The Mosh Tots Band headline the hippest show in town this May half-term! Aimed at children aged 0-8, Mosh Tots is there to introduce young people to the rockin’ world of live music in a safe and fun environment.
Future Yard believe that live music should be for everyone, no matter your age. For too long live music venues have been off limits for young children and their parents. Mosh Tots flips that on its head and is an opportunity to share the joy of live music together as a family.
Remember when we use to rave into the wee hours? Want the euphoria of dancing with your arms high above your head to the best 90’s dance tracks, but don’t have a week to recover?
Well the Great Great Grandmother of good times, Nana Funk has teamed together with DJ extraordinaire Chris Herstad Carney to bring you Nana’s Not Night-Time 90’s Rave at The Kabin, Kazimier Garden, Seel Street. Burn off your breakfast and build up your appetite in time for tea.
NANA FUNK is a Cabaret and Burlesque performer who shows that being awesome transcends age. Nana’s mission to challenge ageism is interspersed with a fair amount of body positivity and bringing joy to all around.
“She’s feisty & fabulous.” Catherine Jones, Arts City Liverpool
CHRIS HERSTAD CARNEY is a DJ, radio presenter, event & festival manager, educator and general creative brain from Liverpool. In his DJ career as a solo performer and with renowned collective Mixnots, Chris has played Glastonbury, Creamfields, Isle of Wight, Sound City, Kendal Calling, Standon Calling & Lake of Stars Malawi. Chris co-founded Threshold Festival of Music & Arts which ran for 11 years in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle district. Tickets also available on the door.
Transmission are proud to present their first mini festival, comprised of queer and trans music from a selection of heavy genres.
Looking for something to do on alternative pride? Get the train to Birkenhead. Carry on the rage and joy of the march with a lineup of politically charged transgender and queer bands and artists.
Expect transgender excellence in the form of electro punk, cybergrind, hardcore and avant garde.
DJ set after party by Dead Animals included with tickets.
50% off tickets available for the Trans+ community, please dm @Transmission.Presents on instagram here.
Lineup
+ Floralis + Dead Animals + Blondine + sevenyearwaitinglist + Tanzplatz + DA
Fronted by Nigerian singer Eno Williams, Ibibio Sound Machine is a clash of African and electronic elements inspired in equal measure by the golden era of West-African funk & disco and modern post-punk & electro.
The band’s self-titled debut album was released in 2014 on Soundway Records. The follow-up, ‘Uyai’, was released in 2017 on Merge Records.
Ibibio Sound Machine is Eno Williams (vocals), Alfred Kari Bannerman (guitar), Anselmo Netto (percussion), Jose Joyette (drums), Derrick McIntyre (bass), Tony Hayden (trombone, synth), Scott Baylis (trumpet, synth), and Max Grunhard (saxophone, synth)
A panel discussion at Open Eye Gallery to accompany the launch of Absence.
Curators and several of the exhibiting artists will discuss their work and the challenges of picturing what resits to be shown. Absence (exhibited at Stable Gallery) will be discussed in conversation with Self-Defined. New Stories from Archives, exhibited at Open Eye Gallery, exploring the use of archives in contemporary photography to highlight omissions, memories and historical narratives.
The discussion will be followed by a reception at Open Eye Gallery with an opportunity to meet artists and curators.
With support from: The British Academy, Liverpool John Moores University, University of Southampton.
Bonnie Trash is the project of twin sisters Emmalia and Sarafina Bortolon-Vettor, wedding post-punk’s steeley-eyed austerity to goth rock’s brooding grandeur. Rather than fashioning nightmares into reality, the band paints reality as a nightmare; rife with pain, suffering, and gothic theatre. Like their forebears Joy Division, Black Sabbath, or John Carpenter, Bonnie Trash understands that everyday atrocities haunt the periphery of our lives. A black cloud looming on the edge of our vision. Curses abound. You can’t ward them off. You’d best make an unholy racket. Where their first full length, Malocchio (2022), shrouded Bonnie Trash’s nightmares in dusky dreamlike reverb, Mourning You (2025) is vivid and immediate. Mourning You is less a post-mortem fantasia than a sudden, swift dagger to the heart. This is sorrow not as a lingering bruise, but a gushing wound. Bonnie Trash has performed at renowned festivals across Canada, and has shared the stage with TRAITRS, Chastity, Dilly Dally, Bria Salmena, and The OBGMs. In 2025, they embarked on their first UK and USA tour, and played to a sold-out crowd at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg. They have been featured in Guitar World, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock Magazine, Exclaim!, BrooklynVegan, and The Line of Best Fit.
Join internationally acclaimed artist Francisco Carrasco for a powerful and deeply personal exploration of Nueva Canción Chilena, Chile’s revolutionary popular song movement of the 1960s and 70s.
Blending traditional folk forms with urgent, socially conscious lyrics, Nueva Canción became the soundtrack of resistance. Artists including Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara, Inti-Illimani and Quilapayún gave voice to workers, challenged injustice and helped shape the cultural spirit of Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity government.
After the 1973 military coup, many musicians were silenced, imprisoned or forced into exile — transforming the movement into a global symbol of resistance and solidarity.
Arriving in the UK as a child refugee in 1975, Francisco Carrasco brings this history vividly to life through storytelling, live music and archival material. He reflects on how these songs sustained displaced communities including his own family who performed at solidarity events across Britain.
Part cultural history, part lived testimony, this event is an invitation to explore exile, identity and the enduring power of music in times of struggle.
Francisco Carrasco MA FRSA is a Chilean-born international artist, storyteller, world musician and cultural activist. Exiled to the UK in 1975, he has dedicated his life to using art as a platform for dialogue and social change.
Based in Liverpool since 1983, he is the founder and Creative Director of LUMA CREATIONS and has led major cultural initiatives including LA FERIA International Festival of Latin American Arts & Culture and the Merseyside International Street Festival.
In 2025, he received the LCR Award for International Reach. His forthcoming poetry collection, Oceans of Exile, continues his exploration of displacement, resilience and belonging.
Date: Tuesday 19th MayTime: 6.30pmVenue: Victoria Gallery and Museum: Ashton Street, Liverpool, L69 3DRTickets: £5
After the twinning of Liverpool with Ho Chi Minh City, the British Council have brought over Saigon Soul Revival. The band has been bringing alternative pre 1975 music from Saigon back to the stage since 2016 with their live performances.
Honouring the original composers, singers and the golden era from which this music (Nhạc Vàng) came while applying new arrangements and interpretations of old Vietnamese songs. The (core) band includes 5 members consisting of Nguyễn Anh Minh (vocals), Indy Jeremy Vinh Laville (guitar & Đàn Nguyệt ), Nguyễn Hương Bảo Hiếu (drums), Gabriel Kaouros (bass/perc.) and Đăng Nguyễn Khoa (keys).
With tight grooves, psychedelic textures and a powerful unique sound, SSR has performed countless shows at a variety of venues across Vietnam, including major events like Quest Festival, Vibe Nation and Mui Ne Music & Art festivals.
All members of the band are of Vietnamese background or have a strong connection to its culture and heritage through loved ones and their time spent in the country. Their music focuses on compositions that fuse Vietnamese lyrics and sounds with influences of western rock, soul, bolero, tango and other popular genres of this time period, most of which was banned after the war. This project strives to revive this beautiful musical heritage of Vietnam which represents an important cultural bridge between east and west.
Liverpool’s underground music and arts festival OUTER WAVES is returning to Liverpool’s North Docks at Invisible Wind Factory and Make CIC on May 23rd & 24th 2026! Dedicated to experimental, avant-garde, and underground music from across the world, the festival platforms international artists alongside commissioned local talent, with an integrated visual art programme and a programme of events extending beyond the main stages including workshops, artist interviews & panel discussions.
HeadlinersHeadlining the festival are ØXN (feat. Radie Peat of Lankum) and Dame Area, joined by Jarboe (Swans) feat. Thor Harris and Joy Von Spain and the world premiere of HAND TO MOUTH TO — a newly reimagined live performance commissioned by Outlands Network and Full of Noises, collaboratively composed and performed by Keeley Forsyth and long-time collaborator Matthew Bourne.
Final Lineup AdditionsThe final wave of artists joining the bill includes HHY & the Kampala Unit, Elspeth Anne, a Lesser Version, Those Holy feat. Ly Nguyěn, Jacques Malchance, and veve, joining a bill that already includes the incendiary ritual electronics of Lord Spikeheart, the Okinawan-Jamaican dub and traditional fusion of Waq Waq Kingdom, and much more besides.The festival also presents specially commissioned new works from local artists Coby Obi, S. Fearon, Quieting (in partnership with Music Futures), and Tomas Edgar (Dada Fest). The weekend will also feature panel talks, workshops, and afterparties.
Visual Art ProgrammeComplementing the music programme, OUTER WAVES 2026 features an expansive visual art programme transforming the spaces of the North Docks. Works will be presented by Kromavision, Sam Wiehl, Freddy Francke, Jasmine Murphy, and more, bringing immersive and site-specific installations that extend the festival’s sensory world beyond the stage.An International FestivalWith artists travelling from across Europe, Africa, Asia, and beyond, OUTER WAVES 2026 is a truly international gathering. The festival’s lineup reflects a genuinely global underground, connecting Liverpool’s North Docks to experimental and avant-garde communities worldwide. Alongside the music and visual art, the festival will present panel talks, workshops, and afterparties across the weekend.
Full Line UpØXN (feat. Radie Peat of Lankum)Dame AreaJarboe (Swans) feat. Thor Harris and Joy Von SpainKeeley Forsyth & Matthew Bourne present HAND TO MOUTH TOHHY & the Kampala UnitElspeth Annea Lesser VersionJacques MalchanceveveLord SpikeheartWaq Waq Kingdoma.P.a.t.TCarmel SmickersgillDale De Saint Paul & Mariam RezaeiDomestic PartnersE the Artist (Nyahh Records)GermanagerGY!PAHAALHedgling (Nyahh Records)HaressKarl D’SilvaLuce MawdsleyMincemeatMohammad Syfkhan (Nyahh Records)MugstarUltan O’Brien (Nyahh Records)Coby Obi *S. Fearon *Quieting *Those Holy feat. Ly Nguyěn *Tomas Edgar (Dada Fest) ** Commissioned local artist
Electronic future-dub duo Omega Nebula take on Future Yard as part of their UK Tour. Omega Nebula are a force – their music takes the most powerful elements of dub reggae and dubstep and rolls them into uplifting, emotionally weighted anthems with a unique sonic identity. Taking influence from the UK sound system scene, dub clubs and bass driven subcultures, their huge sound is heart shaking, their message profound, and their energy invigorating.
Multi-instrumentalist husband and wife duo Adjua and Dean Forrest, who together fronted eight piece reggae outfit Backbeat Soundsystem on Easy Star Records, have joined forces to pursue their obsession with heavyweight bass lines and slick digital dub production. Combining their prolific prowess as masterful songwriters with their rich performance background, these two powerhouses supply an epic live/electronic hybrid show, steeped in euphoric effects, live instrumentation, and killer vocals. Producer/Vocalist Adjua’s flawless destruction of the fourth wall leaves audience engagement somewhere akin to a rally cry for ravers to rise up and take control, all the while retaining an intimate, personal touch.
Omega Nebula are fresh, exciting and their momentum is unwavering. With world class music that encompasses messages of unity, love, peace and progression, this dynamic duo absolutely cannot fail to win the hearts and minds of the new dub generation and oldschool dub reggae veterans alike.