There’s a reason I wanted to start writing these pieces before Neighbourhood.
It’s easy to look at a festival poster, pick out the names you already know and build your day around them. But somewhere further down that same poster will be a band who, six months later, you’ll probably wish you’d bothered to see in a 200-cap room.
Bank Holiday might be one of those bands.
The Manchester band are still right at the beginning of this particular story. Their debut single, Out of the Blue, only arrived in May 2026. Yet before they’d even officially released music, they had already sold out their first headline show at Gullivers in Manchester.
That’s a fairly decent way to announce yourself.
A new band. Not exactly new musicians.
Bank Holiday are Mac McCartney, Luke Owens and Oliver Clare, and while the name is new, the people behind it already have plenty of miles behind them.
Luke and Oli previously played together in SHADE, with Mac joining towards the end of that project. When that chapter finished, the three found themselves wanting to do something different rather than simply repeat what they’d already done.
That became Bank Holiday.
And I think that bit matters.
There’s a difference between a new band still trying to work out what it is and a new band made up of people who have already learned a few lessons the hard way. Bank Holiday feel much closer to the second.
Their previous projects had already picked up things like Radio X and SiriusXM airplay and sync placements including BBC's Waterloo Road. As Bank Holiday, they then headed out on acoustic dates supporting Jamie Webster before most people had even had the chance to properly discover them.
Then came Out of the Blue.
There’s something refreshingly uncomplicated about their debut.
Big guitars. Proper drums. A chorus that knows exactly what its job is.
There are definite flashes of '90s alternative rock in there, but it doesn't feel like three lads attempting to recreate somebody else's record collection. There’s enough melody and polish around it to make it feel current.
Even the idea behind the lyrics is slightly different.
Mac and Luke started 'Out of the Blue' by challenging themselves to squeeze as many familiar sayings and idioms into one song as they could. What began almost as a writing exercise ended up forming the track itself.
Luke produces and records the band's material in his own studio too, giving them the freedom to keep working at songs without losing the natural feel that got them excited in the first place.
And then the internet got hold of it.
One early piece of short-form content for the track reportedly passed 300,000 views, helping build an audience before the single was even out. The song subsequently picked up a BBC Radio 1 play as the momentum continued.
That part interests me almost as much as the music.
Because this is increasingly what building a band looks like in 2026. Write the song. Play the tiny rooms. Make the content. Find the audience. Repeat.
No magic shortcut. Just lots of little things beginning to join together.
And those little rooms are already getting bigger.
Their first Bank Holiday headline at Gullivers sold out.
Then came those Jamie Webster dates.
On 18 September, they opened at Blackpool's Winter Gardens on a Manchester-heavy bill featuring Doves, The Slow Readers Club and IST IST. Eight days later they were at Blackburn's King George's Hall with The K's.
And now they’re on the Neighbourhood Festival poster.
Not at the top.
Not in giant letters.
Exactly where I want to be looking.
Start here: Out of the Blue
At the moment, this one is easy.
If Bank Holiday is a new name to you, start with 'Out of the Blue'.
It's currently their calling card: bright guitars, punchy drums, a huge melodic centre and enough of that Manchester indie DNA running underneath it to feel completely at home at Neighbourhood.
But perhaps the more interesting thing is what comes next.
When Mac and Luke spoke about the project earlier this year, the intention was to keep releasing rather than disappearing for twelve months between songs. They already had more material written and talked about putting out five or six tracks a year.
So Neighbourhood could arrive at a really interesting point for them.
Why Bank Holiday are in The Small Print
This series isn't supposed to be me telling you which bands are going to be massive.
Nobody actually knows that.
It's about finding the names lower down a festival poster where there’s something happening worth paying attention to.
And with Bank Holiday, there clearly is.
A first headline sold out before the first single landed. Hundreds of thousands of views around their earliest content. Radio 1. Jamie Webster. Doves. The K's. And, less than five months after releasing their debut, a place at Neighbourhood Festival in their home city.
That's not a bad first chapter.
I started Above Average because I love this bit of music — the rehearsal rooms, little venues, new releases and bands still building something rather than only talking about them once everyone already knows the name.
Bank Holiday are very much in that bit right now.
So when you're planning Neighbourhood and scanning straight past the smaller names to work out where the headliners are playing, stop for a second.
Find Bank Holiday.
Give 'Out of the Blue' a listen.
Then maybe put a little circle around their name on the poster.
That's what The Small Print is for.
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