What started off as a frustrated voice note between friends concerning the lack of women on festival line-ups has now blossomed into a fully-fledged all-dayer celebrating women and non-binary acts

No Man’s Land is the product of what happens when you’re tired of seeing the same bland male acts headline some of the UK’s biggest festivals year in, year out. Becoming a hot topic in the last couple of years and being the centre of many debates (yeah, debating whether women deserve to headline really has been a thing…), it’s incredibly exciting to see three young women giving a platform for people who aren’t part of, say, a world-famous band called Oasis who absolutely do not need to be headlining a certain festival every year.

Katie, Eden and Niamh are three friends who took matters into their own hands instead of waiting for a change that, in 2021, has still not happened. Describing the festival as “by bad bitches, for bad bitches” it’s safe to say that this one-day event isn’t going to disappoint — and it’ll be sticking around for years to come, too.

The full line-up — bar a surprise act, obviously, because who doesn’t love a surprise? — has been announced today and only leads to more excitement on our part. It’s clear to see that these women have been working around the clock to bring us the creme of the crop, with acts like Lynks, Jessica Luise, and Qlowksi set to perform.

What kind of person would I be if I didn’t talk you through each act? Probably still a fairly OK one, but let’s do this.

First up is Cuckoo Spit, who, to be quite frank, has a rather ominous social media presence in terms of her alias. When she’s not releasing demos under her moniker, Lottie Morton can be found creating art or piecing together archive footage to create one of her music videos. Watch the video for 5:15, which Lottie says had the “most thought behind it”:

Jess Fitz

Jess Fitz describes herself as sharing her “tragic love life in funky pop songs” and, well, you have to admire the honesty. Not only is she brutally honest when the chips are down, but she doesn’t stop at just her lyrics.

Although fairly new to the scene, Jess has already caught the eye of BBC 6 Music; a radio station we all know are notoriously good at spotting a stellar act before they’ve even begun.

Bryony Williams

Having released her first single all the way back in 2015 (yes, it really was six years ago…), Bryony is no stranger to the music industry, with an impressive discography behind her and still more in the pipeline. It’s worth noting that she’s opened up for talented acts like Japanese Breakfast, Peaness and isaac gracie, and will bring all of the chill, dreamy goodness to No Man’s Land in August.

The Wine Fund

The Wine Fund are an upcoming band formed in Manchester, who I think met at BIMM (don’t hold me to that)? The soft grunge fivesome are currently in the early stages of recording their first track and will hopefully be treating us to some exciting music in the summer. Check out a recording of their original song ‘Off With His Head’ down below:

Laeeqa

Taking inspiration from the likes of recent Brit award winner Arlo Parks, Alicia Keys, and Jorja Smith, Laeeqa offers up something fresh with her delectably honed soulful sound. If you’d like to find yourself tranquilised by someone with a potently powerful voice, look no further.

Brat Coven

It’s always very cool when Scottish singers don’t suppress their accents and Brat Coven are no different. With strong messages behind their music, namely surrounding male privilege and including the line “women are not just meat and bones, but I know that’s all you see”, the trio are making a huge difference in the music industry, and there’s really no one better to play this festival.

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The Northern trio banded together back in 2019 and have since battled through making music in a pandemic together. Despite the obvious setbacks and challenges, they’ve just shared their latest track ‘Don’t Wanna Be Sad’, which is an open and honest song that’s sure to resonate with many.

Nuala Honan

Mixing delicious sounds of pop, folk, country and fleeting moments of operatic singing, Nuala Honan sets herself apart from her contemporaries with her unique sonic abilities. Originally from Australia, Nuala has made a name for herself in the UK and now calls Bristol her home.

The Book Club

The Book Club are an indie synth-pop duo from Manchester consisting of Emily and Jake, who have one release out, ‘Flowers Grow’, and are set to be releasing more songs soon (no pressure!). Besides that, they’ve delivered fantastic covers of The 1975’s ‘Be My Mistake’ and The Night Cafe’s ‘A Message to Myself’.

Qlowski

Quite possibly one of the most exciting acts to grace the YES stage, Qlowski are an enigmatic pair who combine noise rock, punk and flower pop to create something that refuses to be boxed into one genre. After the announcement of their debut album, ‘Quale Futuro?’, out on 4th June, there’s no doubt they’ll be treating the crowd to a whole wealth of new material.

Jessica Luise

Despite only releasing her first single at the beginning of 2020, Jessica Luise has quickly become the topic of much musical discussion. On her latest single, ‘Nice Try’, she proves to be quite the jack-of-all-trades and gaining a fair few thousand fans in the process. She is, without a shadow of a doubt, one to watch.

The Oozes

Garnering the same sound that made The Runaways famous, The Oozes shout their feelings over archaic noise and draw similarities to GIRLI and Kate Nash. Prepare the throat sweets, this one is going to take your voice away.

Lynks

For some reason, Lynks felt the need to drop the ‘Afrikka’, which was formerly a fantastic name to go by and incredibly unique, but I won’t lose sleep over that, especially considering their music is more than enough to make up for it. Having been championed by BBC RADIO 1’s Jack Saunders on his Future Artists show, it’s safe to say that Lynks is set to have an astronomical career ahead of them. This is one you won’t want to miss.

If you, like me and millions of other music lovers (or just, you know, normal human beings), are missing live music, then this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss.

All of these talented acts, plus a secret headliner, will be under the same roof for the price of £15, with all proceeds going to Safe Gigs for Women.

No Man’s Land will take place at YES in Manchester on 14th August. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 9am. Trust me, you’ll want to be there. It’s time for change in the music industry.

Get your ticket here.