‘Stag & Dagger started out very much as a new music festival, and it’s stayed that way,’ says Craig Gornall, booker at Scottish gig promoter PCL Presents. ‘It’s great to see artists on their way up, blowing Glasgow audiences away. What’s so exciting is that any of them could be tomorrow’s big stars. Ed Sheeran and Lizzo played Stag & Dagger before they were major international stars. Over the years, we’ve had Django Django, Frightened Rabbit, Toro Y Moi, The Twilight Sad, Mac DeMarco, Hamish Hawk, and Glasvegas. It’s been really exciting checking out new artists and pulling together this year’s line-up of ones to watch.’

In what Gornall calls the ‘top tier’ of artists for a one-dayer in May are jangly Brummie rock’n’roll four-piece The Clause; 19-year-old Liverpudlian Re6ce (aka DIY pop artist Reece Downes); Boston indie-rock trio Vundabar (main picture); Bristol punks Grandmas House (nothing to do with Simon Amstell’s BBC sitcom of the same name, in case you were wondering, and also no relation to experimental pop duo Let’s Eat Grandma); and London’s queer-pop rudeboy Babymorocco (he was born in Casablanca) is a late addition to the bill. 

‘Historically, Stag & Dagger has always tended to feature guitar-based bands, but we’ve branched out a bit over the years,’ notes Gornall. ‘We had artists like Alice Glass from Crystal Castles in 2023. We don’t just do indie guitars. Lots of people are already queuing up when the doors open at 1pm and stay until the finish so we like to give them a few surprises over the day.’ This year, audiences can expect the country/Americana project Grayling, fronted by singer/guitarist Emma Murdoch; queer female shoegaze duo Saint Sappho who are newly signed to Optimo Music Rocks; Chroma, a Welsh alt-rock band who opened for Foo Fighters in Manchester last year; and Kai Bosch, a singer songwriter from Cornwall with a penchant for heart-on-sleeve storytelling. ‘It’s always important for us to book a mix of local Scottish acts alongside international and UK names.’

Stag & Dagger has put on Edinburgh and London editions of the festival in the past, but this year will be a one-off in Glasgow, with performances across various city-centre venues. ‘We’ve used the ABC and Broadcast in the past but obviously we can’t this year [the ABC was demolished last October and Broadcast is currently closed after flood damage]. We’re using The Garage, Nice N Sleazy, Renfield Centre, Berkeley Suite and Assai Records,’ says Gornall. ‘Venues generally end up rammed and it’s even better when the sun comes out; it’s a brilliant atmosphere. We’ll wrap everything up just after 10pm which means people coming from outside Glasgow can leave in time to get the train home. It’s deliberately planned for the bank holiday weekend so those who want to keep the party going can carry on in Sleazy’s until late.’

Stag & Dagger, various venues, Glasgow, Saturday 3 May.