FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Outbreak Fest 2022

June 20, 2022 Ellis Heasley

Another weekend, another eye-watering festival line-up, this time as Outbreak Fest seek to bring near enough every hardcore band on the planet to Manchester to celebrate their tenth anniversary. With two stages and minimal overlaps, here’s everything you need to know about this ludicrously stacked bill.

Thursday June 23rd

Easing us in slightly with the Thursday pre-show, first up we have a trio of bands representing just a fraction of the diverse young talent we have here in the UK at the moment. Hometown crew GUILT TRIP, Cambridgeshire post-hardcore trio MODERN ERROR and Leeds-based up and comers STATIC DRESS will no doubt get things off to a flying start, setting up a much-anticipated appearance from Californian sasscore merchants SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY as they return to the UK having squeezed two excellent full-lengths under their belt since the last time they were here. Last but definitely not least are the always incendiary COUNTERPARTS, hopefully bringing with them a chance to hear some brand new material from their upcoming album A Eulogy For Those Still Here.

Friday June 24th

Running the risk of obliterating half the audience right from the outset of the festival proper is the frankly quite dangerous opening run of YEAR OF THE KNIFE, RENOUNCED, XIBALBA and INCENDIARY. With each band taking to the Main Stage for half an hour apiece, you can expect breakdowns, breakdowns and – checks notes – more breakdowns. You’ll find a respite of sorts over on the Second Stage with southwest shoegazers OVERSIZE, but not for long as UK brutes DESPIZE (Glasgow) and LAST WISHES (London) will be quickly on their way to wipe the floor with whatever’s left.

Guiding us into the evening from there we’re back with STATIC DRESS and their second set of the weekend; fresh off the back of an appearance at Download and with a killer debut album in their back pocket, expect some massive emo sing-alongs in amongst the prevailing metallic carnage. The quartet kick off a bit of a Leeds takeover which continues on the Second Stage with sets from crossover thrashers PEST CONTROL and hardcore punks THE FLEX, while over on the Main Stage we’re in for something truly special with back-to-back appearances from a pair of returning UKHC heroes in LAST WITNESS and YOUR DEMISE.

Rounding things out for the day we have a Second Stage headline set from PUPPY (another band with a quality brand new album up their sleeves) before an intriguing ‘special guest’ set will lead us nicely into the closing one-two punch of TERROR and KNOCKED LOOSE. Having already proven a deadly combo on their tour of the UK earlier this year, if you don’t need a lie down after all that then chances are scientists will want to study you as some kind of medical marvel.

Saturday June 25th

On balance not quite as heavy as its predecessor, Saturday gets off to a bit of a shoegazey start as we bounce back and forth between stages with sets from the likes of POWERPLANT, MICROMOON, NARROW HEAD and ISLAND OF LOVE. There’s still plenty of hardcore beef on offer here too though, including not least from Chicago’s LIFE’S QUESTION, California’s DEAD HEAT and Leeds’ BIG CHEESE in another bruising Second Stage run.

If you’re looking for a few more sing-alongs, CHUBBY AND THE GANG, FIDDLEHEAD, MANNEQUIN PUSSY, DRUG CHURCH and ANGEL DU$T should all have you covered as they bring their more melodic takes on punk and hardcore to what will no doubt make for a particularly anthemic afternoon over on the Main Stage.

From there, the evening takes a turn for the emo with the likes MOVEMENTS, CITIZEN and BASEMENT, albeit with a slightly fiercer interruption scheduled from hardcore punks HIGHER POWER. Wrapping things up on the Second Stage are Belgian shoegazers SLOW CRUSH, ably supported by YOUNG GUV and HIGH VIS, and no doubt leaning heavily on last year’s excellent Hush to make wrecks of all gathered. It’ll all lead to what’s sure to be one of the highlights of the weekend as TURNSTILE make a swift return to the UK with the feel-good hardcore of Glow On ready to start a ‘love connection’ with us all.

Sunday June 26th

Kicking things off on the Sunday and we’re back to higher doses of hardcore aggro with US up and comers like SCOWL, DARE, ZULU and DRAIN guaranteed to blow away any last day cobwebs. There’s well-matched representation for the UK in there too from London ragers NEKRA, while the likes of Manchester grungers WITCH FEVER and Connecticut emos ANXIOUS should ensure things don’t get too one-note early on.

After that, we’ve got the unpigeonholable SHOW ME THE BODY bringing with them a ferocious live reputation with which they’ll no doubt deliver their frankly baffling concoction of hardcore, noise, sludge, hip-hop and more. Palette cleansers come in the form of another well-bunched run of shoegazers/dream-poppers in CHASTITY, SUPERHEAVEN, CHOIR BOY, NOTHING and SOFT KILL, and then we’re onto UK favourites LOATHE – a band whose combination of dreaminess and savagery may well be the absolute bullseye for all that’s going on over the entire weekend.

Bringing proceedings to a close on the Second Stage we’ve got a double-helping of melodic hardcore from MILITARIE GUN and ONE STEP CLOSER, these overlapping with the somewhat surprising inclusion of hip-hoppers INJURY RESERVE and a surely unmissable appearance from VEIN.FM. Just a few months on from the release of arguably the best metallic hardcore record of the year so far, the Boston quintet had best make sure they leave at least a few of us alive for the final trio of CEREMONY, DEAFHEAVEN and TOUCHÉ AMORÉ – all of whom seem well-placed to bring the fest to a close on a cathartic and emotional note.