I'm laying in my hotel room bed watching people clean really dirty rugs (on the Internet) and I'm thinking to myself I should probably start work on my review of Manchester Punk Festival 2025. I know I keep saying that I'm retired from writing but I know, and you know, that MPF will always pull me back in. I absolutely love this festival and will forever talk about it. I've also reviewed every single MPF since it started and it would be a shame not to do the 10th anniversary edition.
If you were at the festival (and you should've been!) you will have hopefully picked up the wonderful free programme the festival provides. And hopefully you read my article (so pleased they let me do an actual article this year) about how MPF has changed, evolved and expanded over the years. It's online here – go and check it out if you want. Paul Smith told me it was a pleasant read and that's high praise as he also recently told me that I looked like a funeral director at his brother's wedding. In that article, I mentioned how the biggest change for me personally at MPF was that at the first one in 2015 I attended not knowing anyone, ten years later I'm lucky enough to have made so many friends it's impossible to walk anywhere around the festival without bumping into a friendly face. MPF is this wonderful event that brings together people from punk scenes and communities from all over and it's the best. It sounds like an overused cliché but MPF really is a big family reunion. I got to hang out with my pals not just from the New Cross Inn/London scene but also legends and heroes from Manchester (obviously), Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Hastings, Reading, Brighton, Leeds, Warrington, Birmingham, Scotland, Wales, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and, of course, South Africa via Denmark. Probably some more places as well, but I'm writing this on four hours sleep. It feels really special that we all get to have this annual meet up to spend time together doing something that we love and we should never take that for granted.
I've written the last paragraph as a precursor (good word for four hours sleep) for this review as I feel like this whole thing is going to be more of a love letter to my friends rather than an actual unbiased ‘journalistic’ recap of my experiences at MPF 2025. When the complete festival line up was announced, I noticed just how many bands I’m mates with were playing and I immediately worried that they were going to clash with some other bands I wanted to see and I would have to make a tough decision. Ultimately, I went with the theory of if I’m seeing one friend's band I should try and see all my friends' bands. Sadly I did have some clashes with that, so I went with the ones who were making their first appearances at MPF or were bands from our New Cross Inn family. Sorry if I did miss your band, I’ll make sure to see you next time.
Manchester Pals Fest is a nickname that the festival has had for years now and this year it felt more like that than ever. The first band of that pals fest played the festival's traditional warm up show on the Thursday night. After some storming sets from Brighton's melodic punks Not The Face, local riot grrrl act Open Fly and Ipswich hip hop/punk rock crossover megastar Native James, it was time for Tripsun’s final show for a long time as guitarist Mike is about to move to Switzerland with his lovely new wife Chloé. All of the very best to this wonderful couple – we will miss hanging out with them dearly! Good job I’m in sixteen (probably) group chats with Mike so I will be able to lovingly mock him when the mighty Crystal Palace knock Aston Villa out of the FA Cup on Saturday. (I’m sure this won’t age badly). I’ve seen Tripsun more times than any other band and it’s always a great time. The whole band were in high spirits and put in a headline worthy set themselves despite only having a thirty minute set. Playing a mixture of bangers from the incredible Kill The Dream album, including Apathy where the band were joined by Beth from Crocodile Tears for the Stu Daly part, as well as some old favourites it was one big sing-along from beginning to end. In just a couple of songs I found myself right at the front of the crowd with scene legend and wonderful human being Chris Fishlock shouting along to the songs. This year, Tripsun have also added a couple of covers into their set, Weezer’s Pork & Beans and Green Day’s When I Come Around went down a storm with the crowd and the set was then finished with Chemstrains which included a traditional Fishlock stage dive. Mike, Hassan, Andy and Zandro – we love you, don’t be away too long my friends. The night was concluded by another Brighton band, Dakka Skanks. The band sounded huge in the Rebellion venue (I probably should’ve mentioned where the gig was taking place already but leave me alone, I’m out of practice). The band were slick, they eased the crowd in with some slower tracks but as the set progressed they upped the tempo of the songs and the crowd responded by creating a frenzied skank pit in front of them. The crowd was suitably warmed up for the upcoming three days of fun.
Over the years of festivalling, I’ve discovered a great way of waking myself up in the mornings after a rubbish night's sleep in a hotel is by going for an early morning walk. Every day it became routine to go for a short walk from the hotel to the nearest Greggs and grab some breakfast for myself and Emma and our best pals Robyn and Brett. This early morning walk did wonders for me everyday and I really recommend trying it.
A tradition we have every year is to meet outside The Union at 11am, one hour before wristband collection, to make sure we’re in and out as quickly as possible. This is always a big highlight for me because it’s a chance to catch up with pals before things kick off and it becomes non-stop for the rest of the weekend. When we arrived at The Union there was currently a two person queue, our mates Paul and Will from My Third Leg. This was Will’s first time at MPF because he’s a family man and he could only do two days of the weekend because he’s got proper adult responsibilities. But you could see how much fun he had at the festival and he told me afterwards that he now gets what’s so special about the festival. Hopefully he can make MPF a regular event for him every year. You don’t just do one MPF!
Sticking with our yearly traditions, Emma and I then went to Bundobust for lunch with Robyn, Brett and Dan and Jess of Vegan Punk fame. Bundobust is the perfect way to fuel yourself ready for some long days. I probably best try to avoid going so chickpea heavy with my food choice next year though.
Food consumed, Emma and I then made our way to YES, which has become my favourite MPF venue. There were already plenty of festival goers hanging out as we made our way to the YES Basement for Skint Knees. It was already a one in one out situation but thankfully it didn’t take long for us to squeeze our way into the room. It was an impressive set from a band I wasn’t too aware of before the festival and, if I’m honest, I only really went to see to make sure I was in the room for the next band. I enjoyed how Skint Knees had three different singers and would swap instruments around. Often when bands swap instruments between members during the set it can ruin the flow of things but Skint Knees were clearly well rehearsed and did a great job of keeping things going. Next up were Japanese ska/pop punk act Relents. Probably the band on the line up that I wasn’t aware of before they were announced that I was most excited to see. And I don’t think I was alone in that as the basement quickly filled up and I later discovered that there was a huge queue going all the way back up the stairs into the bar of folks hoping to get in. Relents were fast, fun, tight and put huge smiles on faces of everyone in the room. There was a level of silliness that I loved and it had me grinning from ear to ear. It was tough to have to leave the set early but I had my number one pick of the entire weekend to see next, the wonderful Our Lives In Cinema. I also felt like I was being very kind to the people in the queue by leaving early and letting them catch a bit of the mighty Relents. I hope it’s possible for them to come back soon.
I’ve been good friends with Our Lives In Cinema’s lead singer, Mark, for years now and ever since he went to his first MPF in 2019 he’s been desperate to play it. I’m quite convinced playing MPF is a big reason he has kept the band going for so long. When we entered the Pink Room at YES it was already quite full up and Emma and I had to weave our way to the front of the crowd. I wasn’t gonna miss the chance to see my buddy play his dream gig! As soon as they started with Dials, the opening track from their awesome album Eat Your Feelings, I had a feeling that this was going to be a good one. It was and then some. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Our Lives In Cinema many times over the years with a few different line ups, but this was easily the best they’ve ever been and I was so proud of my friends because, fun fact, CPRW alumni Dan Peters also plays bass in Our Lives In Cinema and has been a great addition to the band. Mark is one of the most wholesome people that I know and proved as much by stopping midway through the set to ask to record the crowd saying hello to his mum Patsy. I’ve long said that Our Lives In Cinema are the New Cross Inn’s best kept secret and I’m now very excited to see the progression of the band as more and more people discover just how awesome Our Lives In Cinema are. I can’t think of a better band to have a breakout year.
After Our Lives In Cinema, I told Mark how much I loved him before heading over to The Union to catch a little bit of The Slow Death. We weren’t able to stay for long before we headed off again to the Bread Shed for our friends in Baldhead’s debut MPF show. We got in just as they started their set with their customary intro song of the beginning of Andrew WK’s classic, Party Hard. I’ll always be disappointed that they don’t play the entire song but they do have plenty of great originals to play as well. As we made our way through the packed crowd I noticed just how packed the stage was. Baldhead had organised the biggest horn section I’ve ever seen them play with and it sounded huge. It was amazing to see my friends' band, that they started as a bit of a joke and now has become this awesome thing, not only gets to play but smash their set at the best festival in the UK. It was lovely to see the UK ska punk community come out in support of the band and I’m pretty certain that there were lots of people who had never heard of the band in the room also checking them out. I’m sure they didn’t leave disappointed. Baldhead are an infectious group who went ambitious with their set and pulled it off in some style. Another group of friends I’m very proud of!
Next I headed back to The Union to see the mighty Vanilla Pod. One of the few bands playing MPF this year who also played the first edition in 2015. I entered the room as they were midway through my favourite Pod song, Surrounded By Idiots, which was a shame but at least I didn’t miss it completely. I did get to hear Saturday Night though, which I was pleased about. I met up with Robyn and Brett and we left a little early to head over to Gorilla for Broadway Calls. I believe they were playing their first UK show since 2013 (Broadway Calls historians can correct me on that) and there were a lot of people excited to see them, many for the first time. The Oregon pop punk three piece didn’t spend too much time chatting and ploughed through many of greatest hits including Call It Off, Basement Royalty, Be All That You Can Be, Van Rides And High Tides and Back To Oregon. A great set and thankfully we won’t have to wait so long to see them again as the band are back in the UK in October. Then we went back to the Union to see a bit of Roughneck Riot. We were supposed to see the Warrington punks earlier this year in Milton Keynes but unfortunately they had to pull out due to sickness, so seeing them at MPF made up for that. Always an incredibly tight band that are lot of fun to watch, and they write some proper anthems. After this we consumed some vegan pepperoni pizza and made our way back to Gorilla to end the main part of the day. As we arrived Millie Manders and the Shut Up were halfway through their set. The band were well rehearsed and delivered an extremely slick set featuring many of their most powerful political songs to a crowd that adored them.
The first night of MPF offered up one hell of a clash as we had to choose between our friends Call Me Malcolm doing their first MPF headline set at Gorilla or legendary punks Dillinger Four headlining the Union for their first ever appearance in Manchester. I think anyone reading this will know me well enough to know that I picked ska and I picked my friends. And by the time that they had finished their set I knew I had picked the right thing for me. The boys went big time for their slot and after setting up they left the stage before promptly coming back on with their own walk on music. They then proceeded to tear through a greatest hits set from their three classic albums I Was Broken When You Got Here, Me, Myself And Something Else and Echoes And Ghosts. Three of the best ska punk albums ever released. I’ve seen most of these songs so many times now but they never fail to excite me. It felt so good to be surrounded by the New Cross Inn family as we danced and shouted these words back at our friends on stage. Halfway through their set we got to witness one of the most lovely moments of the entire festival as Lucias Malcolm invited the legend that is Chris Lowry of Warrington Ska Punk onto stage. Chris then spoke of his love for saxophonist, and one of the funniest (intentionally and unintentionally) people I know, Mark and asked him to be his ska punk husband. It was a moment for the ages and all at CPRW wish them the best for the future. Of course, as every Call Me Malcolm set is, the fun was ended with the epic anthem All My Nameless Friends. This ended up being one of the biggest sing-alongs of the entire weekend and it was a joy to be part of. A lot of people can say they were there when Dillinger Four played Manchester for the first time. I’m quite proud to say that I was there the first time Call Me Malcolm headlined Gorilla at MPF for the first time.
Once Malcolm finished their set we were ushered outside of Gorilla. We took some time to have a quick chat with Ell and Michael from Baldhead and told them how good their set was. We then headed down the road to Rebellion for the first of three nights of after party cover sets at the venue. Our main attraction to this after party was to see MPF organiser and wonderful human being Liam Gallagher for the Oasis cover band Chunderwall (I’m not sure if that’s their official name, but let’s roll with it). I’ve never been an Oasis fan and know very few of their songs but it’s always fun to see mates do cool things and Tree and the rest of the band smashed it. Going in I felt as though I knew very few Oasis songs but I was surprised that I recognised most of the songs in the set. Perhaps that’s because all Oasis songs sound the same, perhaps they’re all great songs and have become lodged in my brain without me realising? Either way, this was a lot of fun and it was quite the experience being in Manchester and being surrounded by a packed room of people who love this band and their music. We finished our night with an Avril Lavigne set by The Menstrual Cramps. I went into it thinking I knew about three Avril songs, clearly I was wrong as I found myself singing along to each and every one. TMC put all of their own trademark energy and passion into these songs and the highlight was a sped up version of Complicated to conclude the set. Apologies to our friends in ALLDEEPENDS whose set we missed because we were at Rebellion – sometimes clashes really suck. Hopefully we can catch you again soon.
Saturday started bright and early with the Sober Social at Sandbar. Unlike the previous years’, Sober Social wasn’t run by the wonderful Sarah as she had too much on. Instead the Sober Social had been handed over to my buddy Jake and I to look after. I was a bit nervous that nobody was going to show up but thankfully we managed to draw a nice sized crowd of lovely people to enjoy a sober drink with us before the bands started again. Thanks to the MPF crew for trusting us to look after this. Finally part of the team after ten years!
After the social, Emma, Jake and I took some time to go and get some lunch. It’s always nice to see Jake and I fondly remember being introduced to him by MPF/TNS’ Bev who said that we would get on like a house on fire. Bev wasn’t wrong.
Our first band of the day was Diaz Brothers from Sunderland. I’ve been wanting to see these gruff punks for a while and they did not disappoint. I didn’t know too many of the songs they played but I loved everything I heard. I believe they have a new record coming out this year. Then we made our way to Gorilla for some more NXI pals making their MPF debut. This time it was the six piece ska punk machine Filthy Militia. This band has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, especially since they added Eve and Tom from Lead Shot Hazard and Leo from Just Say Nay. Frontman Frosty is just adding NXI ska royalty to his band and it’s working for him. I think they played one of the bravest sets of the weekend. This was their first time ever playing in Manchester and they decided to play a set of mostly unreleased songs. In fact, the only songs that they played that are out in the world were Jesus, Differences and Land Of The Dead. Differences got a great sing-along and it really went off for the final track Land Of The Dead where Frosty stripped down to his Catbite booty shorts and joined the crowd for a sing and a dance. That was a lot more of Frosty than I was expecting to see this weekend but once again I was really proud of my friends.
Once Filthy Militia finished and Frosty put his clothes back on, Emma and I headed back to the Bread Shed for the final ever show from Mark Murphy And The Meds. We were joined by our friends Craig and Toby and also met up with the Vegan Punks. Mark Murphy started this band as a lockdown project that went on to release two great albums and play a handful of shows. I was excited to get the chance to see them once before they broke up even if it did mean missing Redeemon destroying the Union. Mark Murphy And The Meds played a joyous set of fast paced Ramonescore songs from both albums and it was everything I would’ve wanted and more. It’s a shame that the project is ending already but I’m sure that Mark has something exciting planned for whatever he does next.
Next up was a trip to YES to see Chloe Hawes and Hell's Ditch. Chloe was a late addition to the line up and a very welcome one. It was a nice and chilled out acoustic set in the basement. Despite the late booking, a big crowd turned out for Chloe, including their tour pals in Forever Unclean. This was actually my first time seeing Chloe acoustic, having previously only seen them play full band versions of these songs. Despite struggling with a poorly voice during the tour, Chloe sounded great and captivated the room. I always imagine it’s difficult for an acoustic set at a punk festival, I don’t believe there were many this year, but Chloe smashed it. I also enjoyed the Essex vocab that slipped out from time to time. I heard an ‘innit’ and a ‘mate’. It was like being home. After Chloe finished I headed upstairs with Brett to watch Hell’s Ditch. It feels like ages since I last saw them and they had already started by the time I climbed the stairs. It was like being in Sound Control ten years ago going up those stairs. I think Hell’s Ditch are one of the best melodic pop punk bands in the country and they impress me every time I see them. They do a great job of getting people dancing and have a lot of fun with it. Frontman Nicholas was showing how he had all the cool dance moves throughout the set and encouraged the crowd to join him in a boogie – which many of us did. At one point my friends Beth and Sarah partook in an impromptu Macarena. At multiple times during the set Nicholas was carried into the crowd on the back of festival legend and super human being Richard Harris. The highlight of the set for me was when they played The Likes Of Us and I had a dance with my pal Lander from Prize Dink Camp. (Hey, super lovely MPF organisers, please book Prize Dink Camp for MPF 2026, they’re very good, thanks). This was a great little stint at YES with two great acts back to back but then it was time to head to Union for the final two acts of the day before the after party and my personal Saturday headliner.
Sticking with our yearly traditions, Emma and I then went to Bundobust for lunch with Robyn, Brett and Dan and Jess of Vegan Punk fame. Bundobust is the perfect way to fuel yourself ready for some long days. I probably best try to avoid going so chickpea heavy with my food choice next year though.
Food consumed, Emma and I then made our way to YES, which has become my favourite MPF venue. There were already plenty of festival goers hanging out as we made our way to the YES Basement for Skint Knees. It was already a one in one out situation but thankfully it didn’t take long for us to squeeze our way into the room. It was an impressive set from a band I wasn’t too aware of before the festival and, if I’m honest, I only really went to see to make sure I was in the room for the next band. I enjoyed how Skint Knees had three different singers and would swap instruments around. Often when bands swap instruments between members during the set it can ruin the flow of things but Skint Knees were clearly well rehearsed and did a great job of keeping things going. Next up were Japanese ska/pop punk act Relents. Probably the band on the line up that I wasn’t aware of before they were announced that I was most excited to see. And I don’t think I was alone in that as the basement quickly filled up and I later discovered that there was a huge queue going all the way back up the stairs into the bar of folks hoping to get in. Relents were fast, fun, tight and put huge smiles on faces of everyone in the room. There was a level of silliness that I loved and it had me grinning from ear to ear. It was tough to have to leave the set early but I had my number one pick of the entire weekend to see next, the wonderful Our Lives In Cinema. I also felt like I was being very kind to the people in the queue by leaving early and letting them catch a bit of the mighty Relents. I hope it’s possible for them to come back soon.
I’ve been good friends with Our Lives In Cinema’s lead singer, Mark, for years now and ever since he went to his first MPF in 2019 he’s been desperate to play it. I’m quite convinced playing MPF is a big reason he has kept the band going for so long. When we entered the Pink Room at YES it was already quite full up and Emma and I had to weave our way to the front of the crowd. I wasn’t gonna miss the chance to see my buddy play his dream gig! As soon as they started with Dials, the opening track from their awesome album Eat Your Feelings, I had a feeling that this was going to be a good one. It was and then some. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Our Lives In Cinema many times over the years with a few different line ups, but this was easily the best they’ve ever been and I was so proud of my friends because, fun fact, CPRW alumni Dan Peters also plays bass in Our Lives In Cinema and has been a great addition to the band. Mark is one of the most wholesome people that I know and proved as much by stopping midway through the set to ask to record the crowd saying hello to his mum Patsy. I’ve long said that Our Lives In Cinema are the New Cross Inn’s best kept secret and I’m now very excited to see the progression of the band as more and more people discover just how awesome Our Lives In Cinema are. I can’t think of a better band to have a breakout year.
After Our Lives In Cinema, I told Mark how much I loved him before heading over to The Union to catch a little bit of The Slow Death. We weren’t able to stay for long before we headed off again to the Bread Shed for our friends in Baldhead’s debut MPF show. We got in just as they started their set with their customary intro song of the beginning of Andrew WK’s classic, Party Hard. I’ll always be disappointed that they don’t play the entire song but they do have plenty of great originals to play as well. As we made our way through the packed crowd I noticed just how packed the stage was. Baldhead had organised the biggest horn section I’ve ever seen them play with and it sounded huge. It was amazing to see my friends' band, that they started as a bit of a joke and now has become this awesome thing, not only gets to play but smash their set at the best festival in the UK. It was lovely to see the UK ska punk community come out in support of the band and I’m pretty certain that there were lots of people who had never heard of the band in the room also checking them out. I’m sure they didn’t leave disappointed. Baldhead are an infectious group who went ambitious with their set and pulled it off in some style. Another group of friends I’m very proud of!
Next I headed back to The Union to see the mighty Vanilla Pod. One of the few bands playing MPF this year who also played the first edition in 2015. I entered the room as they were midway through my favourite Pod song, Surrounded By Idiots, which was a shame but at least I didn’t miss it completely. I did get to hear Saturday Night though, which I was pleased about. I met up with Robyn and Brett and we left a little early to head over to Gorilla for Broadway Calls. I believe they were playing their first UK show since 2013 (Broadway Calls historians can correct me on that) and there were a lot of people excited to see them, many for the first time. The Oregon pop punk three piece didn’t spend too much time chatting and ploughed through many of greatest hits including Call It Off, Basement Royalty, Be All That You Can Be, Van Rides And High Tides and Back To Oregon. A great set and thankfully we won’t have to wait so long to see them again as the band are back in the UK in October. Then we went back to the Union to see a bit of Roughneck Riot. We were supposed to see the Warrington punks earlier this year in Milton Keynes but unfortunately they had to pull out due to sickness, so seeing them at MPF made up for that. Always an incredibly tight band that are lot of fun to watch, and they write some proper anthems. After this we consumed some vegan pepperoni pizza and made our way back to Gorilla to end the main part of the day. As we arrived Millie Manders and the Shut Up were halfway through their set. The band were well rehearsed and delivered an extremely slick set featuring many of their most powerful political songs to a crowd that adored them.
The first night of MPF offered up one hell of a clash as we had to choose between our friends Call Me Malcolm doing their first MPF headline set at Gorilla or legendary punks Dillinger Four headlining the Union for their first ever appearance in Manchester. I think anyone reading this will know me well enough to know that I picked ska and I picked my friends. And by the time that they had finished their set I knew I had picked the right thing for me. The boys went big time for their slot and after setting up they left the stage before promptly coming back on with their own walk on music. They then proceeded to tear through a greatest hits set from their three classic albums I Was Broken When You Got Here, Me, Myself And Something Else and Echoes And Ghosts. Three of the best ska punk albums ever released. I’ve seen most of these songs so many times now but they never fail to excite me. It felt so good to be surrounded by the New Cross Inn family as we danced and shouted these words back at our friends on stage. Halfway through their set we got to witness one of the most lovely moments of the entire festival as Lucias Malcolm invited the legend that is Chris Lowry of Warrington Ska Punk onto stage. Chris then spoke of his love for saxophonist, and one of the funniest (intentionally and unintentionally) people I know, Mark and asked him to be his ska punk husband. It was a moment for the ages and all at CPRW wish them the best for the future. Of course, as every Call Me Malcolm set is, the fun was ended with the epic anthem All My Nameless Friends. This ended up being one of the biggest sing-alongs of the entire weekend and it was a joy to be part of. A lot of people can say they were there when Dillinger Four played Manchester for the first time. I’m quite proud to say that I was there the first time Call Me Malcolm headlined Gorilla at MPF for the first time.
Once Malcolm finished their set we were ushered outside of Gorilla. We took some time to have a quick chat with Ell and Michael from Baldhead and told them how good their set was. We then headed down the road to Rebellion for the first of three nights of after party cover sets at the venue. Our main attraction to this after party was to see MPF organiser and wonderful human being Liam Gallagher for the Oasis cover band Chunderwall (I’m not sure if that’s their official name, but let’s roll with it). I’ve never been an Oasis fan and know very few of their songs but it’s always fun to see mates do cool things and Tree and the rest of the band smashed it. Going in I felt as though I knew very few Oasis songs but I was surprised that I recognised most of the songs in the set. Perhaps that’s because all Oasis songs sound the same, perhaps they’re all great songs and have become lodged in my brain without me realising? Either way, this was a lot of fun and it was quite the experience being in Manchester and being surrounded by a packed room of people who love this band and their music. We finished our night with an Avril Lavigne set by The Menstrual Cramps. I went into it thinking I knew about three Avril songs, clearly I was wrong as I found myself singing along to each and every one. TMC put all of their own trademark energy and passion into these songs and the highlight was a sped up version of Complicated to conclude the set. Apologies to our friends in ALLDEEPENDS whose set we missed because we were at Rebellion – sometimes clashes really suck. Hopefully we can catch you again soon.
Saturday started bright and early with the Sober Social at Sandbar. Unlike the previous years’, Sober Social wasn’t run by the wonderful Sarah as she had too much on. Instead the Sober Social had been handed over to my buddy Jake and I to look after. I was a bit nervous that nobody was going to show up but thankfully we managed to draw a nice sized crowd of lovely people to enjoy a sober drink with us before the bands started again. Thanks to the MPF crew for trusting us to look after this. Finally part of the team after ten years!
After the social, Emma, Jake and I took some time to go and get some lunch. It’s always nice to see Jake and I fondly remember being introduced to him by MPF/TNS’ Bev who said that we would get on like a house on fire. Bev wasn’t wrong.
Our first band of the day was Diaz Brothers from Sunderland. I’ve been wanting to see these gruff punks for a while and they did not disappoint. I didn’t know too many of the songs they played but I loved everything I heard. I believe they have a new record coming out this year. Then we made our way to Gorilla for some more NXI pals making their MPF debut. This time it was the six piece ska punk machine Filthy Militia. This band has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, especially since they added Eve and Tom from Lead Shot Hazard and Leo from Just Say Nay. Frontman Frosty is just adding NXI ska royalty to his band and it’s working for him. I think they played one of the bravest sets of the weekend. This was their first time ever playing in Manchester and they decided to play a set of mostly unreleased songs. In fact, the only songs that they played that are out in the world were Jesus, Differences and Land Of The Dead. Differences got a great sing-along and it really went off for the final track Land Of The Dead where Frosty stripped down to his Catbite booty shorts and joined the crowd for a sing and a dance. That was a lot more of Frosty than I was expecting to see this weekend but once again I was really proud of my friends.
Once Filthy Militia finished and Frosty put his clothes back on, Emma and I headed back to the Bread Shed for the final ever show from Mark Murphy And The Meds. We were joined by our friends Craig and Toby and also met up with the Vegan Punks. Mark Murphy started this band as a lockdown project that went on to release two great albums and play a handful of shows. I was excited to get the chance to see them once before they broke up even if it did mean missing Redeemon destroying the Union. Mark Murphy And The Meds played a joyous set of fast paced Ramonescore songs from both albums and it was everything I would’ve wanted and more. It’s a shame that the project is ending already but I’m sure that Mark has something exciting planned for whatever he does next.
Next up was a trip to YES to see Chloe Hawes and Hell's Ditch. Chloe was a late addition to the line up and a very welcome one. It was a nice and chilled out acoustic set in the basement. Despite the late booking, a big crowd turned out for Chloe, including their tour pals in Forever Unclean. This was actually my first time seeing Chloe acoustic, having previously only seen them play full band versions of these songs. Despite struggling with a poorly voice during the tour, Chloe sounded great and captivated the room. I always imagine it’s difficult for an acoustic set at a punk festival, I don’t believe there were many this year, but Chloe smashed it. I also enjoyed the Essex vocab that slipped out from time to time. I heard an ‘innit’ and a ‘mate’. It was like being home. After Chloe finished I headed upstairs with Brett to watch Hell’s Ditch. It feels like ages since I last saw them and they had already started by the time I climbed the stairs. It was like being in Sound Control ten years ago going up those stairs. I think Hell’s Ditch are one of the best melodic pop punk bands in the country and they impress me every time I see them. They do a great job of getting people dancing and have a lot of fun with it. Frontman Nicholas was showing how he had all the cool dance moves throughout the set and encouraged the crowd to join him in a boogie – which many of us did. At one point my friends Beth and Sarah partook in an impromptu Macarena. At multiple times during the set Nicholas was carried into the crowd on the back of festival legend and super human being Richard Harris. The highlight of the set for me was when they played The Likes Of Us and I had a dance with my pal Lander from Prize Dink Camp. (Hey, super lovely MPF organisers, please book Prize Dink Camp for MPF 2026, they’re very good, thanks). This was a great little stint at YES with two great acts back to back but then it was time to head to Union for the final two acts of the day before the after party and my personal Saturday headliner.
I had planned to get to the Union early to grab a pizza before Smoke Or Fire and The Menzingers. That plan ultimately failed because unfortunately the Union’s food people had a kitchen malfunction and couldn’t serve food in the evening. This was a bit annoying but these things happen so it is what it is. I was expecting the Union to hit capacity quite quickly and didn’t want to risk leaving in my hunt for some food incase I didn’t get back in. Luckily Emma was heading to the Union from Gorilla and I told her of the food issues here, so she popped into a shop and brought some crisps with her to the Union. We then took our place for Smoke Or Fire and The Menzingers!
Smoke Or Fire’s Joe McMahon was another act who played the first ever MPF, acoustically in the Thirsty Scholar. This was the second time that he’d played with Smoke Or Fire at the Union as well and was greeted with a big crowd of people ready to shout along with these classic songs. A lot of these songs were over fifteen years old now which makes me feel old but they went down such a treat. We were back with Robyn and Brett at this point and I enjoyed watching how enthusiastic they were singing along to the songs. A great warm up for The Menzingers. The Menzingers playing an MPF felt like a really long time coming, given their friendship with Moving North’s Kieran Kelly, but they finally made it happen. The building very quickly hit capacity and I was told that there was a very long line of people hoping to get in. We stood with our friends from Burnt Tapes who had previously done a very well received Menzingers cover set at MPF. I had a nice time making jokes about the band on stage covering them. The Menzingers played a nineteen song set of songs from On The Impossible Past onwards and every song was greeted with so much enthusiasm. Everyone was in such high spirits around us. I can’t think of a time when I’ve been in a room with that many people where everyone was united together and making sure that everyone was having a great time. I think I enjoyed that more than the actual set and the set was a fantastic all-time set. I was having a lovely time watching all the people around me have the time of their life. Emma was getting to watch her favourite band ever play her favourite festival and was on cloud thirty seven – cloud nine was not high enough. There were beach balls bouncing around the crowd. I got hit in the head at least one time because of this. Not by the ball but by the nice lady standing next to me as she attempted to hit it away. She apologised many times which only added to the great vibes in the crowd. I also found it funny to see every member of Chloe Hawes And The Holy Claws crowd surf at least once during the set. This was a triumphant set and a great way to mark a decade of MPF.
But as I said, The Menzingers weren’t my headliner. My headliner was the first band of the Bread Shed P-Rock TV after party. It was Tape It Shut. Tape It Shut, like Chloe Hawes, were announced just days before MPF 2025 and were given the unenviable task of clashing with Grafteoke. Tape It Shut have been working hard over the past year in helping to build a scene with Shadow Promotions in their hometown of Reading and it’s been great to watch that hard work pay off from afar. That has meant they’re as tight as ever as a band and played a storming set of songs from their upcoming debut album – which I’ve been fortunate enough to hear and let me tell you, you should be very excited about it. Playing their distinctive brand of blisteringly fast political punk rock, Tape It Shut’s energy was infectious, spilling into the crowd, and it wasn’t long before there was a mosh pit going off for them. I also thought it was incredibly gutsy for Dan to speak some politics during the after party. We were of course all there to party but what Dan was saying was well received and important to hear. I was once again incredibly proud of my friends, especially Dan who was my podcast partner on the CPRW podcast many times and someone who I’ve come to think of as ‘my child’. I think Dan might be approaching 30 years now but in my head they’re still 24 or however young they were when I first met them. A great set from Tape It Shut – keep an eye on their socials for news of when the debut album is going to drop. Or offer me £100 and maybe I’ll leak it.
After Tape It Shut finished I decided to hang around at Bread Shed for the next band whilst my hotel buds Emma, Robyn and Brett sensibly went to bed. I however continued to have a great time singing and dancing along to some P-Rock TV classics whilst Stank Finger got ready. Great Yarmouth’s Stank Finger feature in the P-Rock documentary and were a great choice for this party. Their brand of pop punk and ska went down a treat. They understood the assignment perfectly and made sure the party kept going despite the late night. Highlights of the set for me were their covers of NOFX’s cover of Radio by Rancid and Whitmore’s On The Ceiling that was used for the P-Rock channel advertising as well as their original song GY Sky Rats. I smiled throughout the entire set. Great fun.
With that I left Bread Shed with Mike and Chloé, had a nice chat with them about moving to Switzerland, politely declined the most polite weed dealer I’ve ever encountered and found my way back to the hotel and went to bed, pumped for one more day of the festival.
(Also, if you have no idea what P-Rock is, use Google, this is already long enough without me explaining it.)
Sunday started by hanging out with friends and enjoying a pizza at Sandbar. The sun had finally come out for the first time all weekend and I was having such a lovely time with catching up with friends that I decided that I didn’t fancy starting my day in a basement watching a heavy band. From footage I’ve seen, Midlands hardcore crew Grail Guard smashed it in the YES basement though – as I expected they would. I’ve learnt at MPF 2025 that sometimes it’s nice to skip a band, especially if you’ve seen them before, and spend some quality time with friends that you don’t always get to see. When we did eventually decide to leave, we made our way to watch Italian melodic punks Packers in the YES Pink Room. Emma and I left Sandbar with our friend Charlotte and her partner Matt “Hubba Hubba” Speer but they eventually decided to leave us behind because we kept running into friends along Oxford Road. It’s great bumping into friends at MPF but my gosh it can take some time to get anywhere! Admittedly, me shouting across the road when I saw friends didn’t help with things! We eventually made it though and saw almost all of Packers’ set.
Packers were one of the bands that I was unaware of before they were announced for MPF that I was most looking forward to seeing. They were already ripping through their set when we arrived and it was great to see a nice sized crowd had assembled to watch them. When I listened to them before the festival, it had me thinking that they were a bit of a mix between Smoke Or Fire and Strike Anywhere and seeing them live really cemented this feeling. They didn’t waste too much time with chatter and just kept playing and playing. This was another great pick for the festival. We stayed in the Pink Room for Belgian pop punks For I Am. I’ve known guitarist Bjorn for a few years now but I’d never managed to see his band before, so I was very pleased to finally be able to. This energetic blast really kick started my day, For I Am were perhaps one of the most energetic and fun bands I saw all weekend. Lead singer Hanne and bass player Bo in particular were incredibly engaging – it was hard to take my eyes off of them to see what the rest of the band were doing. This was so much fun and I was so glad to finally see For I Am. A big highlight of the festival for me.
Next we moved on to Gorilla to see GIRLBAND!. But not before checking in with Robyn about our plans, she asked if we thought she’d like GIRLBAND! and we said ‘yes’ so she decided to come along. We arrived just as the previous band had finished and had to wait a couple of minutes before the security at Gorilla would let us in. This was a great idea as the entrance/exit at Gorilla is quite thin and can easily become congested if there’s a lot of folk going in both directions. I didn’t know a whole lot about GIRLBAND! going into their set other than a few people were quite excited about them being at MPF. I soon discovered they were a three piece from Nottingham who play alternative indie punk music. This was a bit of a change of pace from the highly energetic For I Am. It was more of a chilled out set but was just as engaging. I’m predicting that this band could go on to do some big things in the UK alternative scene.
Our friends Forever Unclean stole the show at MPF 2022 with their after party slot. This year the Danish three piece were rewarded with a slot on the big Union stage. I have to admit I was slightly concerned about how busy it would be for them, especially as Brutalligators were playing at the same time as them in Gorilla. My worries were pointless though as there were already loads of folk in front of the stage when we turned up. Despite being from Copenhagen, Forever Unclean always feel like they’re a part of the UK scene because they’ve managed to make so many friends all across the nation. Partly due to being a great band and partly because they are wonderful people, so make friends wherever they go. Proof of this was the amount of friends that had gathered from all the different scenes across the UK ready to party with the band, who are also celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2025. They had a forty minute set which means they managed to squeeze a lot of songs into their set. All were great but I think the biggest reactions were for Worthless and Waves – both have huge choruses that are screaming out for a shout-along. If you missed Forever Unclean at MPF, there’s still a chance to come and celebrate their 10th anniversary at Nasty Cut Festival in Copenhagen at the end of May.
We left the Union next with the intention of going back to Gorilla to see Buds. We failed at this because we kept bumping into lots of lovely people and had some lovely chats with them. First it was Mark and Matt from legendary NXI band Müg. I don’t bump into these guys anywhere near enough so it was great to take the opportunity to talk to them. I had a chat with Matt about how much he was enjoying his first experience of MPF and I believe Emma had a chat with Mark about art. They’re arty folk. After our chat with them, we didn’t even get to the corner of the street before we bumped into Fred The Punk who was telling us about his misadventures in the morning buying a massive bottle of whiskey/cider that he wasn't able to finish himself. It’s always an absolute pleasure to bump into Fred, who also enjoyed his first ever MPF. After all this chat, we decided to skip Buds. (who we will be seeing at Nasty Cut next month) and get some food. In hindsight, I think this was the right move for us, Emma had been feeling under the weather and we both really wanted to make it to Burnt Tapes at the after party.
Fully refuelled, we made our last visit of the year to the YES Basement. First to see Croatian punks No More Idols. Unfortunately for them they didn’t draw the biggest crowd but it didn’t stop them giving their best for the set. They explained during the set that this was the first time playing with the combination they had. Apparently their normal drummer couldn’t make it and their bassist was filling in on drums for them. All things considered, they did a great job. The main reason we went back to the basement was for our friend Lewis’ band Back Teeth. They play a style of gruff punk that the folk in a small Gainesville festival known as The Fest adore. Before they even started the room was packed ready for their set. Lewis acknowledged that he thought he was on first name terms with everyone in the room, which is not surprising given that he’s a very charming and nice man. His band are great as well. This was my third time seeing them in less than a year and this was the best time yet. They sounded massive in the basement. This is the type of venue that this band was made to play in. Small and tight, with the audience right on top of the band, ready to sing the words right back in the band's faces. This set was another big highlight of the festival for me. Along with a bunch of songs from their upcoming album that I’m very excited to hear, they played the appropriate Weekend At Loosey’s and treated the crowd to an Iron Chic cover which earned a big shout-a-long.
After this we popped back to our hotel as I realised that I’d forgotten my keycard and had planned on staying out later than Emma, then we made our way back to Gorilla to watch Italian ska punk legends Talco. As we entered Gorilla, Emma spotted an empty seat in the small upstairs area and decided to take that whilst I found a bunch of NXI buddies. I wasn’t that familiar with Talco but I did know that Paul Smith was very excited to see them and we like all the same music so I would probably enjoy it. I didn’t just enjoy it, I was blown away by them. They played a relentless set which barely stopped for the entire hour that they played. Despite not singing in English they had the crowd in the palm of their hands just with this infectious energy and incredible music they were playing. My eyes were fixated on the stage for the majority of their set. Toby getting toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his shoe and then his attempts to get it off did prove to be hilariously distracting however. The crowd was going wild for Talco. From my vantage point at the side of the stage, the pit didn’t stop moving and I lost count of the amount of crowd surfers. This was as triumphant of a set as sets could possibly be. It felt like a celebration, it felt like a party, it felt great. Afterwards I likened the set to watching an orchestra, just at a much higher tempo and with more people falling on top of each other.
That was the end of the main part of MPF 2025 but there was still an after party to attend. We headed to the Bread Shed one last time to see the last of our friends from NXI to play the festival. The best band in the world, Burnt Tapes. Before that though we got to experience some hardcore punk all the way from Trinidad and Tobago courtesy of Anti-Everything. I love that MPF always takes the chance to bring bands from far away who don’t necessarily have much of a UK fan base and put them in front of people. I’m certain Anti-Everything came away with more than a few new fans with their political hardcore songs. They spoke well between songs about a few subjects that really opened my eyes to some things that I’ve never really thought about before and I appreciated that. They didn’t just have some thoughtprovoking messages though, they also had great songs and a great live show. They finished the set with their guitarist/steel drum player (yes, you read that right) being crowd surfed with their drum – it was quite the sight.
Finally it was time for my personal Sunday night headliner. My wonderful friends in Burnt Tapes. The front of the stage was packed well before the band were due to start their set. I was happy to stand at the back of the pit with my good pal Sarah Shout Louder and dance and sing at the band with them. Much like me, Sarah’s friendship goes way back to before the band’s first ‘proper’ EP Alterations was released and we’ve both seen the journey Phil, Pan, Tone and Jordan have been on together. I think I’m okay to speak on her behalf to say how proud of them we both are. It was also just really nice to have the chance to hang out with Sarah, we don’t get to see each other very often and she’s usually super busy fixing problems at MPF so this was cool. Forgive me, it was late and I’d had about ten hours sleep all weekend so the set list was a bit blurry for me. I do remember shouting along to every word and pumping my fist in the air about one thousand times (give or take) to every song. This was my first time getting to hear brand new banger MOTHERSGUILT from their upcoming second album live and it fit into the set seamlessly. I do remember the final two songs being Things Get Weird (which they keep threatening to retire) and Yuzi. It was at this point I found my way to the front of the crowd to have a shout with my pals who were at the front. I love the Burnt Tapes so much and I truly think they’re the best punk rock band in the world at the moment. The crowd obviously thought so as well as they chanted for one more song. Normally going over set times is a strict no-no at MPF but the stage manager allowed it and we were treated with their cover of I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore, arguably played better than The Menzingers did it the night before.
I’m now on the bit where I try and summarise just how good a time I had and how much this festival means to me but I just don’t know where to start with that. It’s always the best time, you know this, I don’t need to say it in my own unique rambly way.
It being the tenth anniversary of MPF made me all reflective and the main thing that I think about is how I didn’t really know anyone in the UK DIY punk scene when I attended the first festival. Ten years later I have countless friends from all over the world and it means so much to be able to meet up and hang out with them, even if it’s only for a brief moment at this festival. You may have noticed that I mentioned my friends a lot in this review and that’s because the people attending are just as important as the bands that play. If you are one of my friends and I didn’t mention you in some way, I love you too. We’re all so lucky that we have it and we should never take it for granted.
Two years in a row I’ve had really tough starts to the year. This year my mental health has been lower than it’s been in as long as I remember but having MPF to look forward to and attend and see all my wonderful friends, on stage, in the crowd or running a festival really helps.
Thanks for the best ten years MPF, I’m already looking forward to the next ten. LOVE YOU!
Tickets are already on sale for Manchester Punk Festival 2026, which will be the tenth edition but the eleventh year – confusingly, because of COVID. You can buy tickets here.
