NEWS: CloseUp Festival Announces it's first wave of bands!

CloseUp Festival is back with a bang! After last year's great success, it sees the festival return to Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, however this sees the festival expending over two stages, providing a fantastic setting to showcase some of the industries rising stars!

It has just announced it's first wave of bands for next year's event on the 12th May.

Little Cub, Childcare, FOURS, Dextric, Arcade Hearts, and Spinn.

We had a chat with one of the festival's organizers, Sam Tucker, about what makes a successful music festival.

CloseUp Festival is once again returning to Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen, what made you wanted to host it there again? And why two stages this year?
Hoxton SBK is our favourite venue in London, not only do we frequently host shows there, but aesthetically it fits how we see CloseUp, with the best in lighting, equipment & design it works really well alongside CloseUp and the festival, which is of course the biggest date in the CloseUp calendar! On top of that, Its in one of the major music hotspots (Shoreditch/North LDN) of the capital, which always helps.
Two stages is just what we see as a logical natural progression after having one full and one acoustic last year, it allows us to showcase more bands on Festival day and a second stage is something that will be a first for Hoxton SBK, totally transforming the venue into one massive hub of new music for CloseUp Fest.

What makes a good and successful festival?
I think ultimately it just comes down to exciting, musically strong/progressive lineups. Of course the smooth running of the event is important to allow for the most absorbing/enjoyable experience for those attending, but lineup & execution is the key. What people want to listen to at 3PM is not the same as what they want to listen to at 9PM, all similar factors to this that need considering.

The first line up announcements are amazing, how do you choose who you want to play?
Why thank you! We're really happy with the first wave announcement as well!! I think maybe the festival booking actually offers us a little more freedom than with our shows, because we have a few more slots and more time to play with, we can mix sound/size of artists throughout the day. Ultimately it largely comes down to who we are enjoying at the time, have been trying to book for a while or artists we really feel deserve a slot having worked with them before.

Can you give us any clues on what else you have in store for the festival?
Haha, nice try! Well they'll be 8 more artists, including both our stage headliners to be announced, so keep your eyes peeled this January..

With more bands to be announced early next year, it's a certainty going to be bigger and better than ever for CloseUp Festival.

You can buy tickets for the festival by clicking here, and the festival takes place 12th May 2018 at Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen in London.