Sold-out Waves Festival takes over Sunderland city centre venues

One wristband, eight venues, forty acts - a city centre festival brought a 12-hour wave of entertainment to Wearside.

Today, Saturday, November 11, saw the return of Waves Festival, organised by local promoters to bring a whole day of entertainment to the city, from regional, national and international acts.

In its biggest year to date, the festival sold out, giving festival-goers plenty of entertainment for their £25 wristband.

As the sun shone down on Sunderland, it was also a great way to shine a light on the city's live music venues: The Fire Station, Pop Recs, Diego’s, Port Of Call’s Tipi, Independent, The Peacock, The Ship Isis and The Bunker.

The huge sound of five-piece Palma Louca kicked off the festival in style at Independent, with a high-octane set that set the tone for the day.

Another highlight at the Holmeside institution was Camel Island, an alt-rock indie quartet from South Shields - who take their name from the small hump-shaped island in Marsden Bay - who Chris Thompson from the Waves team says are most definitely ones to watch.

He said: "Introducing new venues to the roster this year just shows the festival has grown.

"At the top of the bill you've got Everything Everything who are a massive headliner, they've been Mercury Prize and Ivor Novello nominated.

"Then at the bottom of the bill you've got emerging bands like Palma Louca and Camel Island who are I think are one of the best new bands in the North East and it's mint to get them on the main stage downstairs at Independent.

"Not many bands their size get to play the main room because it's 300 capacity, so it's special for them to play a venue like this and, obviously, for the audience they get to find a new favourite band as well."

Chris added: "It's testament to Ben Richardson who's organised this as he's worked with local promoters to co-ordinate different stages, so it's all different genres, not just your typical four-man indie band, so there's something for everyone."

Waves Festival continues tonight at The Fire Station with headliners Everything Everything.

The art rockers first played in Sunderland for Waves organiser Ben Wall at The White Room in 2007, eight years before their first studio album.

They've gone on to be twice shortlisted for a Mercury Prize and five times nominated for Ivor Novello Awards.

The band released their sixth studio album, Raw Data Feel, in 2022, critically held as their most successful record yet which charted at Number 4 in the UK, their third Top 5 album.

Ben Wall, from the Waves Festival team, said: "It's really coming into its own and it's grown to the point where we can fill the bigger venues and we're already thinking about next year and how we can make it bigger and better."

At £25 for the whole day, tickets were great value, and cheaper than you could expect to pay just to see the headliner alone.

Ben said: "We've subsidised tickets thanks to the Council and that's why it's so cheap, otherwise it would be £40 / £45."

Independent and The Bunker have been flying the flag for the local music scene for decades and in recent years they've been joined by a number of mid-size venues which has helped to boost that offering.

"The only reason we've been able to do this is because we now have places like The Peacock, Pop Recs and The Fire Station, you need that variety of venue," added Ben.

It's been a weekend of live music in the city, with Dave Stewart making a homecoming appearance with his Eurythmics Songbook tour on Friday night and raising the roof off the Sunderland Empire.

It was followed by an after party at The Fire Station, with music from The Lake Poets and the Young Musicians Project all stars.

This month will also see the return of Boundaries Festival to the city centre.

The experimental Music and Arts Festival is back for its third edition across the weekend of November 24 and 25.

Attendees can expect an eclectic mix of experimental music genres, from avant-garde electronica to boundary-pushing rock and everything in between.

Renowned artists and emerging talents will take to the stage at the festival's three venues: The Peacock, The Dun Cow and Sunderland Minster.

For the full line-up and tickets see www.boundariesfestival.com