Big Top. I couldn’t tell you what any of the tracks were called – the first lasted for half the set – but I can tell you that this was the third show of the weekend that had me dancing, after BCUC and Grant T.Capps yesterday. Three very different types of music, but each one conveying the joy of a good beat. Lots of lights too, to add to the fun.

After that high, we moved back to the Garden stage for Kurt Vile and the Violators. I guess you’d file this under Americana too, but it’s a distinctive take, with Kurt’s languid voice and occasionally searing guitar breaks. He was in The War on Drugs in the early days, and you can see why that didn’t last: he and Adam Granduciel would have been competing for the lead on vocals, guitar and general direction. It’s good to have them both entertaining us. I don’t listen to Kurt Vile anything like as much as I do the War on Drugs, but I did enjoy this set without knowing many of the songs. Note to self – become more familiar with his recent work. There’s an album from this year called Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me. That will be a good start.

And that, for Jon and me, was it. The music went on for those with more stamina, as always. We went back to the tent, finished off the wine, reviewed the day, the weekend. It felt like one of the best, but then EOTR always does. It just grows on you as the days pass. It felt like an age since we’d been wowed by Geese. And so many delights, old and new, in between. I think we might be back next year!

*If you click on the link to my Duende piece, you’ll get the words and pictures but not the music links. These no longer work.