Ceremony 6 @ Bedford Esquires, Saturday, 6 June 2026
Indie Christmas finally arrived last weekend as Ceremony 6, the annual new music event, returned to Bedford Esquires.
To get to the event, I had to climb out of a window, into a bush, and over a fence due to my friend’s front door lock suddenly breaking, but it is an event worth breaking out of the house for…
This edition features twelve artists on the lineup, and opening up proceedings were the alt-pop artist Enjoyable Listens, also known as the Ceremony house band, due to them playing the event multiple times.
It was a rare performance with a full band, and we saw the return of Jamie (those who have seen Enjoyable Listens before will be familiar with the phrase “Jamie, play the track”), so it was a special show, indeed.
Lead singer Luke Duffet is suited and booted, and charismatic as always, bringing delightful chat and stories to the crowd, which makes their set seem like part comedy show, and part gig, such as suggesting audience members who like them buy their merch, and those who don’t like them… can buy a poster and lighter and burn the poster.
The set featured a mix of old songs, such as “Tear Up a Picture of My Kids”, and new songs, including “The Terror”, which was written after Luke spent a week in Jamie’s flat share, and if you stood on the bath mat there, black liquid would ooze out…
Overall, this was a set full of style and swagger, and a great way to start the day.
First up in Room 2 was Bugbear, a duo consisting of Daisy Kane and Ivo Winkley, who describe themselves as “emotronic post rock gremlins”.
Daisy and Ivo both share vocal duties, with Daisy’s delivery in particular being in the speak-sing style.
The band played their track “Goldilocks”, which they advised is about “a real-life Goldilocks, not just porridge”.
They also did a casting call for their next music video, but they aren’t looking for humans… the band requested that anyone in the audience who had a pet rat who would be OK with wearing a tiara in their music video for “Princess Shrew” to let them know.
An interesting band to keep your eye on, particularly on their music videos, a princess rat sounds intriguing…
Back on the main stage was Vehicle, a garage indie pop band from Leeds (which, according to them, is a whole seven-and-a-half hours away).
There was a country drawl to the band’s vocal style, which aligns with the title of their latest single, “You Are Not a Cowboy.” Audience member Nicky suggested that one of their tracks sounded like an “evil” version of Blur’s track “Coffee and TV.” A band for those who like their Britpop served with a side of Americana.
Next up was Your Mates Ex, a Mancunian electronic dance duo made up of Joey and Josh. The band opened their set with “Party People”, the track which also opens their recently released EP titled “YMEX.”
Other tracks from the EP, such as “Get Wet” (the perfect song to wash up to, as the band advised me on an Instagram DM), “Vice” and my personal favourite, “Bunny on the Run”, also featured in the set.
The duo has a cheeky kind of cool to them, and both their sound and stage presence reminded me of Confidence Man.
Their set was lively and got the crowd partying along, and it was great to see that a range of genres are covered in the weekend’s lineup.
Speaking to audience members throughout the day, everyone said their set was a highlight of the event.
Tanzana, a gothic rock five-piece from Glasgow, was next on the main stage. The band delivered an extraordinary and evocative performance that reminded me of The Last Dinner Party’s theatricality, with vocals somewhat like Ellie Roswell’s from Wolf Alice.
Lead singer Freya’s vocals helped create the dramatic atmosphere, going from breathy whispers to haunting screams, and this was particularly prominent in their latest single, “Pulse, Pose, Position.”
The band closed their set with their first single, “Covet” and once it was over, the crowd responded with massive cheers. This is definitely a band I can see playing much larger stages in the future.
When I saw Canned Pineapple were on the lineup, I was alarmed. I have a pineapple allergy and was worried that when watching them, my mouth and tongue would swell up, but fortunately for me, this was not the case.
The slacker pop-rock quintet from Brighton delivered a set full of energy and vibrancy. Taking to the stage, lead singer Seán asked the crowd, “is everyone ready to rock!?” and both the crowd and the band sure were.
The group bounced around the stage, and reminded me of what Blink 182 would sound like if they were British and lived by the seaside.
We love a band with great crowd chat, and Canned Pineapple delivered on this front with Seán advising the crowd “you make me feel like Kylie Minogue”, and shouting out to Esquires’ promoter Milky, telling us, “you are lucky to have him,” and “he always tells the truth.”
Whilst playing their final track, Seán raises his closed fist in the air and asks the crowd to hold the world in their hand and “explode all the bad bits and make the world a better place.”
With Canned Pineapple around to deliver their super fun sets to crowds, the world is already a better place.
Following Canned Pineapple was Little Grandad, a band known for frequenting The Windmill in London.
They have recently been championed by BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, and were on many attendees must watch list.
The group are part of the indie folk resurgence, sounding similar to Fleet Foxes, or perhaps Mumford and Sons with fewer ukuleles and a bit more guitar. Their set featured wonderful harmonies, such as on their track “Sleepwalking”, which was enjoyed by the crowd.
Back in Room 2 were Disgusting Sisters, a real life sister duo (although I have to say they are not disgusting!) made up of Josephine and Josie.
The girls took to the stage in matching outfits and sunglasses to deliver their electronic pop-rock tunes, and opened their set with “Sorry Mister”.
The whole set featured excellent choreography and fun dance moves to match the songs. A highlight of the set was the duo’s latest single, “Weirdo Magnet”, which featured some super funky guitar work.
For their last track, “Calvin Klein” the girls jumped into the audience to bounce around with us to the track’s catchy chorus.
I even got to feature a little in this performance as Josephine raised her microphone to me for one of the final chants of “Calvin Klein”. I would like to apologise now to anyone whose ears were offended in that moment.
Makeshift Art Bar were next up on the main stage.
The Belfast band have certainly created a lot of noise with their blend of post punk and electronica, which reminded of Underworld.
Their set was delivered with a ferocious energy, with lead singer Joseph Sweeney sounding like a very angry man, indeed, and at times, there appeared to be elements of screamo music with the amount of screaming going on.
Audience member Chris described the vocal style as sounding like a “digital Kurt Cobain”, which is very accurate. I spotted lots of nodding heads in the audience to the heavy electronic sounds, and I’m sure the band picked up some new fans on the day.
Lemonsuckr were the final band playing in Room 2 and if you wanted things to calm down a little after Makeshift Art Bar, then you weren’t in luck as Lemonsuckr arrived to push things to another level.
The band opened with their track “Sedated”, and immediately, the guitarist was in the crowd, rallying them up.
This was a theme of Lemonsuckrs set, as various members got in the crowd, especially lead singer Guy whose intense energy was magnetic to all around him.
The techno post-punk sounds whipped up the crowd into a frenzy, and they were moshing for the whole set.
The band’s latest single, “Stain”, particularly went down well with the crowd. During their final track, a cowbell was handed in the audience to be passed around, and Guy even ended up crowd surfing, which is something I haven’t seen happen at Esquires for a long time.
This is a band to add to your ‘absolutely must-see, cannot miss this’, list, and fingers crossed, they will return to the main stage for a headline show so you can witness their superb live show yourself.
Home Counties were the final band before our headliner, and the East London six-piece bought their danceable indie pop to the main stage.
Will Harrison and Lois Kelly shared vocal duties, and their blended vocals make them stand out from other indie bands around at the moment.
The band were cohesive and played with lots of energy, so much so that Will said he was out of breath already after their second track.
The band’s set featured tracks from their two albums, including “Meet Me in the Flat Roof”, from their 2025 album Humdrum.
Will introduced this track as “being about the pub” and later introduced their track “That’s Where the Money’s Gone” as “this song is about taxes”, showing they write songs for us normal people.
I particularly found their track “You Break It You Bought It” relatable, with its opening lyrics of “this is not what was advertised, no washer dryer, just exposed wires,” as I just bought a new house and it is definitely not what was advertised and did feature exposed wires (and worse).
The band closed their set with “Uptight” a song about not wanting to go out from their debut album “Exactly As It Seems”. This was a euphoric end to the set with the crowd putting their hands in the air to clap along and get funky with Home Counties.
Finally, it was time for our headliner, Deadletter.
The post-punk six-piece from Yorkshire are playing here at the end of their tour, celebrating their recently released second album “Existence is Bliss”.
The band opened up their set with “Purity I”, a dark and brooding track that reminded me of Depeche Mode.
Following this was “To The Brim”, which got the crowd’s heads nodding and bodies moving with its funky saxophone sounds.
Photographer Kane suggested the saxophone element of their tracks reminded him of old 80’s movie music, so perhaps this is why the crowd enjoyed it so much.
When introducing the track “More Heat!” from Deadletter’s debut album “Hysterical Strength”, lead singer Zac said, “People of Bedford, we need more heat,” and repeated more heat about twenty times before launching into the track, building the hype for this song.
Zac has an intense energy about him, the typical cool front man, as demonstrated on their track “(Back to) The Scene of The Crime” where he swaggered about the stage swinging his drumstick around.
Independent music venues are known for being the best place to get up close and personal with your favourite band, as shown by many artists today jumping into the crowd, and to the crowd’s delight Deadletter didn’t miss the opportunity to get friendly with the audience.
During the track “Deus Ex Machina”, Zac got into the crowd and walked through the middle.
The long pause about two-thirds of the way through the track created tension and excitement in the room before it suddenly exploded into a frenzy that got the crowd jumping up and down.
A highlight of Deadletter’s set was “Fit For Work”, which Zac advised was a “delve a bit deeper into the Deadletter vault” as the song was released six years ago.
It didn’t take much encouragement for the crowd to chant along to the track, with their arms raised in the air, as the song built into a crescendo of percussion and heavy guitars.
The crowd clearly didn’t want the night to end as an audience member shouted “what a band” after the track “It Flies”.
The set closed on a triple powerhouse of tracks “Binge”, “Hero” and “Cheers!” which had the crowd moshing, which is a testament to the invigorating energy of Deadletters, considering they were the last band of the day and most people had been as Esquires since the early afternoon.
Events like this show there is nothing quite like the power of live music to make you feel alive. Bring on Ceremony 6.5 in January 2027.
