Festival Preview: Crystal Palace Park Series returns
Crystal Palace Park Series returns, featuring the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, Kneecap, The Offspring, Snow Patrol and Alanis Morrisette for one of the most memorable events of the summer.
Running from 26 June to July 4, Crystal Palace Park Series returns for a phenomenal summer event highlighting some of the best bands in the scene. Each day is a curated genre fair highlighting the best of indie, Irish rock, punk, rock, and more – all under one banner and all in one place. Tickets are low across all events with most sold out, and it’s easy to see why. With so many bands playing it can feel overwhelming – it’s basically a summer’s worth of mini, All Points East-stylised festivals, so this is a primer on the bands playing and artists who you should be keeping an eye out for.
Two Door Cinema Club – 26 June
We kick things off with an indie favourite anniversary set – to mark the 15th anniversary of ‘Tourist History’, we go back-to-back with two double albums – that paired against ‘What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?’ being played in full; the seminal 2011 masterpiece that shook up an entire scene. If even the title doesn’t get you inspired to belt out hits like ‘Wrecking Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’ or ‘Post Break Up Sex’, what are you even doing? The perfect evening for an indie singalong allows Two Door Cinema Club to give something back to London, which they call “the first place outside of Ireland [to call] home”. For them, it feels like a hometown show as much as they owe to their Irish origins, acknowledging the capitals influence on songs like ‘What You Know, Something Good Can Work’ and ‘Undercover Martyn’ that mixes in with their Bangor and Donaghadee origins. ‘What You Know’ currently has over 1 million streams on Spotify, and the band are just coming off a 30-date amphitheatre tour of the United States – that too has sold out, showing the trio’s universal appeal.
Also performing on the day is alternative multi-disciplinary artist James Marriott who fuses alt with the indie sphere and seems to be only going from strength to strength – in addition to the whimsical Wrexham cult heroes Royston Club – capable of blending anthemic choruses with melodic guitar lines. It’s a fan-favourite band in the making – and now’s your chance to get to say you saw them at first support before they come back and headline the whole thing.
Kneecap – 27 June
A day later, the Irish celebration continues with a who’s who of the best Irish acts in the scene right now (sans perhaps, Sprints and The Scratch, two acts that would be right at home here.) Politically charged firecrackers Kneecap return once more to the belly of the beast; where frontman Mo Chara was once interrogated for acts of terror after daring to speak up for Palestine – the band have established themselves as forerunners in the scene. They’re aware of what drove them back to London, their last wee venture as they put it, was to beat the government in court. Now – they lead their biggest headline show to date, following stops at festivals like 2,000 Trees, Rock Werchter and indie favourite Wide Awake.
Mobilising a generation in mosh pits and on the dance floors they a revolutionary force that captured the heart of the people through their breakthrough album ‘Fine Art’ and their sequel; ‘Fenian’. Noel Gallagher, Annie Mac and Amyl and the Sniffers are in their corner and the new single ‘No Comment’ leads a direct response to persecution from the British Government. Safe to say, unlike The Killers, Kneecap won’t be stopping their gig to show England play at the World Cup that evening. Unless perhaps – Panama win.
Support Mary Wallopers, are possibly even more rabble-rousing, having recently been pulled mid set at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth for daring to sport a Palestinian flag. They have a unique fusion of sound that matches the Dead Kennedys and the Clancy Brothers and an outfit that that has led to a new album, ‘Paddywhackery’ and a new single, ‘Crowns of England’ only proves their strength of craft. Having recently done a series of practice runs under fake names at the Brixton Windmill the local heroes Fat Dog may stand out as the only non-Irish band on this run – but their mosh-pit starting capabilities remain unmatched. They too – have a new album coming soon – so this is a great place to give it a test run. Expect, and embrace chaos – people will be sweating buckets long before Kneecap come on stage.
Rising experimental folk band Madra Salach recently made tastemaker festival The Great Escape their own with the best set of the whole weekend and now look set to tear up South London, in addition to a spot for industrial post punk pioneers Gurriers; now on album number two. ‘Nobody’s Coming to Save You’ from that mosh – as it will be a rowdy one and then some. Also don’t ignore Biig Piig, a modern pop trailblazer.
The Offspring – 28 June
If the 27th was for the best of the new punk heads, the 28th is for the old guard. The Offspring lead a stacked day once again – pop punk heads capable of selling out arenas, if not stadiums. ‘Smash’ is an all-timer of a record – their third and having turned 30 in 2024 it hasn’t lost any of its staying power. The bands’ significance can be felt on modern scene today and that hasn’t gone away – so now is the perfect time to see them. Especially when you consider that politically-charged The Dropkick Murphys are supporting them – openly challenging Trump’s regime with songs like Citizen I.C.E. and staying true to the hardcore spirit by pairing with bands like Haywire on their new EP New England Forever – that sounds like the Murphys establishing themselves as their own brand again and returning to their origins. Expect rowing pits, plenty of fireballs and of course, an old favourite – ‘Shipping Up to Boston’. If Haywire are in town expect a surprise appearance – they are at Manchester after all that weekend for Outbreak - it’d be too rude not to.
Further down the billing, bands like Pennywise and Destroy Boys compliment Crystal Palace Park lineup, and PUP remain the most eye-catching band of the whole weekend: a band that deserve to have their Turnstile-style summer and with the amount of shows they’ve got booked, they could easily pull it off.
Snow Patrol – 3 July
20 years of ‘Eyes Open’ gives Northern Irish juggernauts Snow Patrol the chance to celebrate the “Most Played track of the 21st Century” – ‘Chasing Cars’ – that has not left any of its staying power. All the hits will be there; the nostalgia – ‘Just Say Yes’, ‘Run’, ‘Open Your Eyes’ – and they themselves are utterly and completely magical still, all these years later. If that wasn’t enough nostalgia for you embrace Editors, replacing Rag n Bone Man – ‘Munich’ and ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ remain classics even now, and still well regarded among UK indie music lovers.
For Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, it’s a return to London that is “their first outdoor London show for a long while,” with a fantastic line-up of bands and solo artists available. Their 2003 debut ‘Final Straw’ and multi-platinum ‘Eyes Open’ are irresistible – and anyone witnessing their performance will be completely and utterly bought into it during a milestone year. More recently their music remains current and durable ‘The Forest is the Path’, recently earned a number one spot proving their longevity. The pairing of established acts with new talent continues throughout the weekend with Snow Patrol giving the floor to Nieve Ella, who just galvanised a legion of devout fans with her ability to blend wit and stage presence together for a unique experience, and the likes of Amy Macdonald and the Amazons.
Alanis Morissette – 4 July
Having recently performed at Canada’s opening game of the World Cup, Alanis Morrisette returns to Crystal Palace to round out the spectacular series of names and remind the audience why she’s one of the most influential women in contemporary music after the back of a hugely popular sold out 2025 World Tour.
‘Jagged Little Pill’ was instrumental in 1995 in shaping her success and the nine more albums that included hits like ‘Ironic’, ‘You Outta Know’ and ‘Hand in My Pocket’ really remain as current today as they did before.
She is joined by Skunk Anansie, their powerful fusion of hard rock and punk felt everywhere with their singles ‘Weak’, ‘Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)’ and ‘Charity’ tearing up the UK rock scene – you only need to look at guaranteed Firestarter ‘Everything Is Political’ to capture where the 90s band still remain relevant in the current moment – highlighted by their recently released commercially acclaimed success story ‘The Painful Truth’, that shows perhaps the ultimate evolution of their 2009 tour.
Two Door Cinema Club and Alanis Morissette tickets are currently sold out but you can buy Kneecap, The Offspring and Snow Patrol tickets here - https://www.livenation.co.uk/crystal-palace-park-series
Words by Miles Milton Jefferies
