Bastille, Friendly Fires & More Bring The Party To Citadel Festival 2019

Now in its fifth year Citadel Festival is fast becoming one of the staples in London’s festival season. Back at Gunnersbury park with a stunning line-up for 2019, and equally stunning weather to match, this year’s event was one for the books. From Bastille’s birthday celebrations to Catfish & The Bottlemen’s triumphant headline slot, here’s everything we loved about Citadel Festival 2019…

Since the release of their third studio album Doom Days Bastille have taken over the world… again! From hosting interactive launch parties, performing live on American breakfast television, to smashing it on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, these landmark moments have placed them in everyone’s eyeline and it’s not over yet. Amongst all of this madness they returned to their hometown to give the fans at Citadel Festival a special performance on Bastille day!

Their three-act show takes both the die-hards and the new fans on a musical journey spanning all three albums, with some gems from the Other People’s Heartache mixtapes thrown in for good measure. Highlights include Doom Days album tracks, ‘Another Place’ and ‘Million Pieces’, the latter already on its way to stealing the sing-along prowess of ‘Pompeii’. Of course, we had to sing frontman Dan Smith a rapturous round of Happy Birthday, must to his horror, but he wasn’t getting away with it that easily as the front row donned party hats for the occasion.

Friendly Fires are one of our favourite bands to see live, and this isn’t just down to their hit-after-hit setlists, it’s also the boundless energy of frontman Ed Macfarlane that makes them unmissable. After eight years away from music, St. Alban’s finest returned to the scene last year with exciting new material perfectly made for the main stage at Citadel Festival. As Ed danced us into golden hour, they were the perfect Sunday afternoon party starter.

Diving straight in with classic FF bangers such as ‘Lovesick’, ‘Jump In The Pool’ and ‘Paris’ there was no time for warming up. However much we love hearing the classics, it’s the newer material that brings the most excitement – ‘Sillouettes’ and ‘Love Like Waves’ are instant hits with that same tropical Friendly Fires sound that makes them stand out like their bold Hawaiian shirts.

Welsh beauties Catfish & The Bottlemen are a wonder to behold during their live sets and closing Citadel Festival 2019 felt like a momentous full-circle moment for the band. From starting out on smaller stages and playing EVERY festival throughout the season, to headlining one of London’s staple festivals is a great achievement for the lads from Wales. They played ALL of the crowd-pleasers from their three chart-topping albums, The Balcony, The Ride and The Balance, to doting fans in Gunnersbury Park. Next stop bigger festivals across the world!

WATCH BASTILLE'S SURVIVAL GUIDE TO THE APOCALYPSE HERE: