Isle Of Wight Festival Thursday: Highlights To Look Out For Today
- Dominic Kureen
- 9 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Isle of Wight Festival returns to Seaclose Park in Newport this afternoon for the first of four action-packed days!
This year's line-up includes Sting, Justin Timberlake and Stereophonics as headliners on the bill.
Here's a peek at some of the acts to look (and listen) out for on Festival Thursday.
Emellia - Electro Love (4pm - 4.45pm)
Solo artist renowned for her powerful vocals and deeply relatable lyrics.
Performing more than 250 live gigs per year, Emellia is one of the Island's most prolific musicians and enjoys a large following on TikTok.
Plans are afoot for an album later this year, but before then you can catch her 45-minute set from within the hallowed surroundings of Electro Love!
The Smyths - Big Top (6.10pm - 6.55pm)
For more than 20 years, the Smyths have brought the music of The Smiths back to life in live arenas across the globe.
Acclaimed by Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce and the late Andy Rourke, The Smyths continue to play UK headline shows at iconic venues, and have previously been on stage at both the IW Festival and Bestival at Robin Hill.
For anyone mourning the absence of the original band, this will be a nostalgic fix to springboard the inaugural evening of this year's Festival.
The Optimists - Hipshaker Lounge (6.30pm - 7.15pm)
The 2023 Wight Noize winners are sure to have people shaking their hips tonight, bringing their riff-driven indie alt-rock to the event this evening.
Having bedazzled the crowd on their Main Stage debut after winning the Platform One competition two years ago, the five-piece rockers have continued to evolve into a highly respected young band with a lofty ceiling.
Formed in 2018, the quintet have gone from strength-to-strength since.
Rhythm of the 90s - Big Top (7.20pm - 8.20pm)
The UK's number one live 90s dance and anthems band are sure to deliver a nostalgia filled set in the Big Top tonight.
Expect to hear classic tracks from The Prodigy, Sash, Faithless, Robin S, Baby D and N-Trance among others, all performed by a fully live seven-piece band!
Grandmaster Faff - Cirque de la Quirk (7.45pm - 8.30pm)
Back once again with the ill behaviour: unpredictable yet unforgettable!
Get ready to party, because Faff always brings it... eventually!
The Pigeon Detectives - Big Top (8.45pm - 9.30pm)
With platinum and gold selling accolades across their catalogue of five albums, The Pigeon Detectives returned in 2023 to release their sixth studio album "TV Show" - their highest charting album in a decade.
Often cited as the surprise highlight from festival line-ups for the people who discovered them by accident, this is an obvious must-see for those in the know.
The Apple Beatles - Hipshaker Lounge (9.30pm - 10.30pm)
The Isle of Wight's very own tribute to the 'Fab Four'!
A superb five-piece, the band perform the hits of The Beatles from 1962-70, and are sure to belt out 'Ticket to Ride' in homage to the Island's finest town (definitely no bias as a Ryde resident myself!)
Example - Big Top (10pm - 11pm)
Rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer extraordinaire, Example was born in London as Elliot Gleave, taking his stage name from his initials “e.g.”, the abbreviation of the Latin phrase meaning “for example”.
In the mid to late ’00s, he self-released several singles – including I Don’t Want To – that grabbed the attention of Pete Tong and others at Radio 1.
Example has performed at Seaclose Park several times, most recently in 2023 - he also performed at the short-lived Fairweather Festival at Sandown Airport in 2018.