Belladrum 2025 promises to be a blockbuster following the festival’s first announcement starring headliners Paul Heaton and Texas along with an impressive supporting cast.
Having already announced the movie theme for Belladrum 2025, courtesy of Inverness’ own Guardian of the Galaxy Karen Gillian, Belladrum has started to unveil it’s line-up and it is certainly blockbusting.
First up is Texas, making their second headline appearance at the festival having last played in 2011. An absolute fan favourite given the amount of support shown for them from the biggest Facebook fan based Belladrum Group. Texas follows in the footsteps of other Scottish acts that have closed the event recently; Travis and Franz Ferdinand. Sharleen Spiteri and Co. are renowned for their high energy, passionate sets helped by a long long list of hits including “I Don’t Want A Lover,” “Say What You Want,” “Inner Smile,” “Summer Son,” and “Black Eyed Boy.”
To be fair it should not have been a good night. Sharleen shared with the audience the travel difficulties and in particular the ongoing cold that she was struggling with. However whether it was her friend’s compassion (and single malt whisky), the crowd’s relentless enthusiasm or possibly both, this was a special gig indeed.
IGigs review from Texas in Inverness in 2022
Joining the stellar line-up is none other than the legendary Paul Heaton, set to headline Thursday night. With over 15 million albums sold across his illustrious career with The Housemartins, The Beautiful South and his acclaimed solo work.Expect the Belladrum crowd to be echoing with hits such as “Happy Hour,” “A Little Time,” and “Perfect 10.” Paul will be joined by Glasgow’s Rianne Downey as special guest, which has also seen her take to the stage at Glastonbury, TRNSMT and many more.
Also on the line-up for Belladrum 25 is the dynamic singer, rapper, and musician, Example who headlined the final Rockness way back in 2013. Known for his 2010 breakthrough with “Won’t Go Quietly,” Example has topped UK charts and sold out arenas worldwide. Fans can expect a high-energy set with hits like “Changed The Way You Kiss Me,” “Kickstarts,” and “We’ll Be Coming Back.”
Local music is well represented in the announcement including The Idiotix who have been building momentum on the local scene with their “rock” roots evolving over time (read more in our Idiotix interview from last year). It’s also great to see Dylan James Tierney return to Belladrum, following on from supports slots with KT Tunstall and Callum Beattie, Dylan and band will be opening the Garden stage on Thursday. John B’s Daughter debut at the festival , check out their new track “Unpredictable” on Youtube.
Other acts announced include indie-rock band The Pigeon Detectives; British electronic dub/reggae act Dreadzone; Scottish Music Awards “Barrowland Spotlight Award” winners Beluga Lagoon; and recently reformed alternative folk-rock band Kassidy. Pop-rock band The Hoosiers, known for their hit “Goodbye Mr A”; Glasgow-based folk-pop favourites Tide Lines; and multi-award-winning Scottish songwriter and folk singer Karine Polwart also join the lineup.
Iconic artist The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, famous for their 1968 hit “Fire”, and 80s indie pop band The Primitives, known for “Crash”, are set to perform. Joining them are rising Scottish accordionist and singer Calum Macphail; seven-piece alt-rock band The Joy Hotel; festival favourites Pork Pie (check out a bit of Pork Pie here); and Antwerp-based girl band Bluai. Acclaimed indie rock quartet October Drift; three-time Young Blues Award Artist of the Year Toby Lee; and Innes Strachan’s new project Lusa will also be taking the stage.
Additionally, up-and-coming all-female band The Laurettes BBC Introducing “one to watch” Finn Forster; electronic artist and producer Fourth Daughter; Highland folk band Ho-Ro; and Chris Mannings Highland Swing & Soul Band, performing a special “at the movies” set, are all set to perform at the festival.
Finally it would be hard to imagine a Belladrum without Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5, Torridon and Rhythmnreel,no imagination will be needed for 2025 :).
‘We are delighted to unveil our first batch of acts who are set to join us for the biggest party in the Highlands next summer. Both Texas and Paul Heaton will be guaranteed to deliver some of the biggest singalong moments in Bella history, plus there are so many other incredible acts to check out across the weekend – and this is only the first announcement! We can’t wait to party at Bella with our wonderful Bella family.’
Dougie Brown, Festival Producer
The full line-up for Belladrum 2025 so far;
Beluga Lagoon
Bluai
Calum Macphail
Chris Mannings Highland Swing & Soul Band
Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5
Dreadzone
Dylan James Tierney
Example
Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail
Finn Forster
Fourth Daughter
Ho-Ro
John B’s Daughter
Karine Polwart
Kassidy
Lusa
October Drift
Paul Heaton
Pork Pie
Rhythmnreel
Rianne Downey
Texas
The Carloways
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
The Hoosiers
The Idiotix
The Joy Hotel
The Laurettes
The Libby Koch Band
The Pigeon Detectives
The Primitives
Tide Lines
Toby Lee
