Eaglesfest II Saturday April 13th

10 Bands at The Waiting Room and P&E Club

A little more info to tell you just how special our Eaglesfest-ival lineup is.

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Here’s some detailed info about the excellent artists and projects you will have the joy of experiencing at Eaglesfest II on Saturday April 13th.

Ariel Sharratt, Mathias Kom, Shotgun Jimmie

Canada’s Ariel Sharratt and Mathias Kom of garage-folk band The Burning Hell present an album of contemporary labour songs Never Work, is inspired by imagined post capitalist future where creativity and folksy living replace the 9 to 5 grind.

Never Work takes cues from labour activists and Situationist pranksters to explore the gig economy, side-hustles, tech feudalism, class war, unionized digital assistants, rebellious self-service checkout machines, and fully automated luxury communism. Simultaneously earnest and wry, the songs on Never Work are a protest playlist for our collective journey towards oblivion or the beach.”

“As members of Canadian indie darlings The Burning HellMathias Kom and Ariel Sharratt created some of the wittiest and wordiest songs of the last decade or so. Kom’s literary-slacker songwriting and the band’s lo-fi energy saw them touted as natural successors to the Silver Jews, and their hard-touring work ethic earned them a cult following, particularly in Europe. On their first album as a duo, 2015’s Don’t Believe The Hyperreal, they forged a new path as a kind of millennial Lee and Nancy.

Never Work, the duo’s second release away from the Burning Hell moniker, is an album about how employment and production are changing as capitalism destroys itself. Given how fast that change is taking place, there is always the danger of a project like this sounding outdated before it hits the shelves, particularly in light of recent uncertainties. But Kom and Sharratt get around that by creating an imagined future, and imagination is key here: this is a future peopled by utterly believable characters in uncannily recognisable scenarios, but the wealth of artistic and personal detail means these songs are more than just speculative microfictions. 

The pair take their cue from folk music, specifically the protest movement. But this is no mere folk revival. There is a lot more going on. The title track sounds, on the surface at least, more like a stripped-back Belle and Sebastian than anything else. It’s a pretty duet of love, nostalgia and anti-establishment arson. Kom’s songs are often full of punchlines, and this one is no different. But it isn’t a cheap trick – the timing is spot-on, and the juxtaposition of sweetness and violence is perfectly judged. The small details make it – the smell of sulfur, the shared hatred of racket sports.” - Klof Mag

Finally, this April, Ariel and Mathias will be bringing Never Work to life, collaborating with visual artist and indie rock legend Shotgun Jimmie in a multidisciplinary show. The tour will be accompanied by a re-pressing of the long sold out Never Work, and the release of a collaborative EP with Shotgun Jimmie, Hardly Working… and a fully functional robot drummer

Shotgun Jimmie - expected stage time 8.30pm

Dan Willson/Withered Hand & Kathryn Williams

Dan Willson is Scotland's acclaimed singer songwriter Withered Hand. He has released three albums and a number of EPs over the last 15 years and has toured internationally, amassing a devoted following while staying close to his DIY roots in the underground music scene.

Kathryn Williams is a Mercury Music prize nominated English singer songwriter who has released 16 albums. She had collaborated with poet Dame Carol Ann Duffy, author Laura Barnett and written songs with Paul Weller, Neill Maccoll and Michele and Romeo Stodart, to name just a few. She has written a novel The Ormering Tide, hosts her own podcast Before the Light Goes Out and tutors at the Arvon and Moniack Mhor Foundations.

Kathryn and Dan met in 2019 in a Spiegeltent in Edinburgh at a Book Festival event curated by Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen. They both think it's weird that they hadn't met before as they both share many of the same friends in music, James Yorkston, Rachel Sermanni, Kathryn Joseph etc. Sometimes they think that they might have met at a Fence Collective festival years ago. At least Kath thinks she remembers Dan but Dan doesn't seem to remember much.

Jodie Nicholson

The incredible Jodie Nicholson will be providing a solo sneak preview of her brand new album Safe Hands - before heading out on tour with her band in June to some big ol’ and prestigious venues. Catch her before she’s out of reach! (Waiting Room back room/capacity 64 - first in first served).

Mad Ones

Another Canadian band - out of Toronto, The Mad Ones bring exactly what we needed to round out our day festival with some good old fashion dirty rockin, guitar crunchin and head bangin… We grabbed serendipty by the scruff of the neck when April 13th turned out to be the hole they needed to fill on their current UK tour.

Mad Ones have been cranking out real, raw, heart and soul rock, garage punk for little over a decade. Their catchy songs and sweaty, unhinged shows have earned them the devotion of fans all over the world and support from a good number of iconic artists. 

Spirits of Saturn

Formed in 2022, Spirits of Saturn are sparked by the creative force of superorganism member Early Sans (synths and vocals) together with Edmund Blackadder (vocals) Scott Docherty (keys & bass) and the distinct, moterik grooves of Elian Lion (drums)

Taking slight inspiration from Kraftwerk, Todd Rundgren, Daft Punk and Suicide, there is a future perfect disco pop feel to their synth-led sound, which brings a bright ray of hope amidst the wtf ever else is happening in the world right now.

Following two packed out London solo shows last year - and a sold out support tour with The Temples - catch Spirits of Saturn while they’re hot n fresh like a Brick Lane bagel at midnight (at 7pm)

Gone Tomorrow

Blasting things off across at the P&E Club we’re looking to Gone Tomorrow to get the party started in no uncertain terms. Fresh from their packed triumphant set at last weekend’s Stockton Calling, Gone Tomorrow are a young band quickly becoming established with bags of licks and stagecraft - growing with every show along with their audiences.

Dressed Like Wolves

Dressed Like Wolves, like Withered Hand and Mathias Kom especially (I would say) - writes exceptionally lyrical lyrics that are dropped with beautifully weighted emotional aplomb, aching at one moment and as funny as heck the next. Ric Dob has often been compared with Daniel Johnston - for his lofi, outsider attitude heart on sleeve wordsmithery (and affecting weedy voice) - but he’s even better than that!

Abel Raise The Cain, Frazer Lambert

The Sonically magnificent Abel Raise The Cain, and brilliant Frazer Lambert complete our lineup* playing in vvroom and The Other Room from about midday. More to follow