So we are very proud to be bringing the famous FAITH sound and atmosphere back to the Iconic Golden Lion in Todmorden on the 16th and 17th May 2026

A kaleidoscopic eclecticism that spans from psychedelia, electronic, minimalism with echoes of jazz, ethnic dub & drone music....

Sessions presents the technical wizard, the one & only James Zabiela. Theres no-one that rivals the abilities of the man they call the Wizard. Technically gifted & musically a master. Whether its on a set of 1210s or amongst a raft of CDJs, you will be spellbinded by James craft. Another huge night awaits the Golden lion!

A tsunami of other worldly music delivered by A Love From Outer Space djs Andrew Weatherall & Sean Johnston.

Pink Breath of Heaven is a reverie of shimmering guitars, haunting melodies, and introspective lyricism. The project of Liv Field and Rex John Shelverton, PBOH merges the vast textures of shoegaze with the boundless energy of modern psychedelia, crafting a world where color and emotion intertwine. Following the breakout success of their single Blue Is the Morning, the band quickly began to draw wider attention, leading to their addition to Little Cloud Records ahead of their debut album release. Over the following year, Pink Breath of Heaven continued shaping a sound that spans hypnotic, slow-burning compositions to towering walls of sound, immersing listeners in a space that lingers long after the music fades. Their music is often described as feeling simultaneously familiar yet distinctly its own. With performances alongside The Dandy Warhols, LSD and the Search for God, Alison's Halo, Ty Segall, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Pink Breath of Heaven has quickly become a compelling force within San Francisco's evolving underground.

It's rare to be able to hear such a legend play in such an intimate space so make sure you don't miss out. Guaranteed sell out event!

Born of the voices of past lives and baptised in the dust bowl dirt, the Gothic Americana music of the Heathen Apostles hankers back to a bygone chapter of American history. Using contrasting influences such as Bauhaus, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and The Pogues along with Howlin Wolf, Loretta Lynn and Bessie Smith, the Heathen Apostles have created a style of music that at once conjures both angels and demons, and will enlighten a darkened soul.

Packed with poignant and funny slice-of-life vignettes touching on everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to DIY coffins, and existing in a wonderful new sonic realm where songs and stories coexist peacefully with fragmentary electronics, drones and field recordings, Ships is his most expansive and uplifting collection of music to date. The first single from the album I Passed Your House has already made waves since its release, getting picked up by BBC 6 Music presenters Huw Stephens and Gideon Coe, and Radio 2's Marc Radcliffe. It also spent 2 weeks on RTE Radio 1's Recommends list in Ireland.

As the singer in I Am Kloot from 1999 to 2014, John Bramwell achieved a Mercury Prize nomination for 2010’s The Sky At Night, a Top 10 chart position for 2013’s Let It All In, numerous UK and European tours and a triumphant farewell at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with an orchestra in 2014. Now, as a solo artist, Bramwell travels a very different path, a path that criss-crosses the length and breadth of the UK with a humble agenda of taking his heart-warming songs to the stage and enjoying another moment in time with his devoted fans.

Carlton Melton (Rich Millman, Andy Duvall, Clint Golden, and Anthony Taibi) is an experimental psychedelic rock band formed in Northern California in 2008. Over the past decade+, they have released 16 full length albums (live and studio) and 11+ singles/EPs/splits on labels like Agitated Records, Blackest Rainbow, and God Unknown Records from England, and Broken Clover Records, Valley King Records, and their own Mid-to-Late Records in the US. They have toured extensively in Europe and the UK, playing festivals such as Desertfest, the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedeila, Supersonic, Stumpfest, and Roadburn. This spectacular show brings together friends from all over the globe to play on the same bill.

Jaliyaa Kumbengo is a 5 peice group from The Gambia led by Gambian griot artist and Kora player Sefo Kanuteh with special guest vocalist Binta Suso. This is a multi-layered evening bringing together performance, learning and storytelling rooted in Mande musical tradition. In Mandinka, 'Jaliyaa' refers to the griot tradition - a living practice of music, oral history and cultural memory passed through generations, while 'Kumbengo' translates as coming together or gathering. Together, the group name reflects both heritage and shared experience, which is at the heart of the evening. The evening programme combines: A FREE 1 hour interactive workshop from 6.30pm-7.30pm, exploring kora, voice and collective improvisation (open to all levels). Participants are welcome to bring their own percussion or melody instrument, or simply join in through voice and singing. The workshop is optional and free to attend, but YOU MUST RESERVE A PLACE via the ticket options above in addition to booking a general ticket for the performance. A pop-up photographic exhibition tracing Sefo's musical lineage and journey. A live performance from this 5 peice West African group blending traditional Mande music with contemporary influences. Concert begins at 8.30pm ARTISTS: Sefo Kanuteh is a virtuosic kora and balafon player from Foray Kunda, The Gambia, raised within a multi-generational griot family where music functions as storytelling, social connection and collective memory. His work blends traditional Mande reportoire with contemporary influences, both deeply rooted and widely accessible. Sefo has collaborated with leading international artists including Baaba Maal and The BKO quintet. He has performed at major festivals such as WOMAD, Latitude and Glastonbury. Binta Suso is a Gambian vocalist from a respected griot family lineage, known for her expressive voice and deep connection to Mandinka musical traditions. She has collaborated internationally within West African and contemporary fusion projects, performing alongside renowned kora artists connected to the Suso and Keita griot families. Her work contributes to preserving and sharing oral tradtions through performance, storytelling and song. Meriya Band brings together a collective of musicians supporting Sefo's sound, blending tradtional West African instrumentation with contemporary arrangements to creat a dynamic live experience. The concert programme and tour is supported by Arts Council England. Tour producers Music Worldwide www.musicworldwide.co.uk For further information about Sefo Kanuteh visit www.sefokanuteh.com

Tian Qiyi is a genre-defying sibling duo creating immersive live experiences by blending traditional Chinese and Mongolian instruments with dub, post-punk, and experimental grooves. They are sons of Zilan Liao (gu zheng) and Jah Wobble (post-punk bass legend), and their performances include live-looped erhu, morin khuur, yangqin, bass, drums, and voice.

Oh yeah, Divine Schism welcome My New Band Believe to Oxford for a workshop show. My New Band Believe, led by Cameron Picton, bassist and sometime frontman of black midi, with whom he practiced an explosive form of musical world-building, weaving complex storytelling through thrilling passages of controlled chaos. The moniker serves as an open invitation, a subtle nod to listeners willing to meet the music on its own terms, to reap the rewards of taking a flying leap into the dark. Picton leads his band so that each track forms, scatters and re-groups, the uplift of one song crashing head-long into the rush of another. Inspired by Bert Jansch's hypnotic, hard-driving guitar, Judee Sill's panoramic pop, and the terrifying possibility of dance music, My New Band Believe is both all-encompassing and constantly in flux.

The Gnomes (fka Gnome) is a four-piece rock band from Frankston, Australia, known for their tight sound, classic songwriting, and energetic live shows. Originally a solo project, The Gnomes has grown into a louder, sharper outfit with a full band lineup and a harder edge. Taking influence from The Kinks, The Easybeats, and The Lemon Twigs, The Gnomes blends catchy melodies with driving beats, mixing the spirit of the '60s with a fresh edge. Their sound pulls from Merseybeat, power pop, and vintage rock 'n' roll, with a modern feel that's punchy and direct. The Gnomes early recordings leaned into lo-fi indie and slowcore, but now as a band their recent works mark a clear shift toward a more energetic, Rock'n'Roll guitar-driven approach. Their shows are full of energy, heart, and a little bit of chaos. With a growing list of gigs under their belt and a more focused sound, The Gnomes are carving out a space in Melbourne's rock scene, one punchy set at a time. Presented by PCL Presents. This is an 16+ event, under 18s with an adult

The dynamic trio from Lisbon, comprising João (guitar), Tomás (bass), and Halison (drum + vox), made a significant impact on the Portuguese music scene with the release of their debut album on January 27, 2023. With their energetic performances that blend dance culture with heavy-hook songcraft, the band quickly gained a reputation among audiences.

Leeds club night Cosmic Slop comes to The Golden Lion in Todmorden on 22 May for a fundraiser in aid of MAP, a charity helping permanently excluded young people re-engage with education through music. Founded by DJ and sound system builder Tom - who has also worked on the Sunflower system alongside Floating Points - Cosmic Slop has carved out a reputation for legendary line-ups and an uncompromising approach to sound. Half of all profits from the night go directly to MAP, with a collection on the night too. Plynyl DJs will support Cosmic Slop on the main system downstairs. Upstairs, Space Cassette residents Talos 4000, DJ Helen, and Bezzed Adrin are joined by Zpor from HENGE for a full room takeover, 8pm1am.

The real Sandi Thom has stepped forward, and surely no one has ever been quite so happy to get the blues It was during the cold, short days of 2006 that Sandi Thom had her Eureka! moment. Instead of driving to gigs up and down the country in her clapped-out car, as she had done for years, the singer from Scotland resolved to try a different approach. She bought a webcam, announced a run of 21 shows to be performed on consecutive nights in the basement of her flat in South London. The audience capacity in the flat was just six people. But the half-hour shows were to be broadcast, free of charge, via her website at www.sandi-thom.com. The first night, 70 people tuned in, the next night it was up to 670. And by the middle of the second week, she was performing to a peak audience of 70,000. By then, the suits from every major record label had visited the flat to see the show for themselves. What they heard was a singer with a sensational voice strong and expressive enough to fill the largest theatres, but also warm and soulful enough to win over hearts and minds in the most intimate of settings. Even before her debut album, Smile It Confuses People was released on June 5, preceded by a single, I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker on May 22, 2006, Sandi Thom was a phenomenon. The record company called her the first webcast signing in major record label history and she became the overnight internet star who won a global audience and a megabucks handshake thanks to her investment in a £60 webcam. Needless to say, the story goes a little deeper than that. Sandi Thom has spent half a lifetime writing songs and performing gigs. She actually began learning piano at the age of three. Sandi was born in a small fishing village called Banff on the North East coast of Scotland. Both her mother and father came from musical backgrounds. Her father, a fisherman who became a helicopter pilot, used to sing and play the guitar to Sandi every day. The first thing I remember was listening to my Dads records when I was little, on vinyl, Sandi says. I grew up on Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and many more. Ive always been influenced by the Blues and Rock along with singer-songwriters, like Dylan, Carole King and Buffy Saint Marie. It was a funny mixture that certainly influenced the way I sing and play. When she was 14, Sandi joined a local covers band called the Residents who played pubs, social clubs, weddings, you name it. The rest of the band were all middle-aged semi-professionals, but she fitted in fine, playing keys and singing often in four-part harmonies learning a repertoire of classic pop and rock songs by artists such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and many more. After several years with the Residents, Sandi applied for a place at the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts and was successful. When she arrived, she found, once again, that she was the youngest person there. I was 17 and at that time there were a lot of older and mature students. I remember crying for hours, I was so homesick. But then I got into it. I loved Liverpool. The people were lovely. I did a lot of songwriting and I learned to play the guitar. I also joined a gospel choir which got me more into singing harmony. The choir, Love And Joy, once performed at Anfield singing Youll Never Walk Alone to a crowd of 40,000 people. While at LIPA Sandi also assembled the group of musicians with whom she continues to perform to this day. That was when I started writing for the band, she says, And thats an entirely different thing from me just sitting in a room with a guitar singing tales of woe. Some members have come and gone to pursue their own careers, namely Marcus Bonfanti and Paddy Milner, both noted London musicians but Ive worked with my drummer and backing singer now for 10 years and we have a tremendous rapport. They are more than my band. They are my family. After graduating, the hard graft continued. A period of hustling for work in the music business landed her several jobs as a session singer and a publishing deal with Windswept Pacific Music. She began recording the songs that comprised her debut album and toured as support with Nizlopi and the Proclaimers among others while playing numerous gigs of her own. Since then Sandi has gone on to make her mark on the International music scene, playing live to sell-out crowds across the world, including, being No.1 in the Australian charts for an impressive 12 weeks, the current world record for any artist in that country. She accumulated 7 no.1 positions throughout the world and sold in excess of 2 million records with her first album Smileit confuses people and her second album Pink and the Lily. After a 3 year stint of entertaining fans at festivals and gigs across the globe, Sandi returned to set up her own label; Guardian Angels Records, which debuted last year with its first worldwide release. Guardian Angels released the Critically acclaimed Merchants And Thieves on May 5th 2010, which remained at No1 on the I tunes Blues/Rock charts for 4 weeks, and after 9 months, still remains in the top twenty. This record marked Thoms brave departure from the pop market, to Blues/Rock. Sandi has had much praise for this venture into Blues/rock, hailed it as The greatest musical re-invention this year. Mojo magazine gave it a 4 star review describing her sound as having the oomph of Joan Osbourne, Maverick magazine wrote home with a 5-star rating and Classic rock magazine stamped their approval on the record by displaying Sandi on their front cover. There is no doubt that the new sexy, sassy, raw and rootsy Thom won the respect of the media and music critics alike, with this new record, however, she also caught the attention of her peers. Having now appeared on the same stage as the King of the Blues himself, BB.King, and being invited to tour Europe with the biggest thing in Blues today, Guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa. Joe liked Sandis style so much, he guest appeared on her album.

We are excited to be back at the Golden Lion in Todmorden! Lean into the alt rock sound of Benthead with your good ear. Energetic psych punk 5 piece, noise, energy and catchy riffs. Bulging veins, punky chaos, like a moody 5 legged packhorse tripping the light fantastic on the gritstone outcrops up by the Bridestones. Im on my break so leave me alone, odd nonsense and tufts of wiry grass.