The Blinders announced as headliners in first wave of acts for Southsea’s Dials Festival

The new music discovery festival returns for its fourth edition, taking place in five venues on Albert Road in Southsea.

Like the 2018 event, Dials continues to focus on showcasing some of the best new music for a bargain price ticket, while encouraging conversation around mental health issues and raising funds for its charity partner Solent Mind.

Headlining the festival will be UK three-piece The Blinders. ‘An incendiary soundtrack of garage punk and swamp blues that’s best described as Nick Cave slumming it or The Eighties Matchbox Arctic Monkeys,’ was how Drowned in Sound website described the band last year.

Just off the back of their biggest UK dates to date, this summer The Blinders support Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and will be playing a number of outdoor festivals.

They will play the main stage at The Wedgewood Rooms where punters will be able to see just why they’ve developed such a fierce reputation for incredible live shows.

Other artists performing include Another Sky, who have been touted as one of the best new bands in the UK. Having already drawn comparisons with Radiohead, Sigur Ros and London Grammar this four-piece has already appeared on Later with Jools Holland while gaining hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify.

Joining them will be Black Futures who return to Portsmouth following an attention-grabbing tour supporting Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes earlier this year.

A review in the Independent recently said of Black Futures: ‘Black Futures……genuinely, could do for British rock music what Daft Punk did for French EDM in the Nineties….you really need to see their live show.’

Also on the bill will be fresh-faced London lads Talk Show who will bring their own brand of poetic post punk to Southsea, alternative rock band Wych Elm who have played with the likes of Black Honey and Our Girl, a brand new cosmic synth-pop band from Bristol called Pocket Sun and local favourites Fake Empire who return following a well-received set in 2018.

Ensuring that the music is varied the Dials will also feature a special show from ambient audio-visual analogue-synth artist Johanna Bramli and multi-instrumentalist Sophie Nicole Ellison who goes by the name Hussy.

Festival director Abbie Eales said: ‘The mission of the Dials team is to create events to support new musical artists promoting a culture of discovery and inclusion, all in aid of Solent Mind. Dials is a festival of discovery and innovation, bringing the very best new acts to Portsmouth.

‘We want to ensure we are inclusive of all members of the musical community, particularly working to increase the profile of those who have perhaps been historically overlooked by the festival scene: women, BME and LGBTQ+ artists alongside people with disabilities. Above all Dials will be a celebration of artistic expression and the joy that music can bring, recognising that it can be a lifeline for some.

‘As well as raising awareness and funds for Solent Mind, Dials Festival also strives to nurture and support local artists while building a sense of community.’

The 13 acts confirmed today are The Blinders, Another Sky, Arxx, Black Futures, Fake Empire, Haze, Hussy, Johanna Bramli, LibraLibra, Pocket Sun, Saltwater Sun, Talk Show and Wych Elm. Many more acts will be announced over the next few months.

Early bird tickets have already sold out. General tickets are on sale now at £20, online or at The Wedgewood Rooms box office.

Dials Festival

Various venues, Southsea

Saturday, October 5

dialsfestival.com