Multitude Festival. Two days, three stages, a whole lot of bands, and some great ice cream.

Photo credit: Jake Moore. The Scenesters.

SATURDAY…Reviewed by Courtney

Jason and the team went above and beyond to do up the Craufurd Arms, an iconic live music venue in Milton Keynes, for Multitude Festival. With our fancy press lanyards at the ready, we stepped into the venue grounds. Outside were some great refreshment stands, one being the wonderful Milton Creams - an independent ice cream business, and the third stage had a nice starlight backdrop. More on this later.

The first band we caught was Daybreak, on the Altercation stage. They were a nice mix of soft rock and rough vocals. They gave off a Stereophonics vibe, and were a great first band on second stage. They also offered a nice jazz segment to their music, doing a cover called “Circles”. They were happy to be playing the festival, and gave the crowd their upmost gratitude with a “love you lots” at the end. It was wholesome.

Next we headed over to the main stage, otherwise known as the Myriad stage, to see Corby-based band The Scenesters play. The frontman adorned black sunglasses, as did a few others over the weekend, which gave off that old school rock n roll look. They were like Arctic Monkeys, with an indie rock sound, playing songs “Are You Okay” and “The Ride”. Assumably, the band have taken their name from the history books of The Cribs, or it’s a very happy coincidence! They were great, and we felt like we were really getting into things now.

The Motion Picture Society played a lovely acoustic set out on the Congregation stage, with 1/3 of the band coming from Ireland to perform. The band played tracks like “Amnesiac”, which came out last year, and “Hater”. The melancholic and emotive songs didn’t bring the mood down however, as the crowd stood and watched intrigingly. It was a nice contrast already, with all bands hitting many different genres early on in the day.

Back at the Altercation stage, we caught The Gash. Again, those black sunglasses really brought out that old rock n roll feel - but with a name like The Gash they certainly had a unique vibe about them. Some songs gave out that “Rebel Yell” sound, while others stormed the proper British angst of something more along the lines of The Sex Pistols. There’s this mixture of American-esque rock with a British coating, and it works really well. They’re fun, a little eccentric, and they’re PROPER. There’s a cockiness to them that works with their branding, and adds a little humour to their stage presence.
”We’ve got two more songs then we’re fucking off.”
They were the first band of the day to start jumping off the stage and into the crowd, guitars in hand. It really evolved the crowd’s mood, and several attendees went to shake their hands after their performance.
Further online inspection gives us quotes from the band like “SPREAD YOUR GASH. ALL IS WELL IN LOVE AND GASH. THESE ARE THE WORDS THAT JESUS SPOKE. HELP THY NEIGHBOR, SPREAD THY GASH. GASH IS THE WORD”. Loud and clear!

Opal Mag were a soft surprise. Hailing from Brighton, the band have an indie soft rock sound, with a sprinkle of country. They played some of their popular Spotify tracks “Try Not to Hate Everything” and “Kitchen Song”, which were well received.

Better Joy wowed us as one of the day’s favourites, on second stage. They have some light country vibes, which makes you think of a “hometown dreamers” narrative, and their tracks would make good driving music. “Quiet Thing” had a soft start that built into a nice harmony. Frontwoman Bria Keely put down the guitar for this one, before serenading the crowd. It’s a sweet song that builds nicely. The chorus is a nice intensity, and gives us those rocky notes in this alt-pop group.
“What A Day” was about generational trauma, and it still had people moving - joining in on the chorus. After some crowd involvement, with everyone crouching down in unison before jumping up, the band finished with “Waiting on Time”. They had smiles throughout and left us feeling warm.

Back outside, we caught the audacious Pleasure Inc. Think Limp Bizkit and The Offspring’s “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy). This eccentric collective had some sleezy rock tunes, which were perfectly matched by their 80’s shades and crop tops. The Norwich based band offered a fun and energetic set, playing songs “Fool” and “For the Fun of It”.
Behind the crowd, at the artist merch stand, you could buy witty t-shirts with “I Pleasure Legiance to the Band” sprawled across the chest. We appreciated the pun, as did we appreciate the comical lyrics “should have bought another guitar, he’s a dick head”. It was a real showcase of the band’s hip hop, brit-pop, psych and cinema influences.

Back to the venue elements, we were impressed with the merch stands. From a vinyl record stall, to Craufurd Arms t-shirts and coasters, to a Multitude Festival screen printing press - bring any item and press it for £5. A nice touch! Milton Creams was also one of the highly recommended food options, serving some delicious flavours of ice cream (including vegan options). We sampled the black vanilla, and would definitely have it again. Also winning us over was the stack burger from The Char. A little pricey, but full of flavour and cooked to perfection.

Humour was next up, on the second stage. They had some spoken word sounding elements, with heavy vocals mixed in, all paired with a melancholic rock chorus. It felt like The Knack’s “My Sharona” mashed with Being As An Ocean. The punk Glaswegians had a lot of range, and used their vocal elements in unique ways. It was refreshing.
Featuring tracks from their debut album “Learning Greek”, the band really got into their set and gave a great performance.
“This is the first time we’ve ever played that one.”

Dove Ellis, Congregation stage’s sub-headliner, was another contrast entirely. There was a soft, gentle, emotive feel from their set. There was a saxophone, a keyboard, a guitar…and a real indie vibe. The band played some lovely songs, like “Heaven Has No Wings”, which caught the crowd in a sway.

Photo credit: Courtney Wallace. Paige Kennedy

The Congregation stage headliner was the queer and cheerful artist Paige Kennedy. They’re a feel-good artist, with fellow band members also adorning a full double denim look and a sense of humour. The music comes across as light and moody, with some Kate Bush undertones. The entire band are wearing double denim. The dance pop gang played “This is the Girl”, which caught the audience. There was a nice amount of bopping along as everyone got into it.
“Another Heaven” is another track about Devil worship, and Paige’s disclaimer got a few laughs. Part way through the set, vocalist Paige calls on a guy in the back. “You, in the green shirt. Come forward, green shirt.” Anticipating a public display, a couple take a few steps forward from the back of the crowd, one half of them wearing a very green t-shirt.
“That’s how you get people to come forward.” Paige admits, erupting the audience into laughter.
Paige then adds some comical backstory about their song “Male Friend”, an unreleased track we got to hear, regarding meeting someone at a bar. The songs are whimsical, and Paige Kennedy’s added narration gives the performance some extra personality to the experience. Some jokes here, some sass there. It brings out the feel of the band in a way that makes you feel like you’re also seeing stand-up comedy as well as music. We catch “Love You From a Distance” before making our way to the next stage.

Next up, things really changed. The Sick Man of Europe jumped into eerie synthy goth music, with red lighting and animalistic gyrating. There was a lot of crowd involvement here, when the unnamed frontman went off the stage and into the heart of the audience, circling in his own pit while he chanted his lyrics. Think Joy Division, and TikTok/Instagram sensation Молчат Дома (Molchat Doma) - Судно (Sudno). A name with historical reference to the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1853, The Sick Man of Europe is a niche underground collective and project emerging from the London scene. They separate themselves from the music, creating live experiences through repetition and interpretive performance. We got a taste of it at Multitude Festival, and we’re glad we did - as it certainly was an experience.

Back to the main Myriad stage, we are introduced to Jools. There are a lot of bodies on stage, with six band members taking up the length of it. The two vocalists are of the same notion; a punky, shouting style that’s a little hardcore. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in quite a strange atmosphere, as the performance doesn’t seem deeply rooted in the music, but more the anger behind it. With constant pacing from vocalist Mitch Gordon, beating on his chest, and picking up the mic stand and circling with it, there just seems to be an unsettling level of aggression coming from the vocalists.
Mitch states that one of the songs was about addiction, coping mechanisms, and the loss of his dad. There’s an understanding that music is powerful and, a lot of the time, used to cope through difficult times and nurture trauma, and so there was sympathy there - especially from a few crowd members that came to fist-bump and hug Mitch for their shared experiences. There was, at least, that moment of heartfelt sympathy in the room.
Unfortunately, we felt that the rest of the performance was a little messy. Kate Price, the other lead vocalist, was also beating on her chest and grinding on the floor throughout their set. There was passion in their performance, but it felt a bit chaotic and unstructured.

Lastly, we have headliner IST IST - hailing from Manchester. The band came out to cheers and excitement. and we were ready to see what the fuss was about. The post-punk quartet were closer matched to The Sick Man of Europe in terms of sound and line-up for the day, adding to the varied feel of the festival. They were the final band to be rocking some blacked out shades, but this time the vibe was an 80’s Depeche Mode.
The band played hits like “Lost My Shadow” and “Something Has To Give”, which definitely have those strong gothic tones mixed in with rock and post-punk. They’re emerging from the underground scene and showcasing their art. There are melancholic themes in their music, but portrayed in a very cultured way - and offered in some euphoric sense. I’m looking forward to delving more into the world of IST IST, and seeing what they create next.

SUNDAY…Reviewed by Keiran

I attended Multitude Festival on Sunday, hosted by The Craufurd Arms in Milton Keynes. 23 bands across 3 stages making a jam-packed day of live music. I arrived just as The Vandervalls were ending so I don’t have a write up about them, but they will get a shoutout later on in this review.

Bureau De Change brought Rock and Punk vibes to Milton Keynes with a stellar set on the Myriad main stage playing big tracks from their catalogue such as “Dumb Men”, recently released “Resistance”, and “Office Chair” which is set to be released after this show. A great warmup for the rest of the day, setting the mood that everyone attending is in for a good day.

WKTD are next up and ended up being one of my favourite sets of the day. Describing themselves as Alt Indie, this 5 piece from Bedfordshire are a cohesive band that seemed to have influences from multiple genres within alternative music. I noticed some Incubus in some of their music, some Pop Punk in one of their songs, some heaviness in other songs. No song felt the same as the other with my particular highlight being “Take Ur Time” which really utilised their keyboardist and a very catchy riff, which makes sense as this is their most listened to song on Spotify. Their set included an on-the-fly moment as they realised they had more time than they thought so they added in a old song to the crowd’s pleasure.

Photo credit: Jake Moore Photography. Snake Eyes

Snake Eyes bring an upbeat set to the day. The self-proclaimed Grit Pop band delivered a fun performance where you could equally spend time banging your head or jumping and dancing. I only managed to catch a short part of their set but I certainly left looking forward to checking out more of their music which I actually have, check out “Dig” and “No One Is Truly Cool” to get a taste of this band.

Cowz played on the outside Congregation Stage and they brought a very unique set to the table. There’s a wackiness to the band that gave me the same feeling that Poppy gives, just without the screaming or heavy instrumentals. Angry women with a Punk attitude and style is the best way to describe this band. The use of a vocoder within their set adds a uniqueness I can get behind.

Cody Frost accompanied by the Sweethearts put on a fantastic set that provided a mix of soft angelic and hard demonic styles within both the vocals and the instrumentals across multiple genres. Opening with “Bloodsucka” and closing with “Process”, everything in between takes you on a ride with brand new track “Natural Selection” (which has amassed over 50k views on YouTube within it’s first week) midway through the set displaying all sides of what Cody and the band can give and the hold they have over the crowd shows this is a band to keep an eye on.

Photo credit: Jake Moore Photography. Cody Frost

Native James bring Alternative rap to Craufurd Arms (a genre this venue knows well with Hacktivist growing here) with their fast beats and vocals accompanied with heavier instrumentals. Their set brought a fresh taste to the day with such a special performance that gets you thinking about different important topics in the current landscape of the world. The intensity and electricity within the set will stay with me for a while.

It is time for tonight’s headliners Unpeople and they right away show why they are headliner status with a strong opener of “Waste”. The multiple genre band mixing Post-Hardcore with Alternative Rock with a sprinkle of Pop Punk haven’t even released that much music over their short career but the way the packed audience held on to every word shows there is a strong fan base full of inspiration. With a Reuben cover and closing with “The Garden”, the end of Multitude Festival goes off with a bang. The people leave happy awaiting the same again next year.

Multitude Festival and their hosts, The Craufurd Arms, prove you don’t need a huge field or huge names to put on a great festival over 2 days. This was the perfect setting for discovering new bands you may not have even heard of before. The biggest thing that stood out on the Sunday line up for me was women. It’s often said that women don’t appear enough in Alternative music but it was on full display on the day including the first band with The Vandervalls and the headliner Unpeople with almost every band I saw having at least 1 woman which is a wonderful sight to see. Another year closes and the festival raises in stature, I await news for the next one.

FULL LIVE REVIEW: Multitude Festival 2025

LIVE REVIEW: Casket Feeder - at the Craufurd Arms