Festival Review: Turnstile Are Truly Worthy Headliners At Outbreak Festival 2025
As Outbreak Festival descended on London for the first time, folded into the LIDO programme, you’re never too far from a bouncing crowd, or an elbow in a mosh pit.
A blisteringly hot day set the stage for the first London edition of Outbreak, set among the slightly confusing new slate of day festivals held in Victoria Park. It’s a compact little set up, with just three stages taking up about only a quarter of the entire piece of East London greenery. In the nearly decade and a half since its inception, Outbreak has maintained a strong contender in keeping its hardcore niche alive. While the London edition allows for slightly more diversification in its programming, including rapper Danny Brown and indie rocker Alex G, with some also questioning headliner Turnstile’s credentials, Outbreak still knows what their fans want at its core: slightly rough around the edges, off-kilter, rowdy music.
Our day begins at The Club, a 500 capacity enclosed tent, with a constant line and a tangible air of sweat leaking out. Playing host to They Are Gutting A Body Of Water, the Philadelphia shoegaze outfit, where the band alternate between hazy, chamber-like guitar tones coupled with bold, industrial drumming, and uneven garage beat breakdowns from an on-stage drum machine. An odd choice that admittedly slows the set down slightly, but the group are still pure energy when all tuned up. Brooklyn slackers Momma then took to the main stage, winning the crowd over with their earnestness and warm guitars even early in the day.
Back in the sweaty tent, Jane Remover played their trademark mix of hyperpop tinged emo to a sea of adoring fans that knew their songs word for word. ‘Dancing with your eyes closed’ forced the crowd to move in a synced craze, while they also brought out Danny Brown to perform ‘Psychoboost’. Back on the main stage, LA trio julie were a perfect mix of loud and sexy, really signalling what the future of the hardcore sound might carry. With a total of 5 guitars stashed away for various noises and effects, as well as one of the better drumming performances of the day, it’s a little disheartening to remember they’re still only in their early 20s.
Boston-born but Brooklyn-based Model/Actriz then punched the Club tent with scratchy guitars and consuming industrial percussion. Playing mainly cuts from their latest album Pirouette, frontman Cole Haden split the sea in the crowd during ‘Diva’ and ‘Cinderella’; a display that he didn’t want to just create chaos but be a part of it. If it seems like we’re cutting some of our coverage a little short here, it’s worth noting that The Club stage seemed to be housing some pretty high-profile acts like the ones we saw above but also Sunny Day Real Estate and Have A Nice Life. While it’s understandable that given the festival’s small footprint they needed to reduce sound leakage across the stages, it did mean we were forced to line up outside before finally getting in for their last few songs, or miss them entirely (apologies to feeble little horse).
Danny Brown, the seasoned rapper from Detroit, followed on the main stage with trademark nasally voice and equally common energy. “London has always felt like home”, he says, proceeding to list rappers he watched on Lord of the Mics. ‘Really Doe’ sent the crowd into a frenzy, and injected everyone with a bit more energy for the rest of the day. Alex G, the strangest addition to the Outbreak lineup, was unfortunately slightly underwhelming. While they cruised through a setlist of old and new effortlessly, the indie stalwarts did little in service to the overall day, though it provided a pleasant respite to the crowds ears.
As overwhelming bass tones and commands to mosh continued to flood Victoria Park into the night, the virulent force of Knocked Loose beckoned. While these demands grew cloying, the forthright appeals felt deserved given their bombastic performance. They’re an impressively tight unit, with minimal transitions between songs and no waning energy. A few brief journeys to the multiple pits earned me a punch to the lip -- a perfect accompaniment to “Belleville”, a true in song structure, whiplash harmonic intersections and double bass-drum force. Closing on the massive recent single “Everything Is Quiet Now” certainly cemented the group as one of the best modern hardcore acts.
So, an overall overperforming crop of hardcore acts were able to uphold Outbreak’s reputation, and then the masses of people descend on the main stage for the headline Turnstile. The group from Baltimore could face similar criticism about their hardcore credentials, especially given their last two albums which were tinged with some pop melody sensibilities. Maybe they even knew that themselves, because they played like a band with something to prove.
Even though they primarily played cuts from their recent output, the sheer veracity with which frontman Brendan Yates jumped and thrashed counteracted any accusations of being out of place, while drummer Daniel Fang played with frenzied power. They still kept true to some of their softer roots though, even bringing out Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes for an extended flue interlude on ‘NEVER ENOUGH’. Near the end of the set, the skies opened up while Yates quietened everyone down and shared that the first time they played the UK was also at Outbreak Festival in 2013, making this full circle moment feel even more resounding as they launched into ‘BIRDS’. The pits grew bigger with each reset, with the ground getting muddier as the rain persisted, but nothing that the crowd couldn’t overpower. A truly triumphant showing from the band, who leave with their hardcore capability now undoubtedly unquestioned, and will surely continue to move from strength to strength.
While small, and at times slightly mismanaged, Outbreak Festival 2025 at Victoria Park proved to be a seamless continuation of the festival’s identity. The acts were bold, brash, and loud, even when they weren’t known for being so. Headliners Turnstile were a revelation in the rain, so here’s hoping they can do one better next year.