ArcTanGent Festival
ArcTanGent Festival (also known as 'ATG') is a three-day British rock festival held annually at Fernhill Farm in Somerset, England since 2013. It is the most popular British summer festival for math rock, post rock, progressive metal and experimental music. Previous performers include Explosions in the Sky, Glassjaw, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Meshuggah, Coheed & Cambria, Shellac, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Russian Circles, Deafheaven, Cult of Luna, American Football, Battles, Public Service Broadcasting, And So I Watch You from Afar, 65daysofstatic, Fuck Buttons, La Dispute, TesseracT, Daughters and Mono.
ArcTanGent Festival
 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Dates | August |
| Location(s) | Compton Martin, Somerset, near Bristol, England, UK |
| Years active | 2013 – present |
| Website | www |
The festival features five stages, silent disco after the live performances have finished, a selection of bars and food vendors, and weekend camping and VIP options.[1]
2013
The 2013 edition of the festival was the first to be held. It has since returned annually, albeit now one week earlier each year.
The Yohkai stage was curated by Damnation Festival on the Friday.
| Thursday 29 August | |||
| Yohkai | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Maybeshewill | |||
| Friday 30 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
65daysofstatic |
Earthtone9 |
Public Service Broadcasting |
Damien Schneider |
| Saturday 31 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Fuck Buttons |
Bo Ningen |
Turbowolf |
Non Classical DJs |
2014
The PX3 stage was relocated from the campsite to the main arena for the 2014 edition and every year since.
| Thursday 28 August | |||
| Yohkai | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
And So I Watch You from Afar | |||
| Friday 29 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Russian Circles |
Maybeshewill |
Tellison |
Cleft |
| Saturday 30 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mono |
Lite |
I Like Trains |
Shiver |
2015
Where the 2013–14 editions were held on the last weekend in August, the 2015 edition moved a week earlier in August where it has remained since.
The 2015 edition was the first time the PX3 stage hosted performances on all three days of the festival, with the Thursday PX3 program curated by BBC Introducing. This edition of the festival also included a Sargent House takeover, with several of their artists performing including Deafheaven, Emma Ruth Rundle, Marriages, Helms Alee and Mylets.
Cult of Luna were originally scheduled to perform on the Arc stage before Deafheaven, however they instead headlined the Yohkai stage after flight delays.
| Thursday 20 August | |||
| Yohkai | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
65daysofstatic | |||
| Friday 21 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Dillinger Escape Plan |
Vennart |
Blanck Mass |
Emma Ruth Rundle |
| Saturday 22 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Deafheaven |
Cult of Luna |
Toundra |
Vessels |
2016
The Bixler stage was relocated from the campsite to the main arena for the 2016 edition and every year since. All four stages are now situated in the main arena.
Cleft performed their final ever show at the 2016 edition of the festival. The set was recorded and the movie posthumously screened across seven UK shows in December 2018 as part of One More Tour: In Memory of Dan Wild-Beesley.
| Thursday 18 August | |||
| Yohkai | PX3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mono |
Axes | ||
| Friday 19 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Godspeed You! Black Emperor |
Nordic Giants |
Monuments |
Plini |
| Saturday 20 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
American Football |
Meet Me in St. Louis |
Gallops |
Foes |
2017
| Thursday 17 August | |||
| Yohkai | PX3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Russian Circles |
Nordic Giants | ||
| Friday 18 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Converge |
Leprous |
Ho99o9 |
worriedaboutsatan |
| Saturday 19 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Explosions in the Sky |
SikTh |
Jambinai |
The St Pierre Snake Invasion |
2018
The 2018 event was the first year in which the Arc stage featured bands performing on all three days.
The Thursday Yohkai and PX3 lineups were curated in part by Big Scary Monsters vs Holy Roar respectively.
Gallops were the first band to play a live set as part of the silent disco, performing fully electric on the Thursday night.
Chiyoda Ku replaced Mugstar on the Yohkai stage. Jo Quail joined Takaakira 'Taka' Goto for the Behind The Shadow Drops performance.
The festival marked Giraffes? Giraffes! first ever performance outside of North America since their formation in 2001.
| Thursday 16 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | PX3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
And So I Watch You from Afar |
La Dispute |
Tangled Hair | |
| Friday 17 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Glassjaw |
Leprous |
Tides of Man |
Behind the Shadow Drops |
| Saturday 18 August | |||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Shellac of North America |
Arcane Roots |
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs |
Scalping |
2019
On 6 September 2018 Meshuggah was announced as the first headliner.[2]
The 2019 event featured an expanded site footprint and an additional campsite, albeit the layout remained largely unchanged. There was also the introduction of the Bar Stage, located in the centre of the site.
Friday night once again featured live sets as part of the silent disco, including The Algorithm and GosT. There were also silent disco sets from John Stanier and Effigy across the weekend.
The main stage was opened by The Beft; a Tribute to Dan Wild-Beesley of Cleft and featured guest musicians including Mike Vennart. Black Peaks set featured Jamie Lenman on vocals due to the absence of the band's singer Will Gardner. And So I Watch You From Afar performed their debut album in full for an unannounced special guest slot on the Arc stage.
| Thursday 15 August | ||||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 | Bar Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Coheed & Cambria |
Daughters |
AK/DK |
Memory of Elephants |
Sleep Beggar |
| Friday 16 August | ||||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 | Bar Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Battles |
TTNG |
Frontierer |
Brutus |
Steve Strong |
| Saturday 17 August | ||||
| Arc | Yohkai | Bixler | PX3 | Bar Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Meshuggah |
Caspian |
Employed To Serve |
Doblecapa |
Kinlaw + Franco Franco |
2020
On 5 May 2020, ArcTanGent announced the 2020 edition would no longer be taking replace due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating:
"OK summer lovers, it’s finally time to call time on ARCTANGENT FESTIVAL 2020. We tried for as long as possible to stay optimistic, but unfortunately, we have had to take the incredibly tough decision to postpone ARCTANGENT until August 19th-21st 2021. We’re absolutely devastated that we won’t be able to party with you this August at Fernhill Farm. The decision to postpone wasn’t taken lightly and is sincerely the last thing we wanted to do. We were still hopeful of going ahead until last week. However, it has become increasingly clear that the current situation isn’t going away anytime soon and the health & safety of our guests, staff & the wider community at large has to come first".[3]
Bands due to perform at the 2020 edition included: Opeth, Chelsea Wolfe, Swans, TesseracT, This Will Destroy You, Ihshan, Amenra, Oathbreaker, Maybeshewill, The Locust, Perturbator, Rolo Tomassi, Metz, Emma Ruth Rundle, Caspian, Intronaut, Giraffes? Giraffes! and more.[4]
Awards
During 2013–2014, the festival was shortlisted for several awards including, Best New Festival, Best Grassroots Festival and Best Small Festival at the UK Festival Awards as well as Best Independent Music Festival at the AIM Awards.[5]
In 2013, the festival won the award for Best Toilets at the UK Festival Awards. In 2016, the festival was shortlisted for Best Headline Performance of the Year for American Football and Line Up of the Year at the UK Festival Awards. In 2018, the festival won the award for Best Small Festival at the UK Festival Awards.[6]
Annual warm-up
The festival has hosted an official annual warm-up party each year in Bristol, England in collaboration with promoters Effigy, ForFans ofBands and ArtScare. The event takes place in May each year and has featured mainstays and favourites of the festival including Gallops, The Physics House Band, Cleft, Talons, Toska, Alpha Male Tea Party, Memory of Elephants, Chiyoda Ku, Sœur and Jo Quail [7]