Boardmasters Festival brought the heat earlier this month as it returned to Newquay, Cornwall for 3 days of live music in Watergate Bay (August 12th-14th 2022) and 5 days of surfing at Fistral Beach (August 10th-14th 2022). The festival brought a huge, genre-blending lineup with something for everyone on each day. The weather this year was so much better than in 2021, with temperatures reaching a high of 32 degrees Celsius. In case you couldn’t make this stunning beachside festival this year, here are our thoughts and photos from some of the sets at Boardmasters Festival 2022 for you to live vicariously through!

Indie-pop trio Cassia were our first act of the entire festival and they certainly did not disappoint. The band have a super authentic tropical vibe, which thrived in the 32 degrees Celsius sunshine. Cassia are truly the perfect band to perform at a festival in the beautiful seaside town of Newquay, and the large crowd they pulled in at their early 2pm set proved it!

Upcoming indie-punk artist Daisy Brain  (Will Tse) took to The Cove stage on Friday. The talented artist  supported Yungblud on his hugely successful 2021 UK tour and attracted a die-hard fan base during the tour. Daisy Brain has a similar stage presence to Kurt Cobain, but also musically something completely unique with his raw lyrics and incredible melodies. His tracks are filled with angsty lyrics, which had the entire audience captivated. Daisy Brain is definitely a name you’ll want to remember!

English singer-songwriter Freya Ridings, who well known for her tracks “Lost Without You” and “Castles”, took to the Boardmasters main stage in a dazzling green sparkly dress on Friday afternoon. Freya had the entire audience captivated with her stunning vocals and impressive guitar and keys skills.

British singer-songwriter, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, known professionally as Self Esteem, took to the Land Of Saints stage to perform her unapologetic pop music, that centres around feelings of insecurity and misogyny-induced frustration that many of us face every day. Opening with her powerful track “I’m fine” the singer took to the stage in front of a screen detailing one of the lyrics from the song ‘there is nothing that terrifies a man more than a woman that appears completely deranged’. Rebecca combines her insane musical talent with an engaging choreographed performance in unison with her backing singers.

Bristol based rock band IDLES headlined the Land Of Saint’s stage on Friday night, to a packed out enthusiastic crowd of fans. Opening with their track dramatic track “Colossus”, which featured frontman Joe Talbot walking from side to side on the stage while the dramatic beat of the track was played by the band. The crowd went absolutely crazy as the tempo of the song picked up and it got into full force. Talbot really knew how to work the crowd and encouraged them to start a huge mosh pit, that the fans went wild for! Guitarist Lee Kiernan even went into the crowd at one point to crowd surf, while still playing the extremely complex track on his guitar. 

George Ezra  headlined the main stage on Friday and had the crowd dancing and singing along to all his tracks from the moment he set foot on the stage. Opening his set with his huge hit “Anyone For You”, which is off his new album Gold Rush Kid . Ezra’s set was filled with perfect festival songs such as “Paradise”, “Green Green Grass” and encored with his most popular song “Shotgun” which the crowd eagerly screamed the lyrics too. With an unmissable voice and charming personality, it was impossible not to dance and singalong to George Ezra. He truly was a brilliant artist to end such a lovely first day at Boardmasters festival. 

Sam Ryder  has come so far since rising from TikTok, getting the UK second place in Eurovision Song Contest, to now performing to his biggest crowd outside of the contest at the huge UK festival. Ryder is a surfer himself and mentioned his love for the festivals home county of Cornwall. He is so energetic, keeping the crowd engaged with his naturally powerful voice and insane talent. Sam Ryder is such a charismatic, ball of energy, which enables him to have the entire audience enchanted! His set included performances of “All The Way Over”, “More”, and of course, the huge single “Spaceman” that inspired his space jumpsuit and stage set. 

Liverpudlian alternative-rock band Crawlers took to the Land Of Saints stage to perform to their loyal fan base. The band blew up following the release of their song “Come Over (again)”, which led to a completely sold-out UK headline tour. Having just just got home from the US, the British fans in Newquay were a perfect crowd to welcome them home. We can’t wait to continue to support them as they continue to grow their already huge fan-base.

Australian singer-songwriter Thomas Headon has had huge success since releasing his debut singles “Grace” and “Clean Me Up” in 2019, and his fan base has been growing even more rapidly over the past year. It’s no surprise based on his catchy lyrics and incredible voice. Thomas has such a great stage presence, he was jumping around on stage and dancing to his hits. A couple songs in Headon climbed off the stage to join his fans at the barrier, pausing to take his Be Real with the crowd. It is so clear that he loves what he does and has an incredible appreciation for his fans. 

Fans were excited with anticipation at the front of the main stage minutes before Mimi Webb’s performance and it’s no surprise when you hear Mimi’s flawless vocals booming through the speakers. Her set included “24/5 “, “Good Without” and the pop-styled ballad that started it all from TikTok, “Before I Go”. One of Mimi’s most recent hits, “House on Fire”, drew the biggest response from the crowd with them loudly singing the lyrics back to the talented singer.

Declan McKenna  owned the stage during his high energy euphoric set. McKenna has such a distinctive sound that is perfect for festival main stages. His whirlwind energy hyped up the crowd, which in tandem made the audience go crazy! Declan made sure to make full use of the huge stage whole running from side-to-side, while still performing his insanely great music. Towards the end of his stellar ser McKenna got an inflatable crocodile from the crowd and began dramatically knocking over mic stands and hitting the drums. With talent like his, it is inevitable that Declan McKenna’s career will continue to thrive. 

Mancunian band  Pale Waves took to the Land Of Saints stage with their signature strobe lighting that matched their set perfectly. The band played some of their throwback tracks including “Eighteen” and “There’s a Honey”. As well as this they also performed songs of their newly released album, Unwanted , including “Reasons to Live” and “Lies”. Lead singer,Heather Baron-Gracie, had a insanely cool energy and had the full crowd captivated.

Bombay Bicycle Club  drew in a huge crowd at their headline slot in the Land Of Saints tent on Friday night. They played  their catchy, chilled vibes songs such as, “Shuffle”, “Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)” and “Feel”.

Alternative-blues-rock three-piece Palace hit the main stage on Sunday afternoon for a fantastic performance. They treated fans to a live renditions of many of their chilled out hits including “Live Well”, “Bitter” and “Heaven Up There”. The mellowed sound of their tracks instantly had the crowd mesmerised.

The Lottery Winners was a hybrid of a  live show and comedy show thanks to front runner Thom Rylance’s quick wit! Rylance has an insanely strong voice that is complimented brilliantly with his big personality. He had the entire audience entertained throughout their entire set, even taking a moment to tease the photographers in the photo pit. The Lottery Winners generally have a super chilled indie vibe, which appeals to such a broad audience.

Joy Crookes is the perfect example of an artist made for the stage. She knew how to work the crowd and ensure all everyone was having the time of their lives. Joy even restarted one of her tracks after telling the audience they were not enthusiastic enough. Her vocals were so stunning and she had the entire audience captivated, encouraging them to dance along with her. 

The Wombats performed so many classics, that got the audience singing and dancing along like crazy including opener “Moving To New York”, “Kill the Director” and new songs “Method to the Madness”, “If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming with You”. They have an insane amount of talent and sound identical to their studio versions. The band members are so witty and spent time engaging with the crowd, at one point even toying with the idea of letting a fan play the drums for their popular track “Greek Tragedy”. The band even had a wombat with them, who ran around by the crowd and interacted with the audience. The Wombats put on an amazing performance that is likely a highlight of the entire festival for many of the festival-goers.

American singer-songwriter Remi Wolf put on such an energetic performance to an excited crowd in the Land Of Saints tent Sunday evening. The vibrant set was filled with Remi’s iconic songs including “Liquor Store”, “Sexy Villian” and her iconic song “Photo ID”. The high-energy set had both the audience and Remi going crazy! 

Tom Grennan was full of energy and enchantingly charismatic; he really connected with the crowd that only strengthened with his big hits. His voice was magnificently powerful – he hit all the notes perfectly even when he was jumping around the stage on high energy, and completely identical to his studio anthems. Grennan saw a banner in the crowd, a fan asking to sing with him during “Remind Me” and surprisingly it happened leaving the audience in complete awe. His set included his other hits such as “A Little Bit of Love”, “Sober”, new single “Not Over Yet” (featuring KSI, he did try to FaceTime him but jokingly commented he’s “being screened”) and other new release “All These Nights”.

Iconic American rock band Kings Of Leon closed the main stage action at Boardmasters 2022 and the wait was certainly worthwhile. The entire festival crowd was jam-packed, which is no surprise due to how extremely talented the band is. Their set included incredible performances of their tracks “The Bucket”,  “Time in Disguise” and “Crawl”. It wouldn’t be a Kings Of Leon set without them performing their largest hits to date “Use Somebody” and “Sex On Fire”, which we’re sure you can imagine set the entire crowd wild. Their set was the perfect way to end such an incredible, sunny weekend at one of the UK’s most beautiful beachside County’s.

Boardmasters Festival will be back in Cornwall next summer and you can register your interest for tickets here.

Photos by Megan Wales-Harding and Jen Charlie

Keep up with Boardmasters here: Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Website

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.