PHILLGOOD, the youngest festival in the portfolio of Fest Team, will turn Plovdiv into the territory of great world music between July 17 and 19 at Grebna base. And if the first announced names – the cult The Cure, Gorillaz and Moby, set the scale and promised extremely emotional moments for several generations of Bulgarians, the new five introduce a completely different nuance – up-to-date energy and contemporary sound, which make the scene in our country resemble the global scene as never before.
The frequency changed sharply with the inclusion of Wolf Alice, Kneecap, Just Mustard, Sleaford Mods and Perturbator as part of PHILLGOOD’s programme. From North London alternative swing and outrageous political hip-hop, through deep dream rock and social electro-punk, to full dystopian electronica that sounds like it’s from the future. The mix between legendary artists and the modern names of the music scene makes the first edition of the festival a place where the first rows will end very quickly. Three-day and one-day tickets are on sale in the Ticket Station network.
Wolf Alice arrive at PHILLGOOD right at the moment when they are in their strongest creative form. After ‘My Love Is Cool’, ‘Visions of a Life’ (Mercury Prize) and the tender fury of ‘Blue Weekend’, arguably the album that shot the band to No.1 in the UK and earned them a BRIT Award, in 2025 they’re back with ‘The Clearing’ and a new, better version of themselves. If Fleetwood Mac recorded an album in North London today, it would sound like Wolf Alice’s The Clearing, that’s what music critics are saying about the British quartet. After performances on huge stages like Glastonbury and Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Wolf Alice arrive in Plovdiv more mature, more self-confident and not afraid to dictate the rules. And PHILLGOOD will welcome them on July 17 at the frequency they deserve, shortly before headliner The Cure.
The artists, who will take to the main stage before Gorillaz on July 18th, are in their… ahem – stormy period and are in the news almost as often as they are in the clubs and on the big stages. Kneecap are the loud, even embarrassing, trio from Belfast – a thorn in the side of the conservative media. Following Fine Art (2024) and their BAFTA-winning film with Michael Fassbender, Kneecap found themselves at the center of a global conversation about Irish republicanism and independence. Scandals and news surrounding them start from their debut single, which is banned from Irish radio, followed by legal battles for rights and art, large donations to humanitarian organizations, a lot of political humor, hip-hop in Irish and a stage show that we will be able to see live in our country this summer.
PHILLGOOD’s subtle Irish streak continues with Just Mustard, who transform the hazy Irish melancholy into something bolder, dreamier and at times almost supernatural. Led by the hypnotic voice of Katie Ball, they move their music in a special border between noise and airiness with post-rock, shoegaze, dream-pop lights and that specific northern chill that will be welcomed in Plovdiv on July 17. Just a month ago, Just Mustard released their third album “We Were Just Here”, which is their most luminous, absorbing and hypnotic record to date.
One of the most unusual and striking phenomena to come out of the Island in recent years, the Sleaford Mods show just how far music can go when stripped down to the bare minimum: one laptop, one voice and a world falling apart. Nottingham duo Andrew Fearn and Jason Williamson have turned minimalist electro-punk into a weapon against modern absurdity. Sleaford Mods come to Plovdiv with a new album The Demise of Planet X – their version of the end of the world, which according to them is not an apocalypse or wars, but a slowly disintegrating everyday life, permeated by social fatigue, cultural noise and small but constant catastrophes. As the world crumbles, the music of Sleaford Mods grows brighter, more complex and more alive with bass lines, chaotic electronic and disco flashes, guest vocals from the likes of Gwendoline Christie and Aldous Harding and a relentless verbal flow live. At PHILLGOOD we will see them on July 18th on the main stage.
In addition to her, PHILLGOOD will offer two more stages with different energies and frequencies, and Perturbator is the first confirmed name for one of them on July 17th. French producer James Kent, known for his dark, electronic synths, has invented his own dystopian universe of industrial sounds, cold synths and dramatic atmospherics. After world tours and an upcoming album with giants Nuclear Blast, Perturbator comes to PHILLGOOD with a sound that feels like the noise of a night city from the future – dense, tense and impossible to miss.
And that’s not all because the program for PHILLGOOD continues to unfold and more artists will be announced very soon, stay tuned to https://phillgood.ink/ for more information and news. Tickets are available at www.ticketstation.bg.
