A Confident, Characterful Festival That Rediscovers its Identity

Liverpool Sound City 2026 arrived with a renewed sense of clarity. After several transitional years, the festival has now fully embraced its city‑centre footprint, creating a compact, walkable event that plays to its strengths. Across two main festival days, from 2nd-3rd May, with a special conference schedule on Friday 1st May, the festival delivered a blend of industry insight, emerging talent, and unexpected highlights that reaffirmed its place as one of the UK’s most important discovery festivals. This year’s edition felt cohesive, energetic, and full of life, with a programme that balanced ambition and accessibility. As its banners proudly proclaimed, it’s now the UK’s longest running independent showcase festival for new music. It’s 20th edition will land 30th April – 2nd May, 2027.

The festival’s footprint centred itself around Grand Central Dome, Arts Club Theatre and Loft, The Shipping Forecast, The Jacaranda, Spanish Caravan, Kazimier Stockroom, and Tunnel, the newly renamed basement venue formerly known as EBGBs. The result was a festival that encouraged movement, curiosity, and spontaneity. Crowds drifted between rooms with ease, and the mild spring weather kept the streets busy well into the night. The layout created a sense of continuity that has been missing since the Baltic Triangle years, although some of the smallest rooms struggled with capacity. Tunnel and Jacaranda’s downstairs space were particularly difficult to enter, which occasionally disrupted the flow of the crawl. Even so, the overall design suited the festival’s identity and helped shape one of its strongest editions in recent memory.

Friday: A Purposeful, Engaging Industry Day

Sound City’s Friday conference has always been its intellectual anchor, and the 2026 programme delivered a thoughtful, grounded set of sessions that balanced civic ambition with industry realism. FACT hosted the morning’s major talks, beginning with Claire McColgan and Harry Doyle, who offered a clear and candid look at Liverpool’s cultural strategy. Their discussion framed the city’s ambitions for Music Month and highlighted the importance of long‑term cultural investment. It was a session that felt rooted in the city’s identity rather than abstract policy.

Dr. Jo Twist followed with a measured overview of the BPI’s priorities, touching on sustainability, global competitiveness, and the need to support artists through structural change. Her session was concise yet substantial, offering a national perspective that complemented the local focus of the opening talk. The clarity of her delivery made the session one of the morning’s highlights.

The Money Trench Podcast brought a welcome shift in tone. Mark Sutherland hosted a lively and insightful interview with Yolanda Brown, whose reflections on leadership, creativity, and the evolving role of artists were among the day’s most engaging moments. Brown’s ability to move between personal experience and industry‑wide insight made the session feel both intimate and authoritative. Her presence added warmth and personality to the conference.

The Key Music Industry Players panel, hosted by Alex Hannaby, provided practical advice for emerging artists. Simon Pursehouse, Dannii Brownsill, Serena Tazi, and Ammo Talwar offered grounded perspectives on publishing, sync, and A&R. Their honesty and clarity made the session one of the most useful of the day. It was a panel that avoided vague generalities and instead delivered actionable insight.

The talk on The Future of Music Marketing and Beyond, hosted by Olivia Hobbs, was a standout. Ben Kerr, Corbyn Asbury, and Will Beardmore delivered a sharp, contemporary discussion on audience behaviour, platform shifts, and the changing nature of digital storytelling. It was a session that felt genuinely forward‑looking rather than speculative, and it captured the realities of modern music marketing with precision.

Meanwhile, The Clubhouse offered a more intimate counterpoint. Jess Green performed a warm, engaging set during the press mixer, showcasing her vocal control and song-writing clarity. Liberty Music PR brought in several performers under its Empowering Artist Independence banner, giving the space a relaxed, communal feel. The atmosphere was friendly and open, and the performances added a welcome musical dimension to the industry day.

The interview with Kate Nash, hosted by Fee Mak, was a highlight. Nash balanced humour and honesty, offering reflections on writing, independence, and longevity. When asked about a biopic, she joked that it would happen “when I’m dead,” before acknowledging that she has been encouraged to write a book several times. The session felt personal without losing its sense of purpose, and the audience engagement added warmth to the room.

Shira Gans’ talk on The NYC Effect, interviewed by Chris Cooke, added an international dimension, exploring how one city’s infrastructure and cultural identity shape global music trends. The Clubhouse session on Community, Connection and What Fans Actually Want, brought together Bina Mistry, Malena Wolfer, and Amanda Abramczuk for a grounded discussion on fandom, authenticity, and the realities of digital communities. It was a fitting session that balanced global perspectives with local insight.

The evening brought with it a lively mixer at Spanish Caravan, which doubled as the launch of Liverpool Music Month. It felt celebratory without losing the sense of intention that defined the day. The atmosphere was warm, the conversations flowed easily, and the sense of community was unmistakable.

Friday Live Highlights: Early Discoveries

Before the mixer, Friday delivered two of the weekend’s most memorable early discoveries. Wrkhouse were a revelation, blending tight musicianship with a stage presence that felt fully formed. Their set had the confidence of a band far further into their career and left a lasting impression. Jess Green’s earlier appearance in Clubhouse had already set the tone with a warm, engaging performance that highlighted her vocal control and clarity. Both artists embodied the festival’s discovery ethos and gave Friday a sense of lift before the night began.

Saturday: Momentum, Charisma, and Big‑Room Energy

Saturday’s crawl offered a wide spectrum of styles and personalities. Marli opened the day at Spanish Caravan with a polished, heartfelt set, followed by Janessa, whose LIPA‑honed confidence and vocal control made her one of the day’s most compelling emerging artists. Both artists demonstrated the strength of Liverpool’s talent pipeline and set a positive tone for the day.

Adult Leisure brought strong musicianship to The Shipping Forecast, although the lead singer’s cocky stage persona undercut the performance and made the set difficult to connect with. The music was tight, yet the attitude created a barrier that prevented the set from landing as strongly as it could have.

Ruby Duff, however, delivered the opposite. Her charisma and charm were immediate, and her total command of the room showed why she’s thoroughly deserving of the inaugural John Sweeney Award. It was clear why she won. She owned the stage with ease, blending confidence with vulnerability and delivering a performance that felt both polished and spontaneous. Her presence was magnetic, and her set became one of the defining moments of the weekend.

Yee Loi remain one of the most exciting young punk bands in the UK. Rose, Matilda, and Donny are not only a tight family unit but a force of nature on stage. Their new single, Why Ask Why, released on 7th May, landed with the impact of a future fan favourite. The band’s energy, chemistry, and sheer musicality made their set one of the weekend’s most exhilarating performances. They continue to be the band you recommend to anyone who thinks punk has lost its spark. After seeing them performing and upstaging Adam Ant last year at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the future is very bright indeed for Yee Loi!

Courting closed the night at Arts Club Theatre with a set that felt like watching Kaiserchiefs in their earliest days. Big stage presence, sharp song-writing, and a crowd that responded to every shift in tempo. Their performance demonstrated how far they have come and hinted at how far they could go.

Sunday: Discovery, Emotion, and a Rare International Moment

Sunday delivered the most varied and emotionally resonant run of the weekend. xyzelle opened with smooth, soulful vocals before switching into sharp, precise rap flows that showcased her versatility. Her ability to move between styles with ease made her set one of the day’s early highlights.

Zander followed with a performance that felt like a lyrical masterclass, blending the narrative clarity of Maxïmo Park with the melodic sweep of Editors and Keane. The band’s set was confident, articulate, and musically rich, offering one of the weekend’s most satisfying performances.

Then came a moment of genuine significance: inaekkum at The Shipping Forecast. Their set moved between shoegaze‑leaning textures reminiscent of Swiimers, laid‑back grooves, and bright, guitar‑driven tracks. Seeing a Korean band at Sound City again – the first seen by the MusiCube team since the Zandari Festa era came to a close in 2019, just before COVID – carried real emotional weight. It felt like a reconnection with the festival’s wider international roots and a reminder of how exciting that global thread can be. Seeing inaekkum’s versatility and charm made their set one of the weekend’s most memorable.

Kate Nash’s Grand Central set mixed upbeat, youthful tracks with classics from her extensive catalogue. Her passion and honesty were clear, although her tendency to talk at length between songs occasionally disrupted the flow. It was a strong afternoon headliner performance, yet the pacing issues hinted at why she was placed earlier in the day rather than in the main evening slot.

Vicente Calderón was an unexpected delight at Spanish Caravan, delivering addictive, tightly crafted songs that held the room with ease. His set was not one on the planned watchlist, yet it became one of the day’s most enjoyable surprises.

Lucky Iris were one of the weekend’s biggest revelations. Their set was a burst of dancefloor energy, blending Goldfrapp‑style synth textures with Dubstar and Moloko‑like vocal warmth. Jasper’s work on the decks was masterful, and Maeve’s soft, sultry vocals and movement were mesmerising. The set was so addictive and moving that any sense of being there as media immediately ceased and the beats just took control, leading the room in a dancefloor showdown. Their set was joyous, infectious, and full of life. Lucky Iris definitely deserve a slot at The Warehouse Project, and the Leeds Festival dance tent comment from Maeve felt like a promise rather than a dream.

Alex Amor’s set in Kazimier Stockroom was more subdued. One strong track stood out, yet the rest drifted into a slow, indistinct pace that struggled to hold attention. Issie closed the team’s festival coverage at Arts Club Loft with a confident, polished performance before the journey back to Manchester, buzzing from what was a fantastic weekend.

Venues: Strengths and Limitations

The city‑centre footprint worked beautifully for the most part. Grand Central Dome felt like a true anchor, offering a sense of occasion without losing accessibility. Arts Club Theatre and Loft delivered consistently strong production values, and both Kazimier Stockroom and Spanish Caravan proved once again that intimacy can amplify a performance.

However, some venues struggled with capacity. Tunnel was the most difficult room to enter, its small size creating queues and bottlenecks that disrupted the flow of the crawl. Jacaranda’s downstairs space faced similar issues. These rooms offer atmosphere, yet their limitations occasionally worked against the festival’s otherwise smooth navigation. The festival may need to reconsider how these spaces are used in future editions, but for those that were able to squeeze in, there is no doubting the wealth of stunning music that was on show.

All photography provided by David Ellitts (@dave_took_some_photos)