Festivals / Reviews
Review: Down Stokes festival – ‘A vibrant array of psych, surf and indie-punk’
Down Stokes 2025 hosted a vibrant array of psych-rock, surf-rock and indie-punk bands, packing out venues across Stokes Croft.
Now in its third year, the multi-venue festival celebrates Bristol’s fiercely creative underground scene through a lineup curated by Velvet Echoes, Extra Terrestrial Promotions and Sunglasses After Dark.
Embarking on a tour of brilliant rock bands is no easy feat: when a lineup is saturated with such immense talent, it’s impossible to see it all.
is needed now More than ever
Fortunately there is some ease with Down Stokes’ venues being within convenient walking distance, making it possible to see the vast-majority of bands on my list.
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At the Old England the Bristol-based band Bible Club started the day on a high. Towards the start of the set the frontman noted that one of the band members had just woken up from a nap before their show, but that made little impact on their masterful set.
With emotive guitar distortions, punchy drums and poignant spoken word, the band blended post-punk and shoegaze in an intricate show.
At the Attic Bar Bristol punk-rock band Heavy Lungs played an electrifying set. Frontman and icon of the city’s alt-rock scene Danny Nedelko tore open his shirt before running around the crowd, dancing with audience members and diving onto the floor.
As the band played on with vigour in the background, the crowd was spurred on to let loose. The set’s lively atmosphere consolidated them as a Bristol music staple.
Wild frontman Danny Nedelko has been immortalised in a song by Idles
Next, at the Croft, Newcastle-based Smote incorporated drone and noise with very slow, drawn-out songs that physically vibrated the room.
Heavy and low synths and guitars were manipulated alongside crashing symbols with dystopian energy. The set was intense and captivating – a complete shift in atmosphere from everything I’d seen so far.
Back at the Attic Bar, Brighton-based Opus Kink intertwined jazz and punk with experimentalism, playing an amazing set with a tapestry of masterful brass and synth instrumentals, melodic guitars and ominous drums and vocals.
Opus Kink are known for their high energy, wild-eyed and chaotic shows
The frontman demanded the audience crouch in a circle and asked one crowd-member to lead a meditative chant. The crowd reached to the sky before snapping back into their smooth, yet grungey sound.
The bands potent energy made for a dynamic set – a personal highlight from the festival.
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Towards the end of the day, I headed to the Canteen to catch the last two bands of the day.
Karma Sheen fuse 60s rock with South Asian electronic music creating a transcendent groove. Formed in London, the glittering layers of their music reflected an infectious psychedelia that made for a brilliant penultimate act.
The final act was Daiistar, a psych-rock band from Austin, Texas. Their set featured hazy synth melodies, crisp guitar riffs and expressive lead-vocals. They concluded the Saturday with charming tranquility.
The festival’s closing show took place at Trinity on Sunday. Bristol-based Dreamwave fuse psych-rock and dream-pop with offbeat vocals, twanging guitars and lively drums.
As someone with an affinity for spiralling, twinkling noises, I was particularly excited about their psychedelic synth noises that added an extra edge to their sound. You don’t always expect the first band of the day to be your favourite, but their unique and cohesive sound made them a definite stand out.
Next was south Wales-based trio the Bug Club, a band that oozed authenticity through their matter-of-fact lyricism and upbeat garage-rock style.
Some of my favourite lyrics include “blah, blah, blah something about books” and “everybody thinks they look a bit like James Bond”. You could sense they were enjoying their music which made for a lively, infectious set.
Prolific composers the Bug Club write songs on often mundane themes that are full of humour and vitality
The last performance of the festival was Canadian psych and punk-rock band Wine Lips.
Against the backdrop of the former church venue, the band played a fast, heavy set attracting an excitable crowd that flung themselves into mosh pits and crowd surfing.
“We’ve been here for two weeks, you’ve been our most fun show”, said frontman Cam Hillborn. Each member of the band possessed an undeniable stage presence, concluding the festival with a gritty, thunderous thrill.
All images: Holly Farmer
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