East London Block Party 2026: Inside Shoreditch's Best-Kept Music Secret
Photography by @aalexdew
At a time when the music industry feels dominated by huge stadium tours and viral social media trends, it’s easy to feel like the grassroots music scene is getting left behind. More and more grassroots venues are being forced to close, and it can feel as though the magic of catching an exciting up-and-coming band before they make it big is one that’s fading. East London Block Party is a festival that seeks to revive that magic.
In a takeover that stretched across four of Shoreditch’s most iconic music venues, East London Block Party hosted a range of emerging artists. From hazy folk rock to trippy electronic pop, the eclectic lineup was proof that incredible new artists are hiding around every corner. We were lucky enough to catch sets from a few of them.
We began with an enchanting set from Potato at Strongroom. Though their name might be unassuming, Potato is a six-piece band who make a blissful blend of folk, jazz, and contemporary classical. With soft vocals, keys, guitars, violins, flutes, and a wealth of percussion, their music is intricately layered and sonically spellbinding. They played an amazing yet peaceful set, leaving the audience in a sort of awestruck zen once the last song was over.
Brighton scuzz-pop rockers Canned Pineapple took to the stage next. Their stage presence was electric, with their charismatic lead singer Seán Drury effortlessly engaging the crowd. Canned Pineapple’s signature sound is an addictive blend of post-punk, psychedelic rock, and slacker rock. It’s punchy and vintage-sounding, and their set felt like we’d stumbled into a basement set at a cool 1970s dive bar. Fierce tracks ‘My Only Favourite Girl’ and ‘Little Things’ were two of the crowd’s favourites.
With our stint at Strongroom over, we ventured to Colours Hoxton. Here, we saw cruush, a Manchester-based band whose music lands somewhere in the space between alt-rock and shoegaze. Next, we headed to Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes to catch a performance from electronic ambient artist MM’99. MM’99 played a range of entrancing originals and covers, even performing a cover of ‘Video Games’ by Lana Del Rey. Striking strobe lights amplified MM’99’s hypnotic sound even further, creating a trippy atmosphere during her set.
Our fourth and final stop was The Old Blue Last. This Shoreditch staple has hosted countless iconic bands in its time (Arctic Monkeys, IDLES, and Wolf Alice, to name a few), so it was no surprise that they opened their doors for East London Block Party.
Northampton grunge trio Thistle. closed the show here, delivering an explosive closing set. Their 2024 single ‘bitebitebite’ was a crowd favourite, inviting a chaotic mosh pit that ran rampant for most of their set, whilst softer tracks such as ‘Fleur Rouge’ from their 2025 EP it’s nice to see you, stranger slowed the pace. Although Thistle. are a band who are fairly new to the scene, after opening for Basement earlier this year and a future supporting slot with Citizen in October, it seems they’re on the brink of a major breakout.
Photography by @loiselizaa
After a day spent seeing incredible artist after incredible artist, it’s clear that the indie scene is very much alive and overflowing with potential. Although it might feel as though your only options for finding new music are auto-generated playlists or social media ads, East London Block Party was a refreshing lesson in live music discovery. Whether you’re drawn in by the hum of music pouring out of a venue or see a name on a flyer and want to know more, diving into a concert blind is a classic and unbeatable way to find your next favourite band. Sometimes the old-fashioned way is the best after all.
With East London Block Party 2026 now over, the organisers are already looking ahead to the festival's 2027 instalment, which will take place on Saturday 24th July. Although we don’t have much info about next year’s events, it seems we can count on East London Block Party showcasing another stacked lineup of incredible artists.