Full line-up revealed as Waves Festival prepares to take over Sunderland city centre venues

The all-day, multi-venue festival is returning to Sunderland city centre on Saturday, November 5 with city bars and venues playing host to some of the best and brightest emerging artists from across the international, national and local scenes.

Joining headliners The Pale White, Tom A Smith, Ishmael Ensemble and Pip Blom is Scottish indie rock sensation, Declan Welsh and The Decadent West.

The four piece, hailing from East Kilbride have established themselves as one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Scotland’s thriving alternative rock scene thanks to their powerful songwriting, stadium-ready anthems and a punk attitude reminiscent of Joe Strummer and Billy Bragg.

New additions to the line up also include some of Sunderland’s most promising new talent, such as Chloe Gardner, Dead Wet Things and Neoletrics. Chloe Gardner has toured across Europe with the legendary rock band Status Quo as a backing vocalist and acoustic guitar player. A solo artist, she is known for her captivating live shows and unique vocal delivery.

In addition, the festival has announced a brand new stage which will showcase some of the best talent championed by BBC Introducing in the North East. Hosted by Nick Roberts, the BBC Introducing stage will see Eve Cole, The Peevie Wonders, Nadedja and Noprism perform.

Sunderland’s newest venue, The Fire Station will act as the main stage for the one-dayer alongside five other popular music haunts - Independent, The Peacock, The Ship Isis, The Bunker and Live Lounge - all of which are paving the way for Sunderland’s cultural regeneration.

The Pale White will headline the festival with a performance at The Fire Station. Fresh from releasing their debut, critically-acclaimed album, Infinite Pleasure, the band will play their only North East date of 2022, boasting a fresh new live line-up.

The Dutch indie four-piece Pip Blom will return to Independent to headline the stage following a sell out show in April while touring their second album Welcome Break.

The Peacock will be headlined by Leeds-based electronic/funk party band Galaxians. With an ever growing live reputation, the group has recently returned from a series of appearances at major UK festivals such as Bluedot and Tramlines.

Other big names on the line up include Ishmael Ensemble who continue to blur the lines between electronic and jazz music with their expansive sound.

Sunderland-born Tom A Smith, who is on a meteoric rise having recently played Glastonbury for the second time and supported Elton John. And York 5-piece Bull will bring their noisy indie racket to Sunderland for the first time.

Other acts already confirmed include Sunderland’s dance/pop outfit Vandebilt, the psychedelic/indie sounds of The Dream Machine, Luke Royalty, Hivemind, Yaatri, Wax Heart Sodality, Ghost//Signals as well as many more still to be announced.

Festival co-organiser Ben Richardson commented: “We can’t wait to host Waves festival again this year, there was such a great atmosphere last time out and we’re predicting it to be exactly the same this time, just on a much bigger scale.”

He added: "The addition of The Fire Station as main stage is a big coup and will allow us to bring bigger and better bands to Sunderland as part of the festival.”

Ben Wall from the venue, Independent, added: “We’re really proud of the line-up we’ve put together for this year’s event, it’s amazing to bring bands that have played and sold out Independent in the past (The Pale White, Pip Blom) back to the city alongside so many more exciting emerging artists that are playing here for the first time. "

:: Tickets for Waves festival (5 November) are on sale now from: https://sunderlandculture.org.uk/events/waves-festival-2022/