Dot to Dot Festival

Dot to Dot Festival
Genre	Indie, electro, alternative
Dates	Spring Bank Holiday Weekend
Location(s)	Nottingham, Bristol, Manchester, England
Years active	2005 – present
Founded by	Daybrook House Promotions
Website
dottodotfestival.co.uk

The Dot to Dot Festival is an annual music festival held at various venues in Nottingham, Bristol^[1] and Manchester across a weekend. Unlike weekend music festivals such as the Reading and Leeds Festivals, there is no artist rotation – all artists play one city the first day and travel to the other for the following day.

History

2012 Event

The 2012 festival was held over the extended Queen's Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend from 2–4 June.

Venues

Manchester, 2 June: HMV Ritz, Deaf Institute, Sound Control, Joshua Brooks, Zoo

Bristol, 3 June: O2 Academy, Thekla, Louisiana, Trinity, Fleece, Start The Bus, The Cooler, Stag & Hounds

Nottingham, 4 June: Rock City, Rock City Basement, Rescue Rooms, Stealth, Bodega, Jongleurs

Artists

The 2012 line-up was headlined by The Drums, previous recipients of NME's Philip Hall Radar Award, and Pulled Apart By Horses, the Leeds post-hardcore four-piece described by The Observer as "the best live band in Britain."

Also on the bill were Willy Mason, Nottingham art-pop quintet Dog Is Dead, Summer Camp, Lucy Rose, Kyla La Grange, Deaf Club, Clock Opera, Thepetebox, Ryan Keen, Broken Hands, Dirty Goods, Pearl & The Beard, Vadoinmessico and Wonder Villains.

2011 Event

Venues

The 2011 festival was a continuation of the three city/three-day routine from 2010. Tickets ranged from £20 – £25 depending on location.

Artists

Acts announced to play the festival were: Hurts, Darwin Deez (Manchester Exclusive), Ed Sheeran, We Are Scientists, Guillemots, The Naked and Famous, The Joy Formidable, Ed Sheeran, SBTRKT, Dananananaykroyd, Wolf Gang, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Braids, Cults, Hyetal and many more.

2010 Event

Less than a week after the 2009 event, Dot to Dot's return in 2010 was confirmed with a limited release of early bird tickets on sale 29 May 2009.

Venues

2010 saw the first year in which the festival was held in Manchester as well as Bristol and Nottingham.

Artists

Artists who played included: Mystery Jets, Los Campesinos!, Ellie Goulding, Beach House, Zane Lowe, Liars, Blood Red Shoes, Washed Out, Jakwob and Wild Beasts amongst others.

2009 Event

The annual event showcased up and coming bands and DJs from the UK and international scenes offering two days of indie, rock, dance and pop music.

As with previous years the festival concentrated on the musical epicentres of each city across a number of venues of differing sizes.

Tickets for the 2009 event – which took place on 23 and 24 May 2009 – were released on 23 January 2009.^[2]

Venues

The 2009 festival did not operate in London, but continued with the same venues in Nottingham and Bristol.^[3][4]

Artists

Artists scheduled to perform include Annie Mac, Friendly Fires, Ladyhawke, Cage the Elephant, Little Boots, Brodinski, 65 Days of Static, The Big Pink, Marina and the Diamonds and Patrick Wolf,^[5]

2008 Event

Venues

In 2008, the festival operated a third location in Shoreditch, London, known as Hox to Dot. This leg catered for the more electronic extreme of the indie music spectrum, hosting DJs and turntablists. For this reason, there was no real crossover between artists at the London leg with either Nottingham or Bristol.^[6] Additionally, Hox to Dot operated on a Thursday (as opposed to a two-day, weekend festival).

Venues in Nottingham were Rock City, Nottingham Trent University, The Rescue rooms, Stealth and The Bodega Social Club. Bristol hosted performances in the Academy, The Thekla, the Fleece, the Louisiana, the Trinity Centre and Fiddlers club. London used venues such as Catch, Electricity Showroom Basement, Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, The Macbeth, and The Old Blue Last.

Artists

The 2008 festival included such acts as Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.,^[7] Dirty Pretty Things, Spiritualized^[8] Mystery Jets, Glasvegas, Alphabeat, Bloc Party Hercules and Love Affair, Two Gallants, Noah and the Whale, Ladyhawke, Metronomy, Rolo Tomassi and The Holloways. The London leg featured live sets from Juiceboxxx, Cutting Pink With Knives and various DJ sets.

2007 event

Venues

2007 was the first year that Dot to Dot operated in Bristol as well as Nottingham. It took place on Bank Holiday Sunday 27 May at The Rescue Rooms, Rock City, The Social, Stealth, Notts trent University and The Old Angel in Nottingham As well as Thekla Social, Louisiana and Fiddler's in Bristol on Bank Holiday Saturday 26 May. Both events Went on from 1PM – 5AM.^[9]

Artists

The 2007 event included acts such as The Cribs, New Young Pony Club, Kate Nash, Annuals, Erol Alkan, Kano, Chromeo, Late of the Pier, Gallows, Laura Marling and Blonde Redhead,^[10][11] with tickets priced at £22.50 (all venues) or £20 for 14+ venues only.^[1]

2006 Event

With over 50 DJs plus bands such as British Sea Power and Bromheads Jacket, at four venues across the city of Nottingham, this event runs from 1pm until 4am over May Bank Holiday Sunday. The chosen venues are Stealth, Rock City, The Social and the Rescue Rooms.

Tickets were priced at £12.50. The event had stalls and visual activities as well as live music acts across all venues.

Venues

Dot to Dot Festival was held in Nottingham at The Bodega (Formerly The Social) Stealth, Rescue Rooms and Rock City.

Artists

The 2006 event included acts such as British Sea Power, Mystery Jets, The Long Blondes, Buck 65, Metronomy, Klaxons, The Automatic, The Horrors Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, MSTRKRFT and Simian Mobile Disco.^[9]

2005 Event

The event took place on Bank Holiday Sunday 29 May 2005 and tickets were priced at £12.

Venues

Dot to Dot Festival started in Nottingham. It took place across three venues; Rescue Rooms, The Bodega (Formerly The Social) and Stealth

Artists

The 2005 event included acts such as Ladytron, Radio 4 Simian Mobile Disco and The Rakes. ^[9]

External links

12."Dot to Dot Review 2010", From Dusk 2 Dawn Magazine, Leicester, 8 June 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2010.

• Official website
• Dot to Dot 2009 DailyMusicGuide Review