Looking beyond the headliners at the smaller artists worth catching across Manchester.
When the Neighbourhood line-up came out, I did what most people probably do.
Looked at the big names first.
Then I started working my way down the poster.
And actually, that’s the bit I’m finding much more interesting.
I’m a music fan first and foremost. I’m also a drummer, and now I spend a ridiculous amount of my time talking to bands and musicians through Above Average. The more I get involved in grassroots music, the more interested I’ve become in what’s happening before a band gets to the big stages.
So that’s the idea behind The Small Print.
I’m going through the Neighbourhood 2026 line-up and picking out some of the smaller names I think are worth knowing about before we all descend on Manchester on 17 October.
I’m not trying to predict the next Oasis.
I’m just finding bands I’d quite like to see.
Number two takes us about 15 miles up the road from Manchester.
Florentenes. From Bolton.
THEY STARTED REALLY YOUNG
And I mean really young.
Florentenes are William Train Smith on vocals and guitar, Luke Holding on guitar, Harry Stubbs on bass and Liam Fiddy on drums.
William, Luke and Harry met at school in Bolton, with Liam later completing the line-up.
When ITV Granada caught up with them in 2025, Liam was 15 and still doing his GCSEs.
By that point the band were already selling out hometown shows, playing around the country and getting ready to headline Manchester’s Deaf Institute.
There’s another detail about Liam I particularly enjoyed. He’d apparently been playing drums since he was six, but complaints from the neighbours meant his practice at home eventually got restricted to half an hour on a Sunday.
As a drummer with a drum room at home, I’m very much Team Liam on this one.
14:17
Their first EP was called 14:17.
Why?
Because those were their ages when they recorded it.
That probably tells you more about how early this all started than anything else I can write.
And despite being that young, they weren’t exactly messing around recording demos in someone’s bedroom.
14:17 was produced by Dave Eringa, whose credits include Manic Street Preachers and The Who.
That’s a fairly ridiculous person to have involved in your first EP.
Since then they’ve just kept going.
More releases. More gigs. Bigger rooms. More people paying attention.
Their second EP, Homegrown, arrived in 2025 and the name feels pretty appropriate for a band whose Bolton roots are still such a big part of their story.
Now they’re on the Neighbourhood line-up.
SO WHAT DO THEY ACTUALLY SOUND LIKE?
Guitars.
Lots of them.
If you’re into British indie and guitar music, you’re going to find plenty that’s familiar here.
Their press material references early Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes and The Who, and you can understand why when you listen to them. There’s energy, big choruses and the sort of songs that feel like they’re supposed to be played in a room full of people rather than disappearing into the background of a Spotify playlist.
Which, for Neighbourhood, is exactly what I want.
I’m becoming increasingly interested in bands that make me want to see whether the live version is better than the recorded one.
Florentenes feel like one of those bands.
They played Manchester’s Gorilla in March this year, opening with The News and working through tracks including Madeline and War Horse.
And from the live reviews I’ve read, they did what a young band needs to be able to do.
They won people over.
Not everyone in a festival crowd is there specifically for you.
Sometimes you’re just the band that’s on when somebody walks through the door.
Making them stay is the trick.
BOLTON MATTERS
This is probably the bit I like most about their story.
They’re ambitious. Obviously.
They’ve talked about wanting to play Glastonbury, which isn’t exactly unusual for a young British band.
But they’ve also talked about wanting to sell out Bolton Wanderers’ stadium.
That’s brilliant.
Because you can want the massive stages without forgetting where you came from.
And there’s something about that which connects with what I’m trying to do with Above Average too.
I’m building a clothing brand around music. I’m meeting more bands, going to more gigs, getting involved with grassroots events and slowly figuring out where Above Average fits into all of this.
I don’t want the brand to just turn up once artists are successful.
The interesting bit is what’s happening now.
The small venues.
The support slots.
The first EPs.
The slightly-too-small dressing rooms with clocks that show the wrong time.
That’s where Florentenes are right now.
And that’s exactly why they’re in The Small Print.
START HERE 🎧
FLORENTENES — “MADELINE”
If you’ve never listened to Florentenes, this is where I’d start.
Madeline landed at the beginning of 2026 and gives you a pretty good idea of what you’re getting.
Then try The News.
Then Fuel for the Flame.
Or just stick their name into Spotify and see where you end up.
That’s partly the point of these articles.
I’m not going to give you a forensic breakdown of every release they’ve ever made and tell you what you’re supposed to think.
Have a listen.
If you like them, stick them on your Neighbourhood list.
I’ll be doing the same.
READ THE SMALL PRINT
So that’s number two.
#001 Garage Flower — Leeds.
#002 Florentenes — Bolton.
And I’m already starting to realise that putting together an actual schedule for Neighbourhood is going to be a nightmare.
But that’s a problem for 17 October.
For now, I’m carrying on down the poster.
There are loads of bands on there I’ve never listened to.
Some I’ll probably love.
Some I probably won’t.
But that’s the fun of it.
And if this series gets a few more people turning up early, walking into one of the smaller venues and giving a band they’ve never heard of half an hour of their day, it’ll have done its job.
Florentenes are in the small print for now.
I’d go and have a listen.
Neighbourhood 2026: The Small Print #002
The names might be smaller. The music doesn’t have to be.
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