Dot To Dot Festival 2022 brought an incredible atmosphere and amazing music to Nottingham, and will certainly have helped unearth some upcoming stars of the UK indie scene.
Platform’s writers were fortunate enough to attend for the day, covering several different venues and taking in artists from right across the spectrum of genres.
Whether they’re up-and-coming or fresh off the release of groundbreaking new music, here are our picks of the best performances and the artists to look out for in the following months.
Scarlett Acres – Cucamaras
Nottingham’s very own post-punk band which is going to dominate in the future, Cucamaras, made their mark on the Dot To Dot Festival.
The four-piece band, comprising Olly Bowley, Josh Hart, Dan McGrath and Joe Newton, hit off the beginning of the festival, being the first band to perform at Rock City at 13:45.
Performing their singles and songs off their new EP, ‘Soft Soap’, including ‘Winners Chapel’, ‘Safe Bet’ and ‘Policeman’, they made the perfect start.
As the band even gave a glimpse into a new, unreleased and unnamed song, people were in for a real treat.
With energetic and hardcore lyrics and music, the crowd were blown away by the performance that truly stood out for the day.
Finishing with the song that bought them from indie to post-punk, ‘Death of the Social’, the crowd absolutely loved it and a lot of new fans were certainly created.
They were a definite Platform Magazine favourite of the day.
Make sure to check them out at Nottingham’s very own Rescue Rooms on 17 November!
Adam Eaton – Retro Video Club
This Scottish indie rock band took the BETA room at Rock City by storm as one of the festival’s opening bands.
Comprised of four members, the band played a flurry of garage-style rock songs such as ‘Faking’ from their newly-released EP, ‘Situations’.
The scene was definitely very popular for audiences at the festival, with the venue room being nearly full with eager fans tapping their feet all the way.
The band closed their performance with their arguably most popular song, ‘Chemistry’, much to the crowd’s joy.
Will Hugall – piri & tommy
On an afternoon of amazing music at every venue, it is genuinely hard to pick a standout performance at Dot To Dot 2022.
From the artists I was excited to see, though, I was most impressed by drum-and-bass up-and-comers piri & tommy.
The duo, who met as university students in Manchester, are a real-life couple and as well as what must be working for them in that respect, they balance each other out on stage too.
Tommy’s effortless cool and the infectious energy of piri – real name Sophie McBurnie – brought the authentic DnB atmosphere to Rescue Rooms, with a mix of established and new fans in attendance.
With just four singles to their names so far, the momentum around the duo is already impressive, and they should have a bright future ahead of them.
Louise Walt – King No-One, Cassia, Alfie Templeman
York-born, Manchester-based indie rockers King No-One performed an energetic set at The Level, jam-packed with tunes including ‘Antichrist’ and ‘Two Islands’ that created a moody vibe.
The enthusiastic band members gave it their all, making it hard for fans not to join in.
Vocalist Zach Lount commanded attention with his strong vocals as he serenaded the festival-goers superbly, particularly on the song ‘Halo’.
King No-One frontman Zach Lount, whose level of fan engagement absolutely set the bar for other artists on the day. Photo Credit: Scarlett Acres
Fan favourite ‘Alcatraz’ was by far the grooviest song played on the day, with Lount showcasing his broad vocal range and effortlessly holding long notes.
King No-One’s next big performance is at Y NOT? Festival in Derbyshire from 29-31 July, and they are definitely a band to watch out for.
Cassia are a soft-sounding indie band consisting of Rob Thomas, Lou Cotterill and Jacob Jeff.
The trio played at Rock City, with vocalist Thomas’ mellow voice allowing for a chilled performance.
‘Drifting’ and ‘100 Times Over’ brought all the summer vibes to the venue, while tunes like ‘Similar’ and ‘Motions’ had the crowd belting out the lyrics and forming mosh pits.
The Macclesfield-raised band delighted fans by playing ‘Right There’, which had the crowd dancing for joy with its uplifting beat.
They performed their latest hit ’16-18 (Why You Lacking Energy?)’ which excited fans with its memorable chorus, and the live vocals made for an amazing performance.
Cassia will be returning to Nottingham on October 16 at Rescue Rooms as part of their biggest tour yet.
Finally, Alfie Templeman’s headline slot was unmissable, with fans cramming into Rock City to catch a glimpse of his first big performance since his debut album ‘Mellow Moon’ dropped on 27 May.
Templeman played a combination of tracks from the album, including ‘Candyfloss’ and ‘3D Feelings’, which are future dance tracks in the making.
1980s-sounding song ‘Everybody’s Gonna Love Somebody’ had everyone’s heads bopping with its cool vocals and strong beat, while ‘Stop Thinking (About Me)’ had fans jumping up and down.
Funky tunes such as ‘Obvious Guy’ and ‘Wait, I Lied’ elevated the mood with their upbeat instrumentals and Alfie’s chilled tone.
To top it off, he finished with ‘Happiness in Liquid Form’, ending a fantastic headline slot.
Templeman’s voice has a vibrancy which cannot be matched live, and the only room for improvement could be the energy of the band to match, having remained stationary throughout the set unlike other performers.
Overall, Dot To Dot 2022 was a truly memorable experience.
Everyone at Platform would like to thank the festival, and its promoters DHP Family, for allowing us to come down, and we hope we can attend for another fantastic day in 2023!
Lead Image Photo Credit: Will Hugall.