The newest addition to Scotland’s festival calendar, Connect Music Festival has today announced the line-up for this summer’s event, with Massive Attack, The Chemical Brothers and The National set to headline, joined by Mogwai, Little Simz, Self Esteem, Jon Hopkins, Black Coffee, Bonobo, Bombay Bicycle Club, John Grant, LOW and Idlewild and many more from 26th – 28th August at Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre.
Connect Music Festival is an entirely new festival experience that will feature the best in left field talent from grassroots through to award-winning headliners. Music fans will be able to secure their early bird ticket by signing up to access the Connect presale here by 9am on Thursday 24th February, before tickets go on sale on general release at 9am on Friday 25th February.
Uniting some of the most influential and truly pioneering names in music from across the world with the very best of homegrown heroes, Connect is a festival for music lovers and the first edition at the Royal Highland Centre in August 2022 promises to be one to remember.
Connect Music Festival is delighted to announce that cutting edge Bristol collective Massive Attack, will take to the ‘Grand Parade Stage’ on Friday 26th August for what will undoubtedly be an epic headline set. The ground-breaking group who gave us albums ‘Blue Lines’, ‘Protection’ and ‘Mezzanine’ have influenced decades worth of iconic artists and are constantly innovating. In 2020, they released their stunning, audio-visual EP ‘Eutopia’, featuring collaborations with the likes of Young Fathers, Saul Williams and US band Algiers, to huge critical acclaim. Bringing their cinematic fusion along with iconic songs ‘Teardrop’, ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ and ‘Angel’, their performance at Connect is set to be an unmissable one.
Giants of electronic dance music, The Chemical Brothers, will make their Connect headline appearance onSaturday 27th August. The ‘superstar DJs’ who will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of their seminal second album, ‘Dig Your Own Hole’ this spring, have won multiple Grammy Awards for genre-defining tracks like ‘Galvanize’, ‘Go’, ‘Got To Keep On’ and ‘Hey Boy, Hey Girl’ and amassed over 13 million album sales worldwide. Not only that, but for over twenty years they have redefined the very idea of live electronic music, with their live show being one of the most in demand festival headline sets in the world, and when they take to the stage at Connect this summer for what will be a show stopping live performance, it will be easy to understand why.
Rounding off the weekend and closing Connect with their headline set on Sunday 28th August are indie rock stalwarts The National. Emerging from Brooklyn in the early 2000s, the band released their 8th Studio Album, I Am Easy to Find, which reached the top spot in the US charts in 2020. They will bring their anthemic, orchestral and darkly majestic soundscapes to Connect for a performance that is not to be missed.
Performing alongside Massive Attack on Friday’s line-up is electronic producer and musician Jon Hopkins. A sometime collaborator of Coldplay and Brian Eno, Hopkins is often described as a techno auteur. His ‘Polarity’ tour, which travelled to venues across the UK, received five-star reviews and his live performance at Connect,driven by truly infectious rhythms, is guaranteed to generate more of the same. He will be joined by prolific South African electronic artist, record producer and songwriter Black Coffee and American singer-songwriter John Grant. The musician, who released his fifth studio album ‘Boy from Michigan’ last year, is always a powerful and commanding live presence and his witty and brutally honest performance will no doubt leave the Connect audience awestruck.
In addition, the Belgium-based duo Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul, British Jazz drummer Moses Boyd, Glasgow three-piece Cloth, 2021’s Sound of Young Scotland Award winner Lvra, the legendary Optimo (Espacio) and Future Utopia, Maeve, and Hammer will be among the artists performing on day one of Connect.
Bonobo, who this year released his swooning, celestial seventh studio album Fragments will join the line-up on Saturday 27th August. Since making his music debut in 1999 on ‘When Shapes Join Together’, Bonobohas attained a devoted cult following, and when the multi-instrumentalist and music producer takes to the Grand Parade Stage at Connect and melds house, R&B, and world music into a cinematic dance floor experience, we suspect that following will grow, and then some.
Also taking to the Grand Parade Stage will be post-punk/indie rock band, The Twilight Sad. Famed for their notoriously loud and passionate performances, the band toured their fifth studio album ‘It Won’t Be Like This All the Time’ in 2019 to packed out venues and incredible reviews, including from The Cure’s Robert Smith who named it as his favourite record of that year.
American Alternative Rock Duo LOW will also perform on Saturday 27th. It’s hard to think of a band that has the back catalogue of LOW, who last year released their 13th studio album ‘HEY, WHAT to rave reviews, with Rolling Stone calling it ‘jaw dropping’. Constantly evolving and creating new sounds, each project released in their 30-year career has been a singular event, which is exactly what their performance at Connect is guaranteed to be.
In addition, Saturday’s impressive line-up features DJ and producer Erol Alkan, dance music composer and musician Caribou, American singer-songwriter Chloe Moriondo, English rock band Ride, Scottish quartet Swim School and Scottish based electronic artist Nightwave, as well as artists such as Matt Maltese, and Willie J Healey.
Heading to the Grand Parade Stage on Sunday 27th August are acclaimed Scottish band Mogwai, who won The Scottish Album of the Year Award last year for their tenth studio album ‘As the Love Continues’. Formed in Glasgow in 1995, Mogwai are known for their legendary live shows, and their live performance at Connect promises to be a dynamic, sonically charged one that will not disappoint. They will be joined by recent Brit Award winner, Little Simz. Known for her prolific and pioneering music and her energetic live performances, when in full flow on a stage, she’s potent, compelling and a force to be reckoned with, and she is sure to absolutely wow the Connect audience this summer.
Also joining Sunday’s incredible line-up is the queen of five-star reviews, Self Esteem. The pop singer, songwriter, and ex Slow Club member, who released her second solo album ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ to a rapturous reception from critics and music lovers alike, has recently embarked on a live tour of the album which has been described as a ‘masterclass in joyful excess’. A true icon in the making, Self Esteem’s performance is one you will not want to miss!
Another addition to Sunday’s bill are masters of the indie genre and festival favourites Bombay Bicycle Club. Following a 3-year hiatus, the quartet burst back onto the live music scene in 2020 with a string of performances and triumphant new album ‘Everything Else Has Gone Wrong’. They will be joined by homegrown heroes, Edinburgh based Scottish Rock band Idlewild who will be playing their universally acclaimed album ‘The Remote Part’.
Glasgow musical collective Admiral Fallow, American singer and violinist Sudan Archives, three-piece indie rock band Dehd, Scottish singer-songwriters Hamish Hawk and Lizzie Reid, and Bristol based singer-songwriter Kathleen Francis will also perform on Sunday 28th August alongside Black Country, New Road, Geese, Rae Morris, Horse Meat Disco, Jamz Supernova and Rebecca Vasmant, rounding off what will be a stunning weekend of live music.
DF Concerts & Events CEO, Geoff Ellis said: “We are delighted to be announcing our line-up for Connect today. For some time now we have been working tirelessly and carefully to curate a captivating line-up for the first edition of our new iteration of Connect and we have been really excited to share it. While Connect is a brand new festival proposition, it will still retain many qualities from – and the ethos of – its namesake from 2007 and 2008, especially regarding the music, entertainment, food and drink programmes. We are thrilled to be welcoming the very best in left field talent from grassroots through to award-winning headliners to perform this year and we cannot wait to welcome fans to the Royal Highland Showgrounds this August’.
In addition to amazing music there will be a wealth of unique, remarkable experiences to immerse yourself in. From visual arts and installations that will keep festival-goers amused throughout the weekend as well as culinary delights and crafted drinks from local artisans.
There will also be more announcements in the coming weeks, with more artists to be added to the line up alongside incredible performers and spoken word artists.
This version of ConnectFestival will not be a traditional camping event, although there will be a limited number of luxury, boutique camping structures such as bell tents and more – along with a number of onsite hotels within walking distance. More information available at www.connectmusicfestival.com.
Maeve – “Super excited to play Connect festival this year in my hometown! It’s really great to see a revival of some classic Scottish festivals and can’t wait to see who else is on the line up.”
Roddy Woomble, Idlewild – “Idlewild played the inaugural Connect Festival in 2007. In was a unique Scottish festival in a wonderful location, so we’re delighted to hear it’s returning, and even more delighted to be playing at it in its new location outside Edinburgh. 2022 is the 20th anniversary of our record ‘The Remote Part’ so we thought it’d be fitting to celebrate the album by playing it at Connect festival.”
Admiral Fallow –“We were lucky enough to perform both years at Connect first time round, back when we were just starting to make music together. As a young band it felt really exciting to share a bill with such incredible artists. So it feels great to be asked to play at this year’s festival in Edinburgh. We’re looking forward to getting back out in front of crowds of music fans again.”