Wildfire Festival 2018 Ramps Up Expectations With 40 Bands Confirmed!

Wildfire Festival 2018 places a new generation of rock under the spotlight!

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Chris Jennings in News

Scotland’s national rock and metal weekender, Wildfire Festival, returns this June and the first 40 of what will be a 70 band bill have been confirmed for Wildfire’s three stages!

Thundermother, Massive Wagons and Vega have all secured Wildfire Festival 2018 headline slots as the organisers place a new generation of rock under the spotlight.

Friday headliner:

Sweden’s Thundermother will headline the rock stage on Friday night. Following critical reception for their new album, released 23 February, rock fans will get to experience the new Thundermother line-up for what is their first confirmed UK festival appearance this summer!

Saturday headliner:

VEGA will headline the rock stage on Saturday, a band who have taken the classic/melodic rock world by storm, with amazing live shows and songs with great hooks and real depth. Vega’s new album, Only Human, will be released Worldwide via Frontiers Records this May.

Sunday headliner:

Massive Wagons first played Wildfire seven years ago return as Sunday night headliners. With a new album expected this spring – and following their major record deal with Earache Records – the Wagons’ headline slot confirms Wildfire’s unique role in spotting and nurturing the greatest acts around.

2018 Highlights

Requested Returns:

This summer’s festival will see the welcome return for a number of standout bands, requested by hundreds of Wildfires regulars. SKAM and Theia, who were regarded as two of the highlight bands for 2017, make their return, as do stalwarts from Wildfire 2016, Hell’s Addiction. There’s a welcome return too for rising Welsh rock force Those Damn Crows who closed wildfire 2017 with a bang, and were since voted as Band of the Year for stage sponsor Great Music Stories’ end of year poll.

Breaking Bands:

Continuing the festival’s tradition for giving main stage exposure to new bands, this year sees the arrival of Deever, the new band from former Inglorious guitarist Wil Taylor. Festival debuts also go to a brace of Kent bands including Gallows Circus, Tarot Rats and Newcastle’s Tomorrow is Lost. Northampton’s Empyre and Ryders Creed are also confirmed for the main stage.

Pride of Scotland:

Building on Wildfire’s track record for championing Scottish bands – and following a string of pre-festival showcase concerts in Glasgow – Wildfire confirms The Rising Souls, Sauza Kings and Stoneface as the first Scottish bands to secure main stage slots for this year’s national showcase.

Classic Rock Re-invented:

As momentum gathers – for what many have described in recent years as a new wave of classic rock across Britain – blues rockers Samarkind are confirmed following widespread critical reaction to their debut album. Festival places also for rising bands Dead Man’s Whiskey and At The Sun. For lovers of classic bands, Lionheart and Falling Red are among the more established acts gracing Wildfire’s stages.

However, if you like things with more of a metal edge then people’s choice Chasing Dragons, Londoners Killit and -no doubt turning it up to 11 – Berkshire based Louder Still will deliver the goods. Add to that Italian metalheads Dobermann and German glam metal godz Night Laser and Wildfire has all the bases covered.

Family friendly and Value for Money

Set in the sumptuous grounds of Wiston Lodge – a short 40 minute drive from Glasgow and Edinburgh – Wildfire Festival offers a breath-taking setting for a three-day music festival and is fully geared up for families looking for an inspiring and low-cost getaway this June.

A weekend ticket and camping pass is available for £85, making Wildfire one of the best value music festivals in the country. Children’s tickets start at just £1 and organisers offer a bus service from Glasgow airport for the growing number of guests flying in from south of the border and further afield!

Festival organiser Dave Ritchie comments: “Many festivals go for the safe, big old names but at Wildfire Festival 2018 we are doing something different. We want to put tomorrow’s bands on the map, giving many an opportunity to play to new audiences and for some their first main stage festival slot. As we continue to lose many of our classic rock heroes, the penny needs to drop that it’s time now to invest in tomorrow’s bands and to get serious about doing it. That’s what we do at Wildfire. Many bands we’ve showcased in the past go on to greater things and that’s the value we add to the rock scene. It’s a great festival for young bands and for music fans it’s an ideal chance to see a who’s who of breakthrough bands in one place over three days, for a price that won’t break the bank and in a setting that’s good for the soul.”