“Sets the benchmark for all new festivals”: London’s Footsteps Festival was a masterful takeover of independent venues

This year, new London multivenue festival Footsteps brought its first edition to a swathe of independent venues across London. Spread across five days in May, the festival was a glowing celebration of music, art and community with performances from both emerging and iconic artists including Prima Queen, Home Counties, Lunar Vacation, John Roseboro, Honeyglaze and more.

Aiming to highlight the vital role of independent venues in London’s cultural scene, the acts took to a number of London’s most loved music venues including Moth Club, Paper Dress Vintage, Scala, Islington Assembly Hall, and EartH Theatre for five nights of music that showcased emerging talent at its finest.

The first show of the festival we attended was Lunar Vacation’s show at Oslo Hackney on Wednesday night, with support from emerging acts Ladylike and Soft Loft. Stepping into the independent venue, we caught the later half of Ladylike’s set, including a captivating final song that felt like an extended, flowing soundscape. With a mellow, tender sound with evocative riffs, the group set the perfect tone for the night and are certainly one to watch.

Next to take to the stage was Soft Loft, a Switzerland-based collective fronted by vocalist Jorina Stamm. Second song Paper Plane was a highlight, accompanied by a welcome touch of folded paper planes that the group threw into the audience. Emotive tunes laced with vulnerability featured between brighter, more upbeat songs, scattered with powerhouse vocals, heavy drum beats and angsty lyrics.

Headlining the night was indie rock group Lunar Vacation, a five piece whose sound oscillated between reflective, mellow tunes and heavy rock bangers. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, the group received a raucous welcome from the crowd. Throughout the set were fan favourites including Sick and Unlucky as well as hits off their latest album Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire.

The next night, which featured a range of excellent offerings across different venues, we caught south London indie rock trio Honeyglaze at EartH Theatre as well as Prima Queen at Islington Assembly Hall. The night at EartH opened with support from smooth, indie-pop trio daste from Australia’s Gold Coast before a strong set from Honeyglaze, whose 2024 album Real Deal is a mature demonstration of introspection, social commentary and emotion.

Meanwhile, we also took to Islington Assembly Hall to catch emerging indie rock duo Prima Queen. Formed of best friends Louise Macphail and Kristin McFadden, the pair drew a large crowd to the venue— unsurprising following the glowing reception of their recently released debut album The Prize.

From the outset, the pair’s strong sense of self was striking. With a confident, alternative indie-rock yet pop-infused sound, Prima Queen’s set oscillated between tender, nostalgia-packed tracks and catchy rock bangers with high energy. Oats (Ain’t Gonna Beg) was a highlight and proved a crowd pleaser, oozing with a witty, energetic sound. The set took a turn toward a more stripped back, acoustic sound after this, proving the pair’s admirable range and stripping back the sound to highlight their strong lyrical capabilities.

High energy tunes filled the end of the show, before hit song The Prize, the album’s title track, closed the night— a powerful ode to the pair’s friendship and a touching reminder of self worth. As if it wasn’t already clear enough in their music, the duo’s closeness shines through even more on stage and makes their sound all the more enticing.

With striking performances that showcased some of the most exciting new music we’ve heard all year, Footsteps Festival was a huge success that has set the benchmark for all new UK festivals.

“Sets the benchmark for all new festivals”: London’s Footsteps Festival was a masterful takeover of independent venues

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