Review: Esquires’ new music all-dayer is the place to find your new favourite band

It’s the end of a long month (nobody likes January) and it’s Independent Venue Week, so to celebrate, Esquires hosted Ceremony 5.5 – a “mini” version of their new music all-day event, Ceremony on Saturday (31 January).

These events are legendary for bringing the absolute best of new artists to Bedford, with previous acts including Heartworms, Picture Parlour and Mercury Prize winners, English Teacher, so it’s no surprise that the event sold out well in advance, and those lucky ones who secured a ticket were in for an exciting day.

The line-up is stacked, with ten artists playing on the day. Opening up proceedings with their Goth art-rock was Velvetine. Their set included moody, echoey vocals and soaring guitars, which nicely warmed up the early arrivals to the event.

Vincent’s Last Summer was next on the lineup. The band, who claimed to be from Manchester, and the year 2008, delivered an incredibly energetic set, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they had several shots of espresso before coming on stage.

An interesting moment of their set was when they held up a red telephone and advised the crowd that if it rang, it would “bring news from the outside world.”

Sure enough, the phone rang, and what followed was clips of the BBC News theme, and news announcements including that Manchester United won the 2008 Champions League, and the winner of the X Factor was Alexandra Burke; a slightly bizarre, but entertaining moment of their set.

Audience member Chris told me he thought the band “sounded like The Dare singing for The Wombats,” which is an amusing, but also accurate observation.

Spanish Horses, whose guitarist is the son of Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, were the first band of the day to take to the main stage. This was the first show of their tour, and their set covered a variety of genres.

First starting off with swirling guitar sounds, the set took a slower pace mid-set, but then picked up again with some country and western-esque sounds.

A highlight of their set was the track “Greenway”, which involved a change of vocalist and harmonica, resulting in a bluesy rock sound which had me jigging.

Back in Room 2 were the interestingly named Common Goldfish, who were all decked out in suits and ties, which the band explained was because they were “on a business trip to Bedford.”

Highlights of the set included the track “Carried Away”, whose tropical sounds brought funky vibes to the venue, and “Low Lights and Throwback Tunes” which was great for a little boogie.

The band thanked the crowd for supporting grassroots music, noting, “without grassroots music, you don’t have music,” which was a great reminder during Independent Venue Week.

The band ended their set stating, “thanks for watching our presentation,” concluding their successful business trip, which proved they are not common (or a goldfish!).

Next, I quickly dashed upstairs to catch Saint Clair. I was most impressed with the band’s vocals, with the lead singer sounding like a cross between Liam Gallagher and Thom Yorke.

This may sound like a strange combination, but it helped contribute to their anthemic rock sound that reminded me of Stereophonics and Nirvana.

Punchbag bought their rave pop fun to Esquires, with energy levels rivalling those of Vincent’s Last Summer.

Lead singer Clara bounced around the stage like a human pogo stick, delivering their tracks, including “I Love This” and “You Used To Be So Sexy,” and left me amazed that Clara wasn’t out of breath at all during their set.

It was the South London sibling duo’s first time in Bedford, but they quickly won over the crowd, and by the last track, “Live Laugh Love,” Clara got into the crowd and had everyone bouncing around her with their arms in the air.

On the Main Stage, Formal Sppeedwear got hips moving with their sparkly, swirling synth sounds.

The set featured funky guitars, and the heavy vocal effects were reminiscent of Talking Heads. Their sound reminded me of perhaps the type of music featured on an 80’s movie, and definitely wouldn’t have been out of place on the Donnie Darko soundtrack.

Back downstairs were Sounds Mint, who heroically took the job of Room 2 headliners after another band pulled out at the last minute.

The indie punk band delivered a lively set, where the lead singer Kelvin, advised the crowd, “if you want to get a body like mine, drink five pints of Guinness a day” and praised the “fit people of Bedford.”

The set featured tracks from their upcoming “Milk It” mixtape, and the track “What’s Good (In the Hood) which invoked a sing-along of its catchy chorus.

The band performed an excellent set; you’d never have known the set list was only prepared five minutes before stage time.

Adult DVD, a rapidly rising band from Leeds who are currently generating lots of buzz, bought their post-punk rave to the Esquires main stage.

The room was packed, and the crowd was non-stop moshing to tracks such as the recent BBC 6Music playlisted track “Real Tree Lee” and glitchy-sounding “Do Something.”

A highlight of the set was the closing track “Bill Murray”, a slightly bonkers track that not only features cow bell but also repeated chants of “Bill Murray” and “Tom Hanks”, with references to both actors’ filmography.

Speaking to audience members after the show, this was definitely one of the crowd’s favourite sets of the day.

Finally, it was time for the final act of the day, Man/Woman/Chainsaw.

The group previously headlined Room 2 in April 2025, and now they are back headlining the main stage.

When the band came on stage with both guitars and a violin it may have had audience members wondering whether to join the orchestra pit or mosh pit, but as soon as the music starts its clear mosh pit is the correct answer.

A highlight of the set included “What Lucy Found There”, which featured layered sounds and insane guitar riffs – the music was so loud I could feel the vibrations in my skull!

Latest single “Only Girl” also went down a treat, featuring some of the most ferocious violin playing I’m sure the Esquires’ stage has ever seen. The band’s set grew more and more fierce as it progressed, and by the time the closing track “Ode to Clio” had finished, I felt exhausted.

The band’s performance proved themselves as worthy headliners for a day of excellent music.

Overall, this was another great success for all at Esquires. Now it’s time to get your ticket booked for Ceremony 6 (whilst tickets are still available), which is taking place on 6 June.

You never know, you might end up finding your new favourite band!