FUTURE DAYS FESTIVAL 2026 FT. WARMDUSCHER AND GANS | IN PICTURES

PHOTO GALLERY | FUTURE DAYS FESTIVAL w/ Warmduscher, Adult DVD, Gans, 1000 Rabbits | The Crossing, Birmingham | 17th October 2026 by Lucy McLachlan

Birmingham’s Future Days Festival, now in its 7th year, currently feels like a bit of a loaded name. Part of the surrounding area in Digbeth is looking to be demolished to make way for Network Rail‘s new Midlands Hub, with a number of long-standing independent music venues, nightclubs and bars all facing extinction.

It seems The Crossing, tonight’s venue located in part of Birmingham’s City College, is safe.

Warmduscher headline a fired-up main stage bill complete with Adult DVD, Birmingham’s own Gans, 1000 Rabbits and Personal Trainer.

London art rock band 1000 Rabbits captivated the room early on, receiving such huge applause from a set where you hear a pin drop from the crowd. Their performance is genuine, full of warmth and emotion.

Birmingham’s Gans are playing a hometown show at the end of a long tour schedule, and they’ve brought out the Black Country flag for the occasion. I come down from the North West once, and my hometown of Stourbridge gets a shoutout. Their set is absolutely wild; I covered them last at Liverpool’ So Long Good Friday festival, and the Future Days crowd was something else entirely. The whole room is bouncing; you can feel the floor move. Tom Rhodes tells the crowd that he worked his way up at Future Days from selling merch for the festival to now being in a band full time and playing the main stage. Thanking organisers for the special space they created.

Leeds dance punk band Adult DVD kept the room bouncing after Gans, loud, fuzzy and trance-like; you can’t stand still.

Warmduscher appear last, swigging Jim Beam out of the bottle and coconut water. They play a career-spanning set with a whisky-fuelled vigour.

The second stage at Future Days included new local bands; handily, stage times had these in between the main stage setting up. It felt quite disconnected but in a good way. In the main room you’re watching Gans tear it up and then next up is brand new local music you might not have heard before.

Future Days felt like a small community, shuffling between two stages in a college. There was even a set dinnertime around 6 pm where it felt like the whole crowd flocked to two food stalls outside. Wholesome vibes all round. The future of Digbeth is currently very uncertain, but we hope this festival manages to survive it.