Hello everyone,
Welcome back to the Best Kept Secret 2026 series! Last week we covered Friday, and today it’s Saturday, June 13 – the biggest day of the weekend for me, and the biggest pack of the three.
The weather was much improved. After Friday’s rain and mud, Saturday was all sunshine, and it changed the whole feel of the place. Here we are having a lovely breakfast by the lake, with people swimming around us.
Hiqpy
Small confession to open with: sadly I didn’t actually catch Hiqpy live. I listened to some of their stuff before, and authored “Nothing”, a song I particularly liked. The Dutch quartet blends fuzzy indie rock with grunge, shoegaze and plenty of melodic hooks. Fans of Wolf Alice, Momma, or Slow Pulp will immediately feel at home. We never made it to the actual stage in the end, but hey – this song is pretty great!
Sorry
Then it was time for a bit of a crazy run with three shows in a row. The first act was Sorry at The Secret Stage. The London band makes murky, trip hop influenced, off-kilter indie rock that keeps sliding somewhere you don’t expect – loops and samples creeping in under fuzzy guitars. Think The Kills, black midi, or early Yeah Yeah Yeahs if they’d grown up on trip-hop. Five songs from them here, and they’re all pretty great. “Jetplane” is my jam, “There’s So Many People…” has country influences and a more chill vibe, and the rest of them are catchy and fun as hell.
- Right Round The Clock · preview
- Jetplane · preview · multitrack
- There’s So Many People That Want to Be Loved · preview · multitrack
- Echoes · preview · multitrack
- Let The Lights On · preview · multitrack
Etta Marcus
Next up was Etta Marcus, and this was one of my favourite discoveries of the whole weekend. Dark, hushed, literary songwriting that builds into something much bigger than you expect from how quietly it starts. If you like Phoebe Bridgers, Nico, or even PJ Harvey, this is for you.
Six songs here and quite a range – “Pointing at the Moon” is a classic indie anthem, “Girls Are God’s Machines” rocks hard and sounds right out of early-90s PJ Harvey. The highlight is probably her signature song “Theatre” – a dramatic, short but effective power ballad that builds from nothing into a huge climax with some dramatic breaks, and it just absolutely rocked live.
- Pointing At The Moon, Staring At Your Hand · preview
- Girls Are God’s Machines · preview · multitrack
- Little Wing · preview
- Lucky Lady · preview
- Teenage Messiah · preview · multitrack
- Theatre · preview · multitrack
Radio Free Alice
As Etta’s set ended, we ran back to the Secret Stage to catch Radio Free Alice. Drawing inspiration from post-punk revival and art rock, this up-and-coming Australian band combines angular guitars, driving rhythms and charismatic vocals into a set full of energy. Think Interpol, The Strokes, or early Bloc Party, but with plenty of their own personality. Six songs here and they all fucking rock. But if I had to pick – “Look What You’ve Done” is their biggest anthem, while “Waste of Space” as a show closer is my favourite and the best chorus for me. Also “Johnny” kinda sounds like a lost Smiths song…?
- Paris is Gone · preview · multitrack
- Rule 31 · preview
- Look What You’ve Done · preview · multitrack
- I Gotta (Fall In Love) · preview · multitrack
- Johnny · preview · multitrack
- Waste of Space · preview · multitrack
Aldous Harding
So the worst part about festivals are clashes, and in order to catch the Sorry-Etta-RFA run, we had to sacrifice Aldous Harding on the main stage. I did author “The Barrel” before the schedule dropped and we were faced with this awful dilemma. So here it is anyway. It’s a lovely song!
- The Barrel · preview · multitrack
A break, some food and beers by the lake, and then over to the main stage for the two big ones.
Wolf Alice
Wolf Alice time! I always knew of them but never really explored them too much, so this festival was a good catalyst for it. And overall I loved them, and they do give one hell of a live show. The set leaned on the new record, which might seem a downer to some, but for me I actually found their new album The Clearing to be their best (or maybe I listened to it the most for the show), so I loved it. Six songs here, including “Bloom Baby Bloom”, “White Horses” and “The Sofa”, three instant classics from the newer material. And three older ones too – “Formidable Cool” in particular is a real kickass tune, and the awesome screaming rock of “Play the Greatest Hits”.
- Bloom Baby Bloom · preview · multitrack
- White Horses · preview · multitrack
- Formidable Cool · preview · multitrack
- Delicious Things · preview · multitrack
- The Sofa · preview
- Play The Greatest Hits · preview · multitrack
They played plenty more that night that’s already in the library:
Also played, already in the library
- How Can I Make It OK? (Carlossap)
- Bros (Truce)
- Don’t Delete the Kisses (IndieRocker, also Carlossap)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
And then Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds closed Saturday night. Of course, I’m a huge Nick Cave fan – this was actually my 8th time seeing him live, but it never gets stale. Nick came in and delivered an epic, career-spanning set. Two songs from the Wild God era here: the title track (which is absolutely epic live) and “Frogs”.
Two new songs here, but a big chunk of that setlist is already in the library. And as an extra bonus, five songs – Opener “Get Ready For Love”, “O Children”, “Red Right Hand”, “Hiding All Away” and “Into My Arms” – now have new version with custom venues and multitrack stems! Enjoy them.
Here’s the rest of the night:
Also played, already in the library
- Get Ready For Love (me) – new multitrack & venue!
- O Children (me) – new multitrack & venue!
- Henry Lee (ft. PJ Harvey) (me)
- The Mercy Seat (me & Bat Ramps)
- Red Right Hand (me) – new multitrack & venue!
- Jubilee Street (me & Bat Ramps)
- Hiding All Away (me) – new multitrack & venue!
- Into My Arms (me & Bat Ramps) – new multitrack & venue!
That’s Saturday – 27 songs! We closed the day with a particularly sweet and not very healthy night snack, but we felt like we deserved it. Whether you’re already into these artists or meeting them for the first time, I hope this gets across why this day was so special.
One more day to go! See you next week for the Sunday pack.
