MARIA DUARTE and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Sunny Dancer, Tony, Songs of Forgotten Trees, and The End of Oak Street
End of the Road Festival
Larmer Tree Gardens
“THIS is a protest song,” announces Say She She’s Piya Malik from End of the Road’s main stage, before the all-female trio launch into their pro-choice anthem Norma, which strikes a chord with the alternative crowd on the sunny Friday afternoon of the festival at Larmer Tree Gardens.
The song was penned last year in reaction to the then imminent overturning of Roe v Wade by the US Supreme Court. That battle may have been lost, but the war goes on, and this Brooklyn/London outfit are passionate standard bearers for the struggle, while also delivering supremely polished disco-soul in the style of Minnie Ripperton and Patti Labelle. The set closes with an astounding note-perfect cover of the Jackson Sisters’ I Believe in Miracles. And here, for a weekend at least, we can.
BEN COWLES samples the many sonic and social therapies of Manchester Punk Festival 2026, and is ready again to smash capitalism
WILL STONE enjoys a set by an artist too eclectic to be pigeonholed
WILL STONE applauds a comprehensive survey of love in its many moods and musical forms
TOM STONE sings the praises of one of the oldest open-air festivals in Britain



