‘SCOUSECHELLA’ | SATURDAY AT BBC RADIO 1’S BIG WEEKEND

Last weekend, Liverpool’s Sefton Park saw 36,000 people each day to celebrate a carefully crafted lineup of some of the world’s most popular music right now. Saturday laced our ears with our favourite indie names, and somehow made the Merseyside rain go unnoticed. A beautifully community driven, affordable festival which saw thousands of faces from all around Liverpool – I even heard people calling it Scousechella.

Just as I got caught in the admission crowd down to the fields, special guest Ed Sheeran was announced on the New Music Stage – I held out hope that I might catch the end of his 45-minute set, but the stage reached capacity within minutes. 

Upon entry I was met with the 2000s sweethearts Sugababes. Following their comeback in recent years, they had everyone on their feet with their nostalgic pop. Hearing tunes ‘Too Lost In You’ and ‘Push the Button’ after another reminded me of just how many hits the girlband have. Ending on ‘About You Now’ had old and young dancing around the field and pushing spirits high for the rest of the day.  

At last year’s Big Weekend, Myles Smith performed on the BBC Introducing Stage in his hometown of Luton. Since, the singer has toured the world and won a Brit Award. Smith went on to storm the Main Stage at Sefton Park, confidently playing his hits ‘Stargazing’ and ‘Nice To Meet You’ as if he’s been doing this for years. 

The emergency ponchos came on for Blossoms, but the pure joy that the band’s energy oozed into the crowd took away from the weather’s misery. The band were sure to play their cult-classics amongst the songs on their newly released album – ‘Charlemagne’ and ‘Honeysweet’ took us back in time and really did have the crowd bouncing. Blossoms won Music Moment of the Year at the Northern Music Awards this year, and every track on their newest album had the entire crowd echoing them. If you tried to explain to a non-Blossoms fan that an 8-foot plastic gorilla named Gary will be rolled onto stage for the final song, you might get some funny looks. But – Blossoms can conduct a crowd no problem, and without a second thought, everyone was singing to the plastic gorilla that hilariously stole the show.

By the time I made my way out of the Blossoms madness, and began taking the long walk to Inhaler’s set, the New Music Stage had reached capacity. I took a gutted walk back over to the Main Stage where I figured I should bag a good spot for Wolf Alice who were on next. 

Following their 3-year hiatus being uplifted by the release of their new single ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’, Wolf Alice’s set was highly anticipated. Opening with that very single, confident frontwoman Ellie Rowsell demonstrated that her powerful vocals have only gotten stronger over time, and the bands effortlessly cool presence had their audience gawking. The band performed hits from each of their three albums. ‘Formidable Cool’ threw the crowd back to one of the band’s first releases, and ‘How Can I Make It OK?’ had its synths swirling through us. The band also debuted an upcoming tune, sparking a huge excitement for their album ‘The Clearing’, which is to be released this coming August, after being signed to major label Colombia. The set sadly had to come to an end, and Wolf Alice performed their hit ‘Don’t Delete the Kisses’ to say goodbye. The rain pouring from the sky was some sort of perfect pathetic fallacy and seemed to wash the crowds tear-stained cheeks. I am absolutely beaming that Wolf Alice are back.

Not wanting to manoeuvre the crowds again I stayed put for Saturday’s Indie favourite – Sam Fender. Newcastle’s gem has seen overwhelming success since the release of his 2025 album ‘People Watching’, and a sea of fans swarmed the stage to witness the Indie legend. Fender and his band have a totally mesmerising presence – dancing and interacting as if they are members of the crowd enjoying the music themselves. Back-up singer Brooke Bentham twirled and sang to add depth and compliment Fender’s voice – her dancing urged the crowd to get moving. A few technical difficulties threw off Fender’s guitar, but the rest of his band worked together seamlessly to continue. Fender and his band have beautiful and talented showmanship that easily wove through any obstacles on stage. Saving his two most electrifying until last, Fender ended with ‘Seventeen Going Under’ and ‘Hypersonic Missiles’. Two hits with lyrics just as prevalent today as when they were released. A touching set which beautifully closed the curtain on the night. 

Catch all the action from BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Liverpool across BBC TV, radio and online.