When people talk about the 90s, they’re rarely just talking about a decade. They’re talking about a feeling — the moment music cracked open and suddenly anything felt possible. It was the era that gave us Oasis swagger, Verve-sized ambition, Stone Roses colour, and the sense that a guitar, a melody, and a bit of attitude could change your life.

That same spirit is roaring back into Plymouth as Sound Factory Festival returns to The Depo on 10–11 July 2026, bringing the city its biggest indoor indie rock festival to date.

This year’s headliners embody the full arc of that 90s‑born revolution — from the artists who grew up in its afterglow to the teenagers now carrying its torch.

Friday night belongs to Kyle Falconer, the Mercury‑nominated frontman of The View, a band whose rise was fuelled by the post‑Britpop landscape the 90s created. Their debut album hit UK No.1, their anthems became festival staples, and their sound — hooky, raw, melodic — was the natural evolution of the decade that came before them.

Falconer’s journey since then has been just as compelling: award‑winning solo records, a return to the Top Ten with The View’s 2023 album Exorcism of Youth, and a reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in modern British guitar music. His headline set at The Depo will be a reminder of how the 90s didn’t just shape a generation — it shaped the artists who would go on to shape the next.

Saturday night brings The Molotovs, a band who effortlessly echo the sound of early 80’s mod classics with a work ethic of a 90s touring machine and the fire of a scene that once packed out sweaty clubs across the UK. They’ve already shared stages with the Sex Pistols and The Libertines, earned praise from Green Day, and clocked up more than 500 gigs before most bands have even found a rehearsal room.

They’re the kind of group the 90s would have adored — relentless, loud, hungry — and they’re tipped for a UK Top 10 album in 2026.

Sound Factory Festival is about the ecosystem that keeps music alive — the students, the local bands, the regional scenes, the people who show up early and stay late.

On Friday daytime, school, college, and university students from across Plymouth will take over The Depo to showcase what they’ve learned through Sound Factory Schools, the company’s educational arm. It’s a full‑circle moment: young musicians discovering their voice in the same building where established artists will later shake the walls.

Across the weekend, three stages — the Main Stage, Sound Magazine Stage, and a rooftop BBC Introducing Stage will spotlight rising talent from across the UK, including:

The Bracknall, fresh off a sold‑out Electric Ballroom
Colour TV, Plymouth’s own breakout indie heroes
Die Twice, who recently sold out Exeter Phoenix
The Velvet Hands, continuing their South West ascent
Tom A Smith, selling out venues nationwide

Plus a stacked roster of emerging acts: The Slates, The Rhodes, Boss Cass, Roman, The Ragdolls, Kate Hall, Cat Rose, Lock‑In, Eighty Eight Miles, Haytor, Martha Fay, Nothing Rhymes With Orange, The Kabins, Halfcut, Kitty Crocker, Tom Hannigan, and many more.

The 90s changed the way people connected to music. Scenes became families. Gigs became rites of passage. Bands weren’t distant icons; they were people you could meet at the bar after the show.

That ethos is woven through Sound Factory Festival:

As legendary producer John Cornfield — who helped shape the sound of Oasis, Stone Roses, The Verve, Supergrass, Muse and more puts it, “the festival shines a light on talent that’s too often overlooked. That’s exactly what the 90s did best"

Last year’s festival helped propel The K’s toward their first UK No.1 album. This year, Sound Factory is doubling down: bigger stages, bigger names, bigger ambition.

But at its heart, it’s still about the same thing the 90s taught us — that music can change your life, whether you’re onstage, in the crowd, or discovering your first favourite band.

Visit the offical website for more info and to purchase tickets