Stockton Calling 2026 @Various Venues, Stockton-on-Tees - 4th April 2026
- John Hayhurst
- Apr 11
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Stockton Calling 2026 review covering bands, venues, and highlights from one of the UK’s best independent music festivals in Stockton-on-Tees.
From Brass to Buckfast: My Day at Stockton Calling
Words and Photographs - John Hayhurst
There’s a duality to Stockton-on-Tees. On the surface, there’s a town grappling with hardship — boarded-up spaces, visible struggles, and an undercurrent that can feel quite uneasy at times. But step inside its abundance of fantastic live music venues, and it’s a different world entirely. Here, the scene is alive — independent, passionate, and defiantly creative. Stockton Calling sits right in the middle of that contrast, turning the town, if only for a day, into something electric.
Stockton Calling always feels like a bit of a hidden gem, it’s always the opening of festival season for me, and by early afternoon, the pavements were busy with eager punters darting between venues, and every doorway seemed to lead to something different — from stripped-back acoustic sets to full-on, sweat-soaked punk pandemonium. There’s something special about this day festival where you can take a chance on an act you’ve never heard of and walk out ten minutes later completely won over.
I kicked things off at The Georgian Theatre, where Alice Street immediately set the tone with a bright, genre-blending sound that pulled in elements of pop and ska. The addition of brass — trumpet and trombone cutting through the mix — gave their set a real lift and made them stand out early on in the day. It felt fresh, confident, and perfectly suited to that room, everyone dancing at 2pm in the afternoon can’t be a bad thing.
Over at The Link, Montello were doing their bit to carry the torch for modern indie pop. A young, fresh-faced band with clear influences, they leaned into that Arctic Monkeys-style swagger, and it worked — the crowd quickly warmed to them, and the room filled out nicely as word spread. Later they would do another set at KU Bar as a band had to drop out, these Wigan lads more than made up for it.
One of the more surprising contrasts came at KU Bar, where Robyn Errico delivered a beautifully stripped-back piano set. In a venue that’s more used to hosting loud, chaotic punk shows, the quiet focus of her performance really stood out. Her voice carried the room completely — delicate at times, but powerful enough to hold everyone’s attention.
Just along the road at The Social Room, things were anything but quiet. Martha May & The Mondays brought a blast of noisy punk energy (with added violin), with Martha herself completely commanding the stage — animated, unpredictable, and impossible to ignore. Their set built and built, finishing with “Spit!” which felt like a proper statement moment. First sweaty experience today but definitely not the last.
The Georgian Theatre continued to deliver throughout the day. Becca James followed with a stunning vocal performance — there were definite shades of London Grammar in her sound, and Hannah Reid is not a comparison I would throw around lightly.
Later on, Labyrinthine Oceans brought something more intricate to the table — a guitar-driven set with a progressive edge, underpinned by strong musicianship and a lineup that felt refreshingly different.
Smith & Liddle offered a complete change of pace again, channelling a warm, West Coast 70s sound. Even with Billy Smith struggling with a sore throat, the harmonies between him and Elizabeth Liddle still landed beautifully — very Fleetwood Mac in places, the kind of thing you could easily hear on Radio 2, I just wish Billy would turn his guitar up a bit more in the mix and let Elizabeth’s perfect vocals take more centre stage.
Pollyfromthedirt was a difficult watch, eclectic electro and acoustic indie sound delivered by a bloke in a mask, might have been a bit too “out there” for this time of day but BBC Introducing always show faith in new music and their line-up here was exemplary.
However, just behind the Georgian is the (tiny) Green Room, and earlier Moss delivered one of the more hypnotic and captivating sets of the day. As a mismatched duo, they created something that felt almost dreamlike — at times reminiscent of Mazzy Star in mood and texture.
Shannon Pearl followed with a set that was just as distinctive visually as it was musically — dressed like some kind of Northern Pagan Oracle, and backed by violin and acoustic instrumentation, her folky siren voice gave the whole performance a really unique character, mesmerising to watch and listen to.
At ARC, the scale stepped up. Marketplace brought a lighter indie pop feel — at one point it looked like one of the band members had forgotten his trousers, which only added to the slightly pop charm of the set.
Sam Scherdel, on the other hand, felt like he deserved a much bigger audience. With a gravelly, road-worn voice that carried clear hints of Springsteen or Hozier, his performance had real weight, backed by an impressive rock sound, he played it like it was Wembley, even if the room wasn’t as full as it should have been.
Over on ARC 2, Tanzana were always going to be my band of the day. Having caught them last year supporting Cliffords in Leeds I knew what to expect. Vocalist Freya Talbot absolutely owns the stage, the rest of the Glasgow based band look studious with heads bowed and little movement between them. Freya’s wailing performance is impossible to ignore — powerful, raw, and remindful of a young Siouxsie Sioux. Their closing track, “Covet,” is a genuine highlight, Tanzana are a sight to see and hear, the kind of band you instinctively reach for your phone to capture. Have a watch of this, and turn the sound up: -
The same stage saw strong showings from Welsh band Shale, who delivered a solid jangly indie pop set, and Eaves Wilder, who brought sharp, confident rock energy. Even with her bassist playing through a broken foot (and she kept smiling the entire time) — the set never lost momentum, songs from her debut album ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and Eaves herself performing barefoot, added to that sense of effortless cool.
Villanelle meanwhile over at ARC drew a curious crowd, largely due to frontman Gene being Liam Gallagher’s son, but it didn’t quite land for me, I’d just had a plethora of something ‘different’ and here was a trad blokes rock band, so I didn’t stick around too long. That said, the beauty of Stockton Calling is that there’s always somewhere else to go.
Soapbox were that breath of fresh Scottish air and they made sure ARC 2 ended on a chaotic high — loud, politically charged punk, with a frontman who appeared onstage clutching a bottle of Buckfast before promptly launching himself into the crowd. It was messy, energetic, and completely in the spirit of the day. Any band that travels far to play at Stockton-on-Tees deserves a watch, and both Tanzana and Soapbox were testament to that.
Back at The Social Room, The Sick Fix had already turned heads earlier — a group of young lads from Manchester with a clear love for classic rock’n’roll and a definite Oasis influence (You’re from Manchester you can’t shake it). They arguably did it better than Villanelle and looked like they were having the time of their lives. One of their dads(I think) was handing out pin badges beforehand which only added to the charm, and they stuck around on the barrier here for the rest of the night, clearly buzzing from the whole experience.
The day built perfectly towards Hard-Fi at ARC. As one of the biggest names on the bill, they delivered exactly what you’d hope for — a tight, nostalgic set that felt like a throwback to the peak of UK indie in the 2000s, it was truly “Hard to Beat”. Those songs fitted perfectly in this venue and the one time where the entire room felt united, singing along and soaking it all in.
Stockton Calling finished for me though, back at The Social Room with The Molotovs, and it couldn’t have been a better ending. The sibling-led band powered through a relentless, mod-inspired set, barely stopping for breath. It was sharp, energetic, and left the room on a real high. No wonder this band are heading for greater things with a bigger tour announced after the summer and support slots with Yungblud on his tour later this month. Punters were packed into this tiny sweaty space and ‘Today’s Gonna Be Our Day’ felt like the anthem for the whole festival.
The buzz hadn’t dropped at all in the 10 hours of live music in this town — people were still talking, still comparing notes, still chasing that last great moment. That’s what Stockton Calling does so well. It’s not just about the headliners or the hype — it’s about discovery, surprises, and those unexpected sets that stay with you long after the music stops.
Do yourself a favour, and put 27th March 2027 in your diary, forget about those £100+ tickets at the enormodome and book advanced tickets now for a fantastic price of £35 (under 18’s £20) here: –
That’s a whole day of incredible live music for about £3 per band. Let festival season begin!
