The weather is often better. That’s the only complaint you could have about the 2025 Dot to Dot Festival! Everything was pretty near perfect. Considering it was a sell-out crowd, we didn’t encounter any issues with queuing either at bars or to get into venues.
What a great day and that was right from the start as well. We were the first through the door at the Fleece; yes, we were that keen! Lead singer Isaac said even if My First Time weren’t the first band we’d seen that day they would probably be the best. And in all honesty, he was right. We don’t know how many words of praise we have written about them in the past, but we now need to write some more. The new songs, the ‘bigger sound’ as they put it, don’t diminish the set – there’s no let up in the quality. In fact, they enhance it – a bit more of a thud and bump – they’ve replaced some of the pop with some crackle. So confident are they in the new songs that they finished with them rather than singles ‘Wind Up Merchant’ or ‘Brand New’. Expecting LP news soon – these are exciting times.
In our lookahead to the festival, we remarked that the Fleece had a very strong line-up and we were right. Next on stage was Sex Mask (pictured), a band we were a little less familiar with but after this set they are firmly on our radar. There were all kinds of things going on; some punky thrash, some pulsing electro beat as well as a little bit of pop here and there. Interestingly that’s not only a description of what they sound like but also reflects what they look like as well! This is going to be a band to follow, all kinds of shoots beginning to appear and we aren’t sure what the flower might be.
Fast forward a few hours and finally we got to see Hello Mary, something it feels like we have been waiting three or four years to do. And they didn’t disappoint. A slower tempo than the earlier part of the day, interspersing some beautiful guitar work with a grungier vibe. Some dual vocals added to the mix and we swayed and swooned a bit, rather than moshed (which had been our expectation). Regardless, this was definitely one to remember and we’re hoping that these New Yorkers come back to the UK soon.
We had seen Dog Race at last year’s Truck Festival so weren’t surprised that they were good. Better than good, one of our picks of the day. A mostly uptempo alt pop and alt rock mix. Plenty of changes of pace, lots of ideas and a great vocal delivery. And they owned the stage too with plenty of stage presence. As fans we remained engaged from start to finish. A knowledgably Fleece crowd, if they didn’t know before, will now know that this is presently one of the best bands in the UK.
One Big House 