Lonelady, Errors lead Hidden Door music line-up

Feature by News Team | 17 Apr 2015

The Hidden Door arts festival has revealed its music line-up for 2015, with London post-punk Lonelady and Glasgow electronic mainstays Errors topping the list of acts set to play the week-long event in Edinburgh.

Lonelady is joined on the opening night of the festival’s music programme by Glasgow-based electronic musician Jonnie Common, while Errors close the festival with a headline show on 30 May.

This year’s line-up also features folk-pop five-piece Admiral Fallow, a Gizeh Records evening featuring northwest electronic duo Shield Patterns, and a night curated by Edinburgh label Song, By Toad with sets from Numbers Are Futile, Garden of Elks and Supermoon, the new project from former Meursault frontman Neil Pennycook.

Hidden Door’s music programme is split across two venues – the festival’s main space at the former street lighting depot on Kings Stables Road, and the Bongo Club on Cowgate. The full line-up can be found below.

The festival has attracted controversy in previous years, with spiralling costs at last year's event leading to post-event fundraising to recoup the organisers' losses. There have also been complaints from within Edinburgh's artistic and music communities over Hidden Door's perceived 'pay to play' format for certain performers and exhibitors at the festival as well as their use of volunteers in the clean-up of last year's site.

Last year's Hidden Door took place at the then-unused Market Street Vaults, which have since changed hands and are now in the process of being converted into retail units, having been restored by a group of artists and volunteers. In a blog post written in 2014, Hidden Door admitted that the Kings Stables Road depot is in a similar situation, saying: "We can often only get an opportunity to use buildings when they are ready to be sold and developed, and this site is no exception." Concerns have also been raised over asbestos at this year's site, for which volunteers have been sought to help get the venue ready for May. 

In their analysis of the 2014 event, festival organisers state that Hidden Door "needs to find ways to give more to the artists," but rule out employing artists directly. It is notoriously tricky to stage a DIY arts event, and to create a new, ethical model involving multiple participants poses a huge challenge. Hidden Door present 2015's line-up, and the debate rumbles on.

Hidden Door 2015 runs from 22-30 May.

Hidden Door 2015 music programme in full:
Fri 22 May – LoneLady, Jonnie Common, C Duncan (Kings Stables Road)
Sat 23 May – Numbers Are Futile, Supermoon, Le Thug (KS); Garden of Elks, Bat Bike (Bongo Club)
Sun 24 May – Tinderbox Orchestra, Black Diamond Express, Mantra (KS); Victorian Trout Conspiracy (BC)
Mon 25 May – Dead Boy Robotics, Trudat Sound (KS); Miracle Strip, Loki (live) (BC)
Tue 26 May – Admiral Fallow, Ma (KS)
Wed 27 May – Bevvy Sisters, Miracle Glass Company (KS); Fat Suit, World Service Project, Thunkfish + DJs (BC)
Thu 28 May – Headliner TBC, Shield Patterns, ANAKANAK (KS); Last Harbour, Tomorrow We Sail (BC)
Fri 29 May – Woodenbox, King Eider, Lo Bird (KS)
Sat 30 May – Errors, Dark Jokes (KS); Bombskare (BC)


More Festival news and interviews from The Skinny:


Our guide to this summer's outdoor music festivals

LuckyMe on Baauer, Hudson Mohawke and bringing Scotland to the SxSW festival

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