Back for its fourth year, Radar Festival 2024 expands from its humble prog and tech beginnings into wider territories including synthwave and R&B - accomplishing the feat with tremendous success.
Manchester’s spacious O2 Victoria Warehouse is the scene once more for Radar festival this year after an impressive debut in 2023. The venue again plays host to not only incredible live sets from the vast array of performing artists, but also countless other exhibitions and attractions such as merch and gear markets, a gaming arcade, and masterclasses from some of the top musicians performing across the bill. It’s an effort that most festivals wouldn’t even think to attempt, but Radar pull it off magnificently, with those masterclasses being very well-sold and everyone clearly loving the other activities. But alas, at heart Radar is still a music festival, so let’s talk about that…
Friday
VOLA
Oli Duncanson
Bringing in the evening, Denmark’s prog maestros VOLA manage to warm up everyone here perfectly for the weekend ahead. The sound in the main room is solid all event, never more demonstrated than here, where the 4-piece’s colossal riffs and hulking tones sound big enough to put a crack in the roof of this warehouse. Asger Mygind’s vocals shine even more than on record, and keyboardist Martin Werner does a stellar job in rounding out an all-round ultra-tight performance that ends with the crowd belting out huge closer ‘Straight Lines’ at the top of their lungs.
thrown
Oli Duncanson
Over on the second stage, metalcore newcomers thrown have undoubtedly made a huge impact since their arrival onto the scene only 3 years ago, and with their nu-metal tendencies at a time of the genre’s resurgence, along with their abrasive riffs and alluring use of electronics, it’s easy to see why. Their short but sweet set is accompanied by a captivating light show (a feature of this weekend for a lot of bands in fact), and is well-received by a crowd eager to see where this group could go in the future.
The Midnight
The first headliner of the weekend shows the lofty ambitions of Radar fest only a few years into its existence. Booking a synthwave/pop band to close out the first night of a fest on which they are clearly the biggest outlier is a brave move, but one that, in seeing the crowd’s reaction only a few minutes into the set, has clearly paid off. The base duo of Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan are joined by a barrage of touring musicians, and saxophonist Justin Klunk is an outstanding fan favorite every time he steps to the front of the stage to deliver one of his rousing solos to a rapturous response. Knowing where they’re playing, the band do seem to make some of their songs a little heavier than on record to successfully connect more with the audience, and overall it’s a joyous way to finish the night for everyone involved.
Saturday
Heart of a Coward
Oli Duncanson
Metalcore stalwarts Heart of a Coward take to the stage in front of a sizable crowd on Saturday afternoon, and it’s easy to tell by the reception that a lot of those in attendance have been following the band for years through the various iterations. The band are incredibly tight and a commanding presence on stage, led by vocalist Kaan Tasan who brings the crowd in to sing multiple parts in unison, and it’s evident that this band know exactly how to nail a festival set.
Car Bomb
Rubix Photography
Prog metal/djent aficionados Car Bomb have been grafting for well over two decades but only recently have started getting their dues - the band clearly notice that the large crowd today is made up in part by those who already love them, but moreso by those who’ve never heard of them but, by the end of their 50 minute set, will be clamoring to see them again. Their weird take on mixing math with prog is near impossible to look away from, and the tightness maintained within changing time signatures multiple times per song is something that would impress any music nerd. The amount and size of the circle pits they conjure throughout their set show that the band have truly resonated here, possibly even more than they could have expected.
The Fall of Troy
Always a standout no matter when or where they play, The Fall of Troy dazzle on the second stage with their enticing blend of post-hardcore and prog. Absurd that a three-piece can make this much noise, frontman Thomas Erak leads the outfit in assaulting a crowd with technical intensity that’s not showy for the sake of it, rather helping the songs to become even more impressive in how they can often sound so catchy. Every person at the show leaves thinking that they might have seen one of the weirdest bands of the weekend, but they don’t know what they’re in for next.
Dirty Loops
Rubix Photography
Another ostensibly peculiar booking, Dirty Loops impressed so much on their Radar debut back in 2022 that they’re here again, playing to a crowd that don’t really seem to know what to expect, but by the second track - a Lady Gaga cover of all things - are completely sold on the cheeky quirkiness at hand. Vocalist Jonah Nilsson blows every single person in this venue away with his frankly insane range, and bassist Henkrik Linder with his charismatic command over the crowd and his Pistorious-esque playing combine to make this one of the sets of the weekend. The band know they’re out of place here but play with it so well, Linder calling for a circle pit for “one of our heavier songs” before launching into a rendition of Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’, something that elicits one of the biggest crowd singalongs of the whole event. Who’s enjoying themselves more out of the crowd and the band is impossible to tell, and as the group finish with utter earworm ‘Sexy Girls’, it seems they’d be welcome back at Radar any time they want.
Conjurer
Rubix Photography
One of the weirdest changes in tone you’ll ever see at a festival, up next is the unrelentingly heavy Conjurer, who lay waste to all those in their path with their imposing stage presence and moody atmosphere. The dual vocal approach of Brady Deeprose and Dan Nightingale merge into an emotive cacophony of catharsis and the undeservedly small crowd lap it up in abundance. Always a powerful force, Conjurer cement their place as one of the hidden gems of the extreme metal world.
Tesseract
Ruben Navarro
Headlining the Saturday night to a huge crowd is British prog metal masters Tesseract, playing a set that will live on in the memory of every attendee for a very long time. The five-piece’s presence here is felt way before they take to the stage tonight though, with their recently released full video game getting a designated spot in the upstairs room, something that proves to be a massive success. The accompanying album, 2023’s War of Being, is the spotlight of tonight’s show, where it shines more than it ever has before. The outfit are joined on stage by Choir Noir, a four-piece vocal group that add to and emphasize the songs in a perfect way, and whose sparkling dresses work with Tesseract’s all-black approach and a beautiful stage set complete with a massive laser show to create a visual spectacle as technically impressive as it is awe-inspiring. The band are so practiced, proven in their tightness in every live performance they give, but it is clear that they have put so much into this one-off event, and the emotion shown from the members is very obviously reciprocated by the crowd that know they’re witness to something magical.
Sunday
Blood Command
Stepping into the shoes of two great previous vocalists in Silje Tombre and Karina Ljone, 2020 addition Nikki Brumen brings the Australian sass to the Norwegian weirdness and delivers a convincing set of her own Blood Command material and that of those before her well enough to get a should-be-tired Sunday night crowd starting multiple circle pits. The band’s musicianship is very impressive, but the energy of Nikki - especially when she decides to go out crowdsurfing - is what brings together this highly fun set and re-energizes the punters for the final few hours of the weekend.
Holding Absence
Naomi Paulmin
Recognized by frontman Lucas Woodland as another outlier on the bill, Cardiff’s alt-rock/post-hardcore stars Holding Absence begin their set with one of their biggest hits in ‘Like a Shadow’, an impressive move that brings up the atmosphere to that of a party instantly. Woodland tells the crowd how he attended the festival last year just to watch some bands, and ended up falling in love with it so much that his own band jumped at the chance to play, something that’s blindingly obvious seeing how much fun they’re having on stage. The crowd join in on vocals throughout, with drummer Ashley Green standing out keeping everything pulsing, and it’s another convincing example of the scope of this festival and where it could go in more years to come.
Humanity’s Last Breath
One of the heaviest bands playing here this weekend, Sweden’s prog-deathcore outfit Humanity’s Last Breath close out the second stage on the Sunday night with a relentless set of pummeling attacks on all senses, with an eerie light show accompanying the mood of the music to a great effect. Crowdsurfing aplenty, it’s visible that HLB were at the top of the to-see list for a lot of people here, and they offer a set worthy of that anticipation and deliver a great way to wrap up the stage.
Leprous
One of the most impressive things about Radar Festival 2024 has been how it’s managed to secure three very special sets to headline each day. From Friday’s exceptions-to-the-rule The Midnight, Saturday’s one-off choir set from Tesseract, to tonight’s real-time song request set from Leprous, it’s apparent that the organizers of Radar really want to set it apart from the rest, and it’s worked a treat.
Ruben Navarro
Having been busy already this weekend - vocalist Einar Solberg and drummer Baard Kolstad have both run masterclasses - Leprous still have the energy tonight to produce a sublime set made up of fan-favorites along with a few rarities. Beginning with a one-two of ‘Have You Ever?’ and ‘The Price’, the setlist is made up of seven songs from the band’s choosing, and six from the audience’s.
Sometimes when artists do by-request sets there’s a danger that the setlist ends up being more or less the same as a standard show, yet here the crowd have to be given credit for choosing (from four options each time) some surprises and lesser-heard outings. ‘Mirage’ gets a fairly rare outing which impresses, but the surprise of the night is Coal’s ‘Contaminate Me’ being chosen to close out the set over usual enders ‘The Sky Is Red’ or ‘Nighttime Disguise’. Guitarist Robin Ognedal jokes with the crowd that he hates them for picking such a challenging song yet he performs it pristinely, and Solberg’s screams also impress here live more than ever before.
Ruben Navarro
Overall, the outfit - rounded out by guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke, bassist Simen Børven and new touring member Harrison White on keys - are as tight as they always are, and seem to really revel and enjoy themselves in this new concept of a show. New songs ‘Silently Walking Alone’ and ‘Atonement’ shine, and the whole set leaves fans clamoring for the new album in August, the chance to see Leprous again, and to come back to Radar Festival once more.
