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Andrew Trendell
NME headed up to North Shields to catch Mike D‘s first UK solo show in an intimate social club, where the Beastie Boys icon told us about going it alone, his incoming album and the importance of keeping weird grassroots venues alive.
The first of the rap pioneer trio to emerge with solo music since the passing of Adam “MCA” Yauch in 2012, Mike D – real name Michael Diamond – surprised fans last month when he made an appearance on stage with his sons Davis and Skyler of indie-dance band Very Nice Person at Ojai Valley Women’s Club. He soon played a couple of live solo shows in the US at some unusual locations where he debuted solo material before dropping his first single ‘Switch Up and later ‘What We Got‘.
Always keeping fans guessing, his first UK and European gigs came later with eyebrow-raising news of a launch gig at a social club and bingo hall in North Shields, not far from Newcastle. After a pie and pint in the pub round the corner where local lad Sam Fender used to work and perform, we asked a post-soundcheck Mike D what this was all about.
“I mean it with total enthusiasm: this is exactly why we’re doing this run of shows. We made new music and I just had this idea to release a track, play a couple of shows, and then again. In doing that, I realised we’re in a funny place where so much of our bandwidth is taken up with going to festivals and we’re so used to going to the same venues over and over. It sets an expectation.”
He continued: “The shortcut would be to try and pick venues where people would like, ‘What? Where is it? What is that place?’ Coming from New York, this is a totally foreign thing – which is great! I couldn’t love it more.”
And how are his bingo skills?
“I don’t have a strong bingo background, but I’m open to it,” he replied. “I’m pro-bingo.”
Hardcore Beastie Boys fans may already be aware of the band’s connection to North Shields, however. They were huge fans of the hedonistic ’80s new wave metal band Venom, local lads whose banter was sampled on ‘Mark On The Bus’ from their 1992 album ‘Check Your Head’.
“I had this 7” that Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth put out years and years ago on this label he had called Ecstatic Peace, and it was just the monologues from one Venom show,” Mike D remembered. “It was all the in-between spoken word and yelled snippets. That’s totally implanted in my mind.”
After blasting out the samples complete with shout-outs to Newcastle Brown Ale throughout the show, Mike D and band did their best too to further implant Venom in the memories of the packed-out crowd at King Street Social Club.
Mike D, formerly of The Beastie Boys, live at King Street Social Club in North Shields. Credit: Jack Flynn
The social club was certainly one of the “what the fuck?” venues that Mike D and co were aiming for, seemingly a little Phoenix Nights on the surface but bringing the likes of Caribou, Daniel Avery, Marie Davidson and Optimo among the world-leading DJs and dance acts to this coastal north eastern town. With his recent gigs including a surf shop parking lot, women’s club, a Latino drag bar, and a roller rink, Mike D told us he was looking for spots that were “not conventional music places” that made it “more exciting for us on different levels.”
There was a time when it wasn’t so unusual for major acts to play in grassroots venues in corners of the world like this, but the UK is currently in the doldrums of “the complete collapse of touring” with only 12 locations left on the primary or secondary circuit for artists where it used to be 28 back in 1994. After decades of decline and the spiralling cost of living and touring, thousands of fans and communities are now without nearby access to live music and countless opportunities for artists are lost. It was recently revealed that over half of UK grassroots venues made no profit in 2025, with 6,000 jobs gone. Mike D agreed it was essential to “incentivise the arts”.
“It’s funny because I’ve been spending some time in London over the last five or six years because my partner is from there,” Mike D told NME. “I’ve been hearing from a lot of people that it’s really a struggle for grassroots venues and the government isn’t really doing anything to help ease it. If you don’t have places for bands to figure out what they’re doing, then how are you going to have any domestic music scene?
“I was really excited when this offer came in to do this place. They told me the venue is this cool place that subsidised so they can keep the ticket price reasonable. Sadly in other places, especially the US, we are not up to speed with that. I don’t understand why London isn’t either, but that’s a whole other political thing.”
Mike D, formerly of The Beastie Boys, live at King Street Social Club in North Shields. Credit: Jack Flynn
Asked about the magic of grassroots venues, Mike D replied: “For me, I’m a sucker for places that are what they are: they’re of a certain history, they haven’t been updated or made into a replica of themselves.
“So much of what you find now is someone will buy a place like this and say, ‘Oh, we’re gonna make it really nice’. Then it becomes like Las Vegas, it loses everything it had, it becomes a replica and they clean it up too much. You lose this very tangible history that you can feel. To me, that’s happening more and more. Maybe, it’s because I’m getting fucking old.”
That smell of a small, sweaty room, the energy that comes from the true one-off experience, and the punk identity of our surroundings only embellishes the performance of Mike D and his backing band 5D (featuring his two young sons and collaborators). It was a back-to-basics approach that saw Diamond along his path back to releasing music, after over a decade of other projects including production work on the likes of Soft Play‘s (then Slaves) second studio album ‘Take Control‘ and The Hives‘ recent ‘The Hives Forever Forever the Hives‘.
“We so much loved all three of us being in a band with each other for Beastie Boys,” Mike D told us. “When Yauch died, it was an extremely sad time for me so making music was just not on the table. Then being a dad was something I put myself into and eventually I worked on the [Beastie Boys Book] with Adam [“Ad-Rock” Horovitz] and that really helped both of us as we were really able to shine a light on our past together.
“I took a minute where I was watching my kids make music for a bit, which was an interesting thing as I was also working on producing records for other artists. That was fun and everything – and hats off to really good record producers, I’m not knocking it – but for myself I got to a place where I was feeling the most about what I was producing when bands were more executing my ideas. I was like, ‘What the fuck am I doing? Bands shouldn’t be doing my ideas, they should be making their own ideas and I should be making my own ideas’.”
Did he feel the pressure of being the first Beastie Boy to go solo?
“To be honest, there was no race to the finish line on that one!” Diamond replied. “I’m still thankfully good friends with Ad-Rock and he’s not racing me on this one. It wasn’t until I had to sit down and do the first interview that I realised that was a thing.”
The North Shields show bounces with all the punk energy that made Beastie Boys such a vital crossover act, albeit this time with a modern sheen. There’s a politically-charged cover of Delta 5’s ‘Mind Your Own Business’ and amped up renditions of Diamond’s “old band” fan favourites ‘Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun’ and ‘So What’cha Want’, but his new solo cuts burst with a future-facing post-hardcore meets hyperpop rush that call to mind the confrontational sounds of Death Grips, Sleigh Bells and Turnstile.
Diamond explained how he found his new sound, with a little help from the clear perspective of his sons.
“On the one hand, there’s a lot of commonality in terms of how I worked with Beastie Boys – plugging in seemingly random instruments and falling in love with how certain things sound and starting to play around with that and building up from there, keeping all the happy accidents that occur every step along the way,” he told us. “Then getting a bit further down the line and really editing fearlessly and cutting stuff back.
“The difference was that I had to get myself into a place of being very free in terms of doing my vocals. In the band, we were all each other’s best editors. There was almost a little bit of competition and one-upmanship, in a good way. Here, I realised early on in the process that even with a lot of amazing collaborators, my kids were my best editors. They don’t relate to me [in that way]. They haven’t listened to ‘Hello Nasty’ a gazillion times. They were extremely frank with me on my vocals, which was super helpful.”
Revealing that there’s an album on the way soon, Mike D assured that it would be the best of the old school and the new to show how far he’d come.
“The way I describe the record is that musically it’s still pretty immature, and lyrically it’s a little bit more mature,” he ended. “I just feel like there’s more of the things I had to tap into. I had to learn how to feel all over again.”
Mike D, formerly of The Beastie Boys, live at King Street Social Club in North Shields. Credit: Jack Flynn
Mike D’s remaining UK and European tour dates are below. Visit here for tickets and more information.
JUNE
5 – 26 Leake St, London, UK
6 – 26 Leake St, London, UK
10 – Saalchen, Berlin, Germany
13 – Primavera Sound Festival, Porto, Portugal
14 – Beyond The Pale Festival, Wicklow, Ireland
16 – La 2 de Apolo Nitsa, Barcelona, Spain
18 – Blender at Bolwerk, Kortrijk, Belgium
19 – De Casino, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
20 – Beyond The Streets, Paris, France
The post No Sleep Till… North Shields: Beastie Boys’ Mike D talks going solo and keeping weird venues alive appeared first on NME.
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seriously, whats with names like "bassquaker" or "glitchflux"? its like they just smashed two vaguely tech-sounding words together and called it a day. dont get me wrong, some are cool, but others just scream "i used a generator." feels like no one even tries to check if it sounds dumb out loud ive seen a few threads lately about branding for new djs and this keeps coming up. like, if youre trying to stand out, at least pick something that doesnt sound like it belongs on a bad startup logo. or am i the only one who cringes at this stuff? also, quick tip for anyone picking a name: say it in a sentence. "youre listening to dj bassquaker" should not make you laugh.
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Victoria Luxford
James Handy, an actor who had appeared in a number of films including Top Gun: Maverick and Logan, has died at the age of 81. His girlfriend’s son was arrested and accused of murder.
A statement by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), shared by Variety, read: “On Wednesday June 3 2026, around 9:30 a.m., West Valley area patrol officers responded to a radio call of unknown trouble in the 19200 block of Erwin Street. The 911 caller stated, ‘I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.’”
It continued: “Upon their arrival, officers discovered 81-year-old James Handy in the front yard of the residence, unconscious and suffering from a stab wound to his chest. The victim was transported to local hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics, where he was pronounced deceased.
“The suspect flagged down nearby responding officers, telling them he was the one they were looking for. The suspect resides at the location with his mother, who is the victim’s girlfriend. Detectives believe this is an isolated incident and there appears to be no danger to the public at this time.”
The suspect, 44-year-old Michael Gledhill, was arrested for one count of murder with $2million bail set. A representative for the actor said: “With great sadness I can confirm that the gentleman who was attacked and killed on Wednesday in Tarzana was the actor James Handy.”
Beginning his career in 1977, Handy’s best known roles include Jimmy the bartender in Tom Cruise blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, a doctor in 2017 Marvel hit Logan, and an exterminator in the original 1995 version of Jumanji. On TV, he played representative Joe Bruno in political drama The West Wing, Arthur Devlin in the action series Alias, and Captain Jimmy Haverill in NYPD Blue. Top Gun: Maverick would be his final acting credit.
The post ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ actor James Handy stabbed to death as girlfriend’s son is arrested appeared first on NME.
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Poppy Burton
Bob Dylan wheeled out a ‘Basement Tapes’ rarity at a recent Washington show, playing ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ for the first time in 14 years.
- Read More: ‘A Complete Unknown’ review: don’t think twice about seeing this brilliant Bob Dylan biopic
Over the weekend, the Nobel-winning songwriter extended his long-running ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ tour into late 2026, adding further North American dates to the run, which took Dylan to the Chateau Ste Michelle Winery in Woodinville on Saturday night (June 6).
He opened the show with ‘Basement Tapes’ cut ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’, with guitarists Doug Lancio and Bob Britt providing some light vocals to the track, which he hadn’t played in concert since 2012.
The song itself has been covered by the likes of The Byrds and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, making it slightly less surprising than the addition of ‘Baby’, Won’t You Be My Baby’ to the opening night’s setlist.
Two days earlier, he’d delved into the ‘Basement Tapes’ deep cut, which he hadn’t touched since recording it some 59 years ago.
Earlier this year, Paul McCartney said Dylan was the one artist that he feels “nervous” to approach, and in another recent interview, revealed he had recently been to see one of his shows and admitted: “Honestly, I couldn’t tell what song he was doing.”
He said that he understood if he “doesn’t want to do ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’, maybe he’s fed up with it”, but added, “I would like to hear it. And I paid!”
Dylan has spoken highly of McCartney many times, including in 2007 when he said: “I’m in awe of McCartney. He’s about the only one that I am in awe of. He can do it all. And he’s never let up…He’s just so damn effortless.”
Elsewhere, Dylan paid tribute to Shane MacGowan with a cover of ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’ in Dublin back in November, while at another show in Ireland he performed a traditional folk ballad for the first time in 34 years.
Earlier on the tour, the operator of a Dylan fan site claimed he was asked to leave the venue in Glasgow, after being told he was an “unwanted person”. He said he was removed from the gig because he had been recirculating live photos and footage from Dylan’s tour – which prohibits the use of video cameras and mobile phones.
It was also reported last year that Dylan had been working on new music with “members of his band” in Albany, New York. He has also contributed to Willie Nelson’s new album ‘Dream Chaser’, which came out in May.
The post Watch Bob Dylan play ‘Basement Tapes’ track ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ for first time in 14 years at Washington concert appeared first on NME.
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Erica Campbell
A perfectly coiffed afro framing his face, wearing a button-down with a pointed collar that looks like it was lifted straight from the ’70s, PawPaw Rod is the picture of retro relaxation. The indie-funk singer is telling NME about the first time he picked up a microphone, setting the scene in his native Oklahoma with a grin on his face. “I had to be seven,” the 32-year-old muses over video call from his home in Los Angeles. The youth choir at church had prepared to sing just one song that day, and he had convinced them to sing a more uptempo gospel number.
“‘Victory Is Mine’, that’s the song I liked,” he says. “They just handed me the mic and were like, ‘All right, you sing it then!’ That was my first time [performing], and people were hype.” It was the talk of their small town, and the pastor even got it played on the local radio station. That performance ignited a feeling he has never stopped chasing, one he also felt when he would watch films and videos of Motown acts. “I could see myself when I saw the Jackson Five videos with [Michael Jackson] and his brothers. What it symbolised to me was camaraderie,” Rod says.
PawPaw Rod on The Cover of NME. Credit: Matt Baron for NME
The self-proclaimed “military brat” was born in Hawaii and raised mostly in Oklahoma, and before the time he dropped out of high school, PawPaw Rod – real name Rodney Hulsey – had already lived in Texas, South Carolina, Washington state and Germany. The would-be singer and rapper soaked up new traits and sounds from each new place, all of it feeding into his sound: a restless amalgam of hip-hop, ’60s funk, alternative rock, and more besides.
The diversity of inspiration he drew from his itinerant life can be heard on his debut full-length, ‘Picture Day: A PawPaw Rod Album’, released last month. Lyrically, the album shines a light on the ups and downs of not quite belonging anywhere, each track a snapshot of his identity and a collective homage to the one day of school when prized photos were taken – when he felt anchored, like he fully belonged, and in his own words, “like a real boy”.
Credit: Matt Baron for NME
Despite his friend groups constantly changing because he lived on military bases where no one stayed for long, Hulsey still tried to recreate the camaraderie he saw in groups like The Temptations and Jackson Five. “I would try to get homies to start an R&B group with me,” he chuckles. “We would go down to this little basement and sing songs. That’s what gravitated me towards [music] in the first place. And the fact that you could just escape into something.”
When his family finally stayed put for a long stretch of time in Oklahoma, he decided to commit to his calling. While the rest of his classmates were positioning themselves to join the best football teams in the county, he set his sights on finding the right people and school to get closer to a legitimate career in music. Hulsey eventually found a like-minded group who also wanted to make music and started a band, REGG, with a sound he describes as “like The Strokes if they had a rapper”. “It [stood] for ‘really easygoing guys’,” he laughs. “We would perform everywhere. We would get into the local bars and play. I started taking that seriously.”
Credit: Matt Baron for NME
One of his classmates, who became his manager, had parents who were local promoters bringing in big acts. Through them, he opened for multiple artists as both a solo act and with REGG, supporting a pre-fame Post Malone, Kelly Rowland and Ludacris. Hulsey experienced a trajectory-shifting evening when the band warmed the stage for Chief Keef in 2013. One of several openers, REGG were put in front of a hostile crowd when things ran “super late”.
“They started booing by the second act, and here we come out, and they’re like ‘Yo, what the hell is this?’” he recalls, his voice quickening. “We’re already off-brand, and they’re throwing change at us. They’re throwing bottles.” Things got chaotic, with fans tased in the audience. During it all, Hulsey thought: “Am I supposed to be making music? This is crazy.” Then, somebody came up to him in the crowd. “They were just like, ‘Yo, I’m in music, and you got it! The way you handled this shit, you got it, bro. Keep at it!’” And he did.
In 2021, NME gave PawPaw Rod early praise for his debut release, ‘A PawPaw Rod EP’, applauding his ability to “establish a sonic personality that magpies from elements and mutates genre”. The following year, he was named to the NME 100. Those accolades followed his first single, 2020’s ‘Hit Em Where It Hurts’, which was released by tastemaking label GODMODE [Shamir, Yaeji] and earned acclaim for its funky-yet-glitchy R&B flow and smooth hip-hop delivery. “Every kid has this thought when they’re like, ‘If I just got one [hit] that’s all I need! That’s how I felt when it happened,” he says of the track’s success. “The other day, I drove past the apartment where I recorded it, and I was just like, ‘That’s crazy.’ That day changed my life.
“From there we signed on for [more] songs and we just broke that into EPs,” he says of the three projects – 2022’s ‘Another PawPaw Rod EP’, and then ‘This Must Be a PawPaw Rod EP’ and ‘Doobie Mouth’ in 2024 – that came after this breakout moment. Still, since the releases came during the pandemic lockdown, Hulsey wasn’t able to benefit from typical touring momentum. Nevertheless, “I’m grateful for those experiences,” he says of the EPs, “and it felt like a natural progression to put out an album and to have a full body of work [because listeners already] have an idea of the different sounds I have.”
Credit: Matt Baron for NME
When Hulsey finally felt ready for a full-length album, he knew he wanted it to go back to when and where he decided to be an artist – to his most formative years when he was falling in love with music in school. “I’ve been chasing music since back then,” he says. “I feel like I’m that same kid until I look up or snap out of the song. Keeping your inner child is very important in music.” Recorded in Los Angeles with executive producer Nick Sylvester and additional production from Billy Lemos, Two Fresh and Jordan Feller, ‘Picture Day’ is a feast of funk made through a recipe of sounds only PawPaw Rod grew up on.
On the sultry, Sherwyn-featuring ‘Lights Down Low’, Hulsey goes back in time to write a Motown-era Marvin Gaye track of his own. In ‘The Get Back’, he honours the upbringing and mindset that allowed him to get to the next level of his career: “Back in the day, I doubted but only for a second,” he raps, “People drowned to see you dream so the get back must be seen”. “It reminds me of that part of the dream with my homies back in the day and people I was chasing success with,” Hulsey says.
He continues to revisit his coming-of-age experiences in ‘Tornado Alley’, as he writes about his “love-hate” relationship with Oklahoma, a place where he learned to stand out while feeling pressure to assimilate. In his hands, sheltering in a place known for dangerous weather turns into a positive metaphor: “When the power’s out, we light up”. “When I hear ‘Tornado Alley,’ it takes me back to that place, because no matter where I go… I mean, I say it in the song: ‘No matter where I go, I’ll be signed, sealed, delivered’. It’s that thing, especially in hip-hop with Black artists, of always remembering where you came from.”
Credit: Matt Baron for NME
Between festival slots at Bonnaroo and Bumbershoot, PawPaw Rod will return to Oklahoma City to perform his debut album in August. It’ll mark his first time playing there in 12 years. “There will be people there from high school that I probably wanted to never talk to again,” he laughs. “My parents will be there. It’ll be a lot. It’s everything. It’s every feeling.” Though he’s overwhelmed at the thought of performing for a hometown crowd, he maintains it’s still the perfect way to experience ‘Picture Day’. “I’m always thinking about the live show,” he says. “I want people to dance, feel good. But also, I like making music that you can play anywhere. I want listeners to go outside. I want them to get closer to the things they want to do in their life.”
Hulsey is already experiencing the fruit of his musical labour first-hand, as fans have let him know how his songs have impacted their lives, much like those early Motown artists impacted him. “I’m very honoured when people come up to me at shows and say, ‘We played your music at my wedding’ or ‘I found my partner because we bonded through your music.’ I’ve even had people say they found their sexuality listening to my music.”
Rodney Hulsey, the kid who fell in love with music before he knew what it would lead to, is now living his version of the ever-changing, often co-opted, American dream – one he chased through multiple moves, thrown bottles and the temptation to quit. ‘Picture Day’ is a living testament to that kid who was looking for a permanent place in the world, and decided, through music, to create his own. “I know how [important] music’s been in my life and how I use it,” he says. His talent is just a gift he feels obligated to pass on. “If you feel like you’ve got something, then you gotta give that out.”
PawPaw Rod’s ‘Picture Day: A PawPaw Rod Album’ is out now via Independent Co.
Listen to PawPaw Rod’s exclusive playlist to accompany The Cover below on Spotify or on Apple Music here.
Words: Erica Campbell
Photography: Matt Baron
Styling: PawPaw Rod
Label: Independent Co.
The post Indie-funk star PawPaw Rod is creating his own picture-perfect moment appeared first on NME.
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Max Pilley
Jessie J has announced she is cancer-free, saying she “exhaled for the first time in a year” after receiving the news.
The singer revealed in June last year that she had been diagnosed with early breast cancer and she successfully underwent surgery shortly afterwards. Three months later, however, she cancelled a tour as she was scheduled for a further surgical procedure.
Last month, she posted a video on Instagram that showed her going for her annual health checkup after a breast MRI, and she captioned the post with the jubilant news: “RESULTS ARE IN AND I AM CANCER FREE!!”
“I sobbed for hours and then exhaled for the first time in a year,” she added.
Jessie also brought the positive energy to her return to the Chinese singing competition Singer, the show that she won back in 2018. The hugely popular series is watched by over 100million viewers and Jessie gave passionate performances of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ and her own song ‘California’, from her recent album ‘Don’t Tease Me With A Good Time’.
Watch those performances here:
At the end of last year, Jessie shared a personal and emotional reflection on her challenging 2025, describing it as “one of the hardest but most magical years”.
“This year has been heavy and hard in many ways for all of us, for me personally one of the hardest but most magical years of my life,” she said at the time. “Personally and professionally. But all the sadness has come up this week, it’s the first time I’ve stopped (working and being in public in months) So I’m crying a lot. Writing shit down feeling really low tbh. The lowest I have felt in a while.”
Last September, Jessie made an emotional return to the stage alongside her two-year-old son at BBC Radio 2 in the Park, just 11 weeks after undergoing surgery. “I’m still very much in the recovery process,” she said at the time. “But I’m just so grateful to be here.”
Her sixth studio album ‘Don’t Tease Me With A Good Time’ was released in November, including the singles ‘No Secrets’, ‘Living My Best Life’, ‘H.A.P.P.Y.’ and ‘I’l Never Know Why’.
She also played at the Mighty Hoopla in London last month, and is set to take the stage at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth later this summer.
The post Jessie J is now cancer-free, returns to stage for ‘Singer’ in China: “I exhaled for the first time in a year” appeared first on NME.
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"synergy," "disruption," "paradigm shift" — cant stand these. theyre so overused they dont mean anything anymore. like when someone says "ai is disrupting traditional workflows" and you're just like yeah, ok, but what does that even look like in practice? its always vague and hand-wavey. also "transformative ai solutions" — every startup slaps that on their landing page now. its like calling every new app "innovative" when half the time its just a slightly tweaked version of something else idk man, maybe im just tired of the hype but these words feel like filler at this point. they dont tell you anything useful. someone says "ai-driven innovation" and you still gotta dig through their site to figure out if theyre actually doing something new or just cashing in on the trend. feels like we need better words that actually describe what the tech is doing instead of sounding like a bad powerpoint slide from 2005
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like i get it, teh ocean is big and mysterious and all that, but do we really need another song comparing love to waves or using seagulls as a metaphor for freedom? its not like we’re all out there sailing every weekend half the time i feel like these songs are written by people who’ve seen the ocean twice in their life and just googled 'cool water adjectives.'
maybe im just salty (lol) because i grew up landlocked and the closest thing we had was a muddy lake with too many geese. but seriously, cant we branch out a little? whats wrong with songs about prairies or parking lots or something equally poetic but less cliché? anyway, djs, if you’re taking requests, how about some tracks that ditch the ocean vibes and go for something less wet unless its a really good ocean song, i guess.
maybe im just salty (lol) because i grew up landlocked and the closest thing we had was a muddy lake with too many geese. but seriously, cant we branch out a little? whats wrong with songs about prairies or parking lots or something equally poetic but less cliché? anyway, djs, if you’re taking requests, how about some tracks that ditch the ocean vibes and go for something less wet unless its a really good ocean song, i guess.
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Amanda Hatfield
Saturday night’s storms (which knocked down power lines and trees, killing a man in Forest Park) also meant it was a rough night for outdoor shows. Governors Ball ended early, cutting several artists from the lineup, and less than four miles away from Flushing Meadows Corona Park at Forest Hills Stadium, there was also a shortened night for Bright Eyes. It was the third and final show of their celebration of 21 years of their albums 2005 I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, although they were ultimately only able to play the former before the venue was evacuated because of the approaching storm (Built to Spill also had their set, which was to have been between Bright Eyes’ two album sets, cut). I was definitely bummed to miss Digital Ash, but the Wide Awake set was a glorious reminder of the album’s status as a modern classic.
Bright Eyes are still making vital music — their most recent album, 2024’s Five Dice, All Threes, was one of our favorites of that year — but 2005 may have been the height of their mainstream popularity and critical acclaim, especially off the strength of the folk-inspired Wide Awake. 21 years later, it remains just as relevant (although who knew in 2005 that the advent of the iPhone two years later would soon make the idea of getting lost on the way from the East Village to Brooklyn basically obsolete?), and timeless love song “First Day of My Life” and the haunting “Lua” (which has, since its release, been covered by the likes of Mac Miller and Kevin Devine, among others) have lost none of their shine. Also hitting just as hard in 2026 are the political references on Wide Awake, and the talk of wars fought over nothing got some of the biggest cheers of the night. “Poison Oak,” meanwhile, may be Wide Awake‘s emotional peak, and I wasn’t the only one crying during it on Saturday night.
Emmylou Harris’ harmony vocals on “We Are Nowhere and It’s Now,” “Another Travelin’ Song,” and “Land Locked Blues” are one of the many highlights of Wide Awake on record, and while she hasn’t appeared at any of these shows in person to reprise that contribution, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Emma Ogier has been performing them in her place, and sounding fantastic in the process. Another memorable touch: bookending the Wide Awake set were a group of children dressed in white running onstage, first dressed as parts of a plane, a lightning bolt, and clouds to act out the plane crash in the intro to “At the Bottom of Everything,” and later in safety vests and hard hats, wielding bats, to smash toy instruments at the end of “Road to Joy.”
For those who weren’t there in person, the show also streamed live on Veeps. Check out pictures and a video clip below.
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
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Bright Eyes are still making vital music — their most recent album, 2024’s Five Dice, All Threes, was one of our favorites of that year — but 2005 may have been the height of their mainstream popularity and critical acclaim, especially off the strength of the folk-inspired Wide Awake. 21 years later, it remains just as relevant (although who knew in 2005 that the advent of the iPhone two years later would soon make the idea of getting lost on the way from the East Village to Brooklyn basically obsolete?), and timeless love song “First Day of My Life” and the haunting “Lua” (which has, since its release, been covered by the likes of Mac Miller and Kevin Devine, among others) have lost none of their shine. Also hitting just as hard in 2026 are the political references on Wide Awake, and the talk of wars fought over nothing got some of the biggest cheers of the night. “Poison Oak,” meanwhile, may be Wide Awake‘s emotional peak, and I wasn’t the only one crying during it on Saturday night.
Emmylou Harris’ harmony vocals on “We Are Nowhere and It’s Now,” “Another Travelin’ Song,” and “Land Locked Blues” are one of the many highlights of Wide Awake on record, and while she hasn’t appeared at any of these shows in person to reprise that contribution, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Emma Ogier has been performing them in her place, and sounding fantastic in the process. Another memorable touch: bookending the Wide Awake set were a group of children dressed in white running onstage, first dressed as parts of a plane, a lightning bolt, and clouds to act out the plane crash in the intro to “At the Bottom of Everything,” and later in safety vests and hard hats, wielding bats, to smash toy instruments at the end of “Road to Joy.”
For those who weren’t there in person, the show also streamed live on Veeps. Check out pictures and a video clip below.
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
Bright Eyes (photo by Amanda M Hatfield)
SETLIST: BRIGHT EYES @ FOREST HILLS STADIUM, 6/6/2026 At the Bottom of Everything We Are Nowhere and It’s Now Old Soul Song (for the New World Order) Lua Train Under Water First Day of My Life Another Travelin’ Song Land Locked Blues Poison Oak Road to Joy
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Rhian Daly
Wild winds and rain lash the sea of people gathered at Primavera Sound Barcelona’s Occident stage as Cameron Winter croons his way through ‘Au Pays du Cocaine’. It’s the first full day (June 4) of this year’s festival, and Geese are, unsurprisingly, one of the biggest draws of the evening. As it turns out, they’ll also be one of the last to perform on the event’s three biggest stages today, as inclement weather forces the cancellation of sets from Mac DeMarco, Alex G, Massive Attack, Doja Cat and Bad Gyal.
While the weather is out of organisers’ hands, the way things are handled starts this year’s edition of Primavera on a sour note. Communication and updates are scarce, with crowds unsure whether it’s worth sticking it out; later, in replies to disgruntled fans on social media, organisers cite constantly evolving weather conditions “requiring ongoing reviews of operational decisions”. That artists like Doja Cat were announcing they were no longer performing on social media hours before the festival confirm it, though, adds to the frustration. The mess around Massive Attack’s set – no updates until 90 minutes after they were meant to begin, a rescheduling for 12:30am, only for it to ultimately be cancelled at 1am without a single note played – dampens spirits even more.
In many ways, Primavera Sound feels like a festival in a transitional period. It’s evident in these weather-induced difficulties – like many other outdoor events, organisers now have to grapple with increasingly adverse conditions, and how to prepare for and adjust to such situations needs to be a major consideration before next year’s edition.
PinkPantheress live at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2026. Credit: Christian Bertrand
That evolution, though, is also felt in the programming. Over recent years, Primavera’s line-up, which was once predominantly alternative, has been skewing more pop. That’s the case this year, too, with a mix of established alt heroes (Slowdive, The Cure, Gorillaz all deliver brilliant sets across the weekend), underground newcomers like Femtanyl, Fakemink and Korean party-starters Hypnosis Therapy, and acts from the cooler end of the spectrum of pop (and Role Model). Weirdly, though, Primavera Sound itself doesn’t seem to have sussed that a lot of people will want to watch artists in the latter camp – the Cupra stage is overflowing with those wanting to witness PinkPantheress’ triumphant joy on Friday (June 5). While it’s a successful set for the British star, that fans are able to keep flooding the area unimpeded raises concerns about crowd control.
Addison Rae live at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2026. Credit: Primavera Sound
Boil Primavera Sound Barcelona 2026 down to just the music, though, and there’s still plenty of fun to be had (if you can hear any of it over the incessantly, sometimes obnoxiously, chatty crowds). Friday feels like a pure pop fantasy, with Addison Rae inspiring the kind of devotion on her debut album most artists take a few records to reach. On the Occident stage, JADE gets everyone warmed up for a long night ahead with high-energy performances of ‘Plastic Box’ and ‘Gossip’ (plus a reminder of Little Mix’s best bangers in a special medley), while Cara Delevingne makes her bid for pop stardom in the small hours. As you might expect, her set is highly polished, but still packs a punch, as the songs veer from pop lacerated with industrial bursts and skittering electro-pop.
The Cure live at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2026. Credit: Eric Pamies Garcia
An outlier among those acts, headliners The Cure kick off their current European run with a set packed with rarities and greatest hits, on as fine a form as ever, as they put the Estrella Damm field in a heady daze. That feeling returns on Saturday (June 6) as Robert Smith joins Olivia Rodrigo during a short-but-sweet surprise set for the debut of their new collaboration, ‘What’s Wrong With Me’.
Olivia Rodrigo live at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2026. Credit: Christian Bertrand
This might be a festival in flux, but a wide spread of sounds is still a solid bet, as Saturday proves. Rising indie-rock star Grace Ives gets the Cupra audience bouncing under the early evening sun, before NME 100 of 2026 act The Sophs merge Spanish guitar licks into punk rock anthems on the Port stage. Gelli Haha builds a surreal, colourful world full of bubbles and dolphins on the Schwarzkopf stage to match her vibrant synth-pop, Sudan Archives slides effortlessly between opening up booty-shaking pits and wowing the crowd with her violin skills, and The xx make a triumphant return with a set that mixes their serene indie with the club-ready beats of Jamie xx, Romy and Oliver Sim’s solo projects.
Gorillaz live at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2026. Credit: Gisela Jane
Across the site this weekend, there are illuminated signs that declare “no war”, but with Massive Attack’s set cancelled, the festival’s political voice feels quieter than it perhaps would have. At least, until Saturday night, when Gorillaz’s headline set is introduced by Palestinian activist Aarab Barghouti, whose father Marwan has been imprisoned by Israel since 2002. “My father is one of 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, but for millions of Palestinians, he represents something that Israel cannot imprison: hope,” Barghouti tells the crowd. Later, over at the Occident stage, Kneecap fly the flag for resistance with messages on the big screens in support of Palestine and Lebanon, before bringing out Palestinian rapper Fawzi for their collaboration ‘Palestine’.
By the end of the weekend, with the puddles mostly dried up and a couple of days packed with great artists, it’s easier to feel positive about Primavera Sound. There are issues that still need to be reckoned with, but as the festival continues to evolve, there’s still plenty worth coming back for.
The post Primavera Sound 2026 review: weather-battered festival still delivers another solid edition appeared first on NME.
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