SUNDAY 1st The Proclaimers; Transphobic twins bring their new album You May Offend to Oxford – OK Boomer (the show is sold out in any case); New Theatre; 7:30 ; Rabidfest Day 2: N0trixx + Lesbian Bed Death + The Crawling, Maatkare + Swarm6ix + Dacara + Spared An Endless Orbit + Omegathrone + The Blade Itself + Sabertooth; day 2 of Rabidfest, featuring Russian exile n0trixx (a metal FKA Twigs?), Stoke-on-Trent’s altogether more campy Lesbian Bed Death, and orchestral Dutch thrash from Maatkare, among others; The Bullingdon; 12:15

MONDAY 2nd Savak + Sinews + Ember; Brooklyn art-punks celebrate ten years of spiky guitars and sung-shouted choruses – very fun! (I was about to write ‘jazzy drum fills’ until I heard their song ‘No Blues, No Jazz’ with its skronking Saxophone – genre, like irony, can be confusing). Support from Oxford’s pre-eminent Fugazi fans Sinews and new Oxford supergroup Embers; The Library, 7:30

TUESDAY 3rd Hang Massive; two European hippies based in Goa play the Hang, a Swedish ‘invention’ based on the Trinidadian steel pan – there’s some kind of commentary to do here (immediately after listening to their 8 minute video ‘The Secret Kissing Of The Sun and Moon’ [okay I skipped a couple of minutes] YouTube played me an 8-bit recreation of Yes’ ‘Close To The Edge’, which honestly hits the nail on the head somehow) The Bullingdon; 7:00

WEDNESDAY 4th Firestations + Patsy Delve + Nothing Dreams; this kind of thing used to be called ‘dream-pop’ but they’re calling it here ‘art-pop’ – melodically & harmonically (note-wise?) reminiscent of early Brit-pop, but texturally more detailed, organic – really nice atmospheric stuff, very Divine Schism-coded. ooh a saxophone! I’d better move on or I’ll say ‘jazz’ again. Experimental songs from Patsy Delve and self-aware 80s jangle from Nothing Dreams in support The Library; 7:30 Psychedelic Porn Crumpets + Flat Moon; Deadpan/Australian pop-rock with de riguer distorted vocals (which makes it psych). This is pretty well-done, honestly, I like hearing drums not-to-a-click. The support band are pretty fun too – sped-up jazz-fusion (which they claim makes it punk) from Leeds, it slightly overloads my irony-meter but it could be promising O2 Academy; 6:30 Ben Poole; Blues; The Bullingdon; 7pm

THURSDAY 5th Genevieve Miles + Mazawattee; Melodic, woozy, well-crafted sad-angry pop-rock from Genevieve Miles, support from another Oxford act on the up – melancholic indie-ers Mazawattee; The Library; 7:30

FRIDAY 6th Big Joanie + BARBARELLA + Sian Arli + Miamusa + Slunk; Day 1 of YWMP’s No. 80 music-and-community festival is headlined by superb London punks Big Joanie, with political electro-pop from Barbarella, atmospheric hip-hop from Sian Arli, picaresque R&B from Miamusa, prog-post-punk from Oxford trio Slunk – in other words the deepest, most diverse bill of music you’re likely to see all year, and that’s just day 1. buy a ticket for all three days! The Nest; 7pm The Feeling; Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s husband’s band play songs from thier honestly still fun first album, plus some new ones I guess. You can even shell out 100 quid to watch the soundcheck! But hey, you’ve seen their kitchen; O2 Academy; 6:30 Shotovers + Bonnie & The Barstuds + Cymbal Shards + 16 Shadows + Flip Phone + Agatha Posy-Rose; A packed bill of local artists from Mark ‘Osprey’ O’Brien, most of whom I can find no information on, but the show is headlined by the earnest, classic-type pop-rock of Shotovers, and country music from Bonnie & The Barstuds; O2 Academy; 5pm Sounds Of The City: Robin Bennett & friends + Premium Leisure; Truck festival founder and local legend, Robin Bennett of Dreaming Spires plays his solo stuff with the help of some special guests, plus a support set from Premium Leisure’s Chris Barker and his gently subversive parlour-rock – have a poke around the museum’s ‘Sounds Of The City’ exhibition while you’re there; Museum Of Oxford; 6:30 EX:RE; Daughter’s Elena Tonra plays her steely, vulnerable, moody electro-indie Truck Store; 6pm The Men They Couldn’t Hang; long-running folk-punk The Bullingdon; 7pm The Knights Of Mentis + Ant Kelly Collective + Only The Brave + The Long Harvest; Another night of party music from veteran, beloved Oxford institution Klub Kakofanney with the rootsy Knights of Mentis and jolly singer-songwriting from Ant Kelly Florence Park Community Centre; 7:20 King Comet + Konka; very little info on this but it looks like it could be interesting – are King Comet a fusion band? or Comet-is-coming type 6 music jazz? the promise of the internet was that all the relevant information would be easily available at our fingertips but here I am googling-in-vain, following social media links down dead ends, typing into a little box on WordPress, undoing the spell-checker for the Nth time, switching confusedly between open browser tabs, like when I used to get to the top of the stairs and forget what I came up for, but now everything is wires and electricity and precious metals mined in the DRC; Workshop Cafe; 8pm

SATURDAY 7th Stealing Sheep + From the Lips to the Moon + She the Throne + Rattle + Molly Sterling + Aftercare (Acoustic); Second day of No. 80 and it’s even more stacked than day 1 – extraordinary artsy rockist dance music from Liverpool’s Stealing Sheep, FTLTTM’s poetry and electronics, She the Throne’s dark electronica, Rattle’s brilliant double drumming song-craft (like they took the first Stealing Sheep record and went the opposite way to that band), singer-songs from Co. Clare’s Molly Sterling – all the funnest bits of Cafe Oto basically – plus an acoustic cameo from Oxford’s rising stars Aftercare, so big that they’re spawning supergroups already (see above) The Nest; 1:30 Jody & the Jerms + New Electric Band + Almost Eugene + The Cinder Track + Neon Teepee + Darren Choons; more Oxford City Festival from Osprey, this time headlined by Jody & the Jerms, who sound exactly as described. How am I supposed to Google ‘New Electric Band’? (other search engines are available and yes I do use them, I am that kind of ideologue) Florence Park Community Centre; 5pm Lydons + Wall Street; Shirtless Beta-male energy from Lydons – the double meaning in thier ‘Black Country Alternative’ description is apt – rock music with Believe-style (ok Charli-style) autotune from Southampton’s Wall Street; Workshop Cafe; 7pm Gidiki; Greek prog-folk Tap Social; 8pm Mount St. Helen + The Bobo Free night of brooding, epic indie, with one of Oxford’s best singer-songwriters in support; The Library; join the MSH mailing list for a free ticket

SUNDAY 8th 60 Juno + Cootie Catcher 60 Juno are mannered, dinky slacker-rock from (I can’t even find out where they’re from), Cootie Catcher are dinky, likable sped-up C86; O2 Academy; 7pm Jools Holland & his Rhythm & blues Orchestra; Boogie-woogie, obviously New Theatre; 7:30 WIDGET + Wone + Ayse Roza; Baxter Dury-esque ironic electro-rock from Widget headline day 3 of No. 80 festival; The Nest; 12pm

MONDAY 9th Dizzee Rascal; Grime pioneer, Member of the British Empire, convicted DV perp; O2 Academy; 7pm

TUESDAY 10th Dongyang Gozupa; Kosmiche musik, Hawkindesque grooviness, jazzy electronic-rock textures plus South Korean folk instruments – I know there are pluses and minuses of the University for us in the scene, but this is part of The World’s Music at Oxford series, this is proper stuff, this will be terrific, get on the waiting list now; St John’s College Auditorium; 7pm

WEDNESDAY 11th Liz Lawrence + Oscar Browne; Strident, concise, startling songs from Liz Lawrence’s fourth LP Vespers, plus landscape-y polyrhythmic drum machine songs from Oscar Browne; The Bullingdon; 7:30

THURSDAY 12th Do Nothing; I’ve had enough of this crank-wave post-Windmill stuff now (and this is a conservative example) – can’t English blokes in their mid-twenties come up with something else? Maybe I’m just jealous. Truck Store; 6pm Vigilantes + Who Ate All The Crayons; There are Queen-like harmonies and whistling but it’s still workmanlike so-called indie The Bullingdon; 7:30 Canned Pineapple + Shock Horror + Baby Maker; all-bloke all-indie (landfill, post-punk, slacker respectively) The Handlebar; 7:45 Soot Sprite + Aftercare + Sandi Toxic; OK here come Divine Schism to save us from an all-dude Thursday armed with beautifully crafted, earnestly, precisely played emo songs from Exeter’s Soot Sprite, plus support from Oxford dream punx Aftercare and a debut solo set from Sandi Toxic, beloved Junk Whale singer/Worry drummer/Letterlocked Fiddler etc – sure to be special! The Library; 7:30 The Entitled Sons; and then, a band called ‘The Entitled Sons’ ! perfect!! sometimes this stuff just writes itself!!! O2 Academy; 7:30 Tony Hadley – the Christmas Big Band Tour 2026; I can barely believe what I’ve just typed; O2 Academy; 7:45 The Therms + Asterix; local guitar music; The Jericho Tavern; 7:30

FRIDAY 13th Jamie Webster; earnest, honest pop-rock in the Sam Fender mode promotes his fourth long player Running Round The Sun Truck Store; 6pm Chasing Abbey; Irish folk melodies with House music backing – totally unexpected, strangely addicting O2 Academy; 7pm The Rifles; Original Landfill Indie (2006- ) from Chingford – the industry is wild; O2 Academy; 6:30 The Subtheory + Simon Heartfield + he didnt; Leftfield-like trip hop, bleepy bloopy soundscapey techno and industrial noise – in other words another brilliantly program(m)ed night of electronic by All Will Be Wired; The Library; 8pm

SATURDAY 14th Barmy Army + Rudy & The Bagpipes + Means Of Production + Arisen + Lumina + Dilemma + Superloose + Smoke With Fire + Penetrometer Bill; A wilder bill from Osprey this time but again I have limited info – I found a YouTube video from 2012 of a band called Barmy Army playing The Cellar (RIP) and honestly it’s pretty good in a raucous outsider-art kind of way, but who knows if this is them?Surely the highlight has to be Means Of Production – superb socialist dancefloor fillers, electro-psych Krautish interregna; Florence Park Community Centre; 4pm Royal Blood; two shows from the drums & bass duo in support of their new album, I’m pleased that people still make albums O2 Academy; 6pm + 8:15 Killer Kowalski + Babymaker + Double Yellow Lines; offbeat guitar music; The Library; ??

SUNDAY 15th Girlband! Americanist classic rock but earnestly (and movingly) reclaimed by three women from Nottingham. it even has whoah-woahs! Truck Store; 5pm Dermot Henry; classic pop singer songs, with an pleasing English dryness The Bullingdon; 7:30 Jake Bugg (acoustic); more finger-picking than I remember, has he mellowed? you can ask him at the Q&A O2 Academy; 7pm

MONDAY 16th

TUESDAY 17th Goblin Band + Spitzer Space Telescope; an evening of trad-style folk music from Broadside Records and Divine Schism; Fusion Arts; 7:30 Editors; maybe these guys are not traditionally considered Landfill because it’s a little bit gothy, but there are still plenty of bits that go durdurdurdurdurdurdurdur. In any case, they’re in Oxford to play their 8th LP Truck Store; 6pm The North; more Strokes-y/Monkeys-y stuff from people who weren’t born then The Bullingdon; 7:30

WEDNESDAY 18th Will Wilde; Haven Club presents harmonica stuff; The Bullingdon; 7:30 Indica Blues + BarrelHaus; Stoner rock from a double bill of Oxford acts; The Library; 8pm Becky Hill; effective dance-pop; O2 Academy; 6pm Scarlet Rebels; Welsh longhairs* playing goofy rock music Truck Store; 6pm

THURSDAY 19th The Samurai Seven + The dB Band + The Stayawakes; OMS presents a pair of veteran Oxford power-pop bands, plus younger power-pop pretenders opening up The Bullingdon; 7pm HMS Morris + My Precious Bunny + St. Cecilia; charismatic, quirky Welsh pop-rock plus moody dream-pop songs; The Nest; 7:30 Little Angels; reformed 80s classic rock from Scarborough, a bit Bon Jovi, a bit Status Quo O2 Academy; 7pm Leonian Dream + Roadshow; Daughter-like indieish rock music The Jericho Tavern, 7:30

FRIDAY 20th Corto.Alto; Fusion disguised as House music and dance-pop – I’m sure this is an internet subculture thing, and I applaud it O2 Academy, 6:30 Yard Act; this band were once called ‘post-punk’, like every other band, but recent single ‘New Beginnings’ ironically sounds like Embrace to me, or maybe an Oasis b-side that ended up on a film soundtrack. I enjoyed it! O2 Academy, 6:30 Pink Diamond Revue + Wilderness States + Journeyman + Third House + Wundabyte + JAY of Rabbit Face + Chris Hall; You’ve guessed it, it’s another packed evening of OCF@FPCC – headliners Pink Diamond Revue perform with a dummy onstage Kraftwerk-style and play fun euro-disco with psyche-y guitars – like everything from the Old World it’s a little bit sinister Florence Park Community Centre; 5pm An Dannsa Dub: Scottish folk songs with autotune vocals fused with various commercial dance styles – party music basically; Cowley Workers Social Club; 8pm Db Band + Chalice in Wonderland + Bonnie and the Bar Studs; Post-britpop rock music from Supergrass/Jennifers bassist Mick Quinn’s new/old band, plus local support The Jericho Tavern; 7pm

SATURDAY 21st Reverend & The Makers; more Landfill, but this time twinned with party music O2 Academy; 6:30 Hugh Turner; funky guitar Tap Social; 7pm

SUNDAY 22nd Oh Community: cowboyy + Gichard + Enabling Behaviour + Publicity Dept + Small Pleasures + Slunk + Grubbing + Feeble Strength + Catkin + Shredding + Pet Twin + Cymbal Shards; Always-unmissable multi-venue all-dayer by promoters Divine Schism featuring post-Postcard indie from Gichard, nicely coarse rock music from Enabling Behaviour, whimsical, woozy songs from Publicity Dept, feedbacking Canadians Small Pleasures, Bartokian post-punk from Grubbing plus local town-and-gown dream-poppers Catkin and Oxford scene alum Pet Twin; The Library + The Bullingdon; 3pm

MONDAY 23rd

TUESDAY 24th

WEDNESDAY 25th Little Red + Barricane + Lee Switzer-Woolf: Brooding folk songs from local trio Little Red, returning with their first new music since 2018. Gothy harmonies from Barricane and atmospheric, singular pop-rock from Lee Switzer-Woolf; The Bullingdon; 7pm Dessie Magee: Earnest folk-indie-rock; The Bullingdon; 7:30 The Rolling People + Florentenes + Better Heaven: The Rolling People are named after a Verve album track (clearly we’re at that stage, I remember when it was Talking Heads album tracks) but they don’t sound like Britpop – they might have the melodic cadence of Oasis but it’s a driving beat not a baggy beat – the result is MOR radio rock O2 Academy; 7:30 Philippe Nash + Repulsive Woman + Babe Martin + Heather Blether; an evening of direct, gentle, arresting guitar and piano songs from England and Auckland; Common Ground; 7:30 Lisa Kahn promising, BBC introducing supported dark electro, definitely worth a punt for a fiver; The Library; 8pm

THURSDAY 26th

FRIDAY 27th Scott Laverne: dry, whimsical, nostalgic speech-songs from Essex; The Jericho Tavern; 7:30 The Guest List: more Manchester guitar music, but the yearning seems real, the melodies are good, with a good balance of surprise-to-expectation, and they haven’t felt the need to tune the vocal out of existence O2 Academy; 6:30 Mazawattee + Suspire + Alto Alto; Oxford’s folk-poppers launch their debut album English Mean Time with support from the upbeat guitars of Suspire and the slightly less upbeat guitars of Alto Alto The Bullingdon; Common Ground; 8pm Big Country + Evan Peter’s Alarm: Latest incarnation of the Scottish rock band formed in by Stuart Adamson of The Skids in 1981 now featuring one original member (the guitarist) and supported by a version of the Welsh rock band led by the son of the original singer, who also used to sing for Big Country after Adamson’s death. Got it? O2 Academy; 6:30 Danny Mellin; such optimism would usually make a grumpus like me turn off quite quickly but I got the whole way through the song, even if I twitched a couple of times. is that what the presser means by ‘infectious’? I was compelled in any case. and then the algo soothed me with ‘Fields Of Gold’. Anyway, Danny is playing two shows and the first one is sold out! Truck Store, 6:30 Think Tank; This looked potentially interesting (yet more Fusion!) but there is simply no way of successfully searching ‘think tank Oxford university’, and since it’s a free gig there’s not even a ticket page; The New Space, New College, 8pm

SATURDAY 28th Holly Carter + Susannah Clegg: English Americana (you’ll see what I mean) The Jericho Tavern, 7:15 Beard Of Destiny + Osmosis + Firegazer + The Long Harvest + The Revlators + Franklins Tower Tony Batey + Only The Brave + Will Cox: More OCF, headlined by long-running, enjoyable story songs from Beard of Destiny. 8 bands sounds like hard work to me to be honest but you probably have a better constitution than I do – I’m sure it works as a grab-bag, and there’s bound to be some great stuff? I’ve said it before but FPCC has a nice bar. Florence Park Community Centre, 3pm

SUNDAY 29th Arimea + Blank Atlas + Worst Wishes: post-lockdown nu-metal revivalists Arimea play a hometown show, with support from similarly minded Bristolians Blank Atlas and Oxford emo crew Worst Wishes; The Bullingdon, 7pm

MONDAY 30th Miki Berenyi Trio; Berenyi’s new project was originally formed to play drum machine covers of Lush songs, but the band’s original material almost sounds like Morcheeba or Electronic – deceptively light, fun but carrying the paranoia of those times (different to the paranoia of these times), and the sense of pre-globalisation English grimness (different to post-globalisation English grimness) and the singer’s voice and melodic sense remains resolute. plus those Britpop chord changes are coming back around I’m sure The Bullingdon, 7pm Bellowhead; reformed Oxford folk band on tour to celebrate 20 years of their debut album New Theatre; 7:30