a headline masterclass from Barry Can’t Swim, plus electric sets from Orbital, Annie Mac and Ezra Collective

Of the two days at Bristol’s Forwards Festival last weekend, Saturday was certainly the bigger electronic music draw.

While Sunday’s lineup proved an enticing proposition – even after the somewhat last-minute and unexplained cancellation of TikTok sensation and festival headliner Doechii – for us EDM obsessives, the chance to see Barry Can’t Swim, Orbital and Annie Mac in the space of a few hours was a little more tantalising.

Situated in the far corner of the deceptively large Clifton Down on Bristol’s west side, Forwards – now in its fourth year – is billed as a music festival “for the future”, with multiple stages hosting an eclectic lineup of music talent, plus the Information Stage, dedicated to discussions and debates on current affairs and social and political issues.

To be honest, though, after we make it through the festival’s main entrance, we head straight for the music. Political issues can wait.

First on our hit list when we arrive mid-afternoon is Annie Mac, who is blessed with a two-hour set on the smaller, new-for-2025 Arches Stage.

Inconveniently, Aussie electro-pop heroes Confidence Man are playing at the same time on the West Stage, so we split our time and catch half an hour of their very fun set before heading into the packed out Arches Stage for a masterclass from veteran DJ Annie Mac. Her multi-decade career is evident in her ability to command a crowd of hundreds of drum and bass fanatics, who rock the Arches Stage for the duration of her set.

And after a nice change of pace from British jazz quintet Ezra Collective, with live instruments keeping the day’s groove with a smorgasbord of genre flavours including afrobeat, soul and hip-hop, it’s time to head back to the East Stage for another dose of EDM, this time from legendary Kent-based dance duo, Orbital.

For the synth nuts present, Orbital are arguably the spectacle of the day. Phil and Paul Hartnoll are unmistakable as they don their signature head torches, backed by an entrancing light show and surrounded by banks of hardware synths which, of course, they programme in real time.

That the Hartnoll brothers are veterans of the rave scene is subject to no debate, as they blaze through a dynamic set with both old and new tracks like, getting things going with the thumping, mid-tempo Dirty Rat, before treating the crowd to the trancey grooves of Lush and certified crowd pleasers Satan, Halcyon and Chime.

The highlight of the day, though, expectedly, is Barry Can’t Swim. When the Scottish DJ and producer – real name Joshua Spence Mainnie – takes to the West Stage for his headline slot, he’s had approximately one day of festival headlining experience, after also taking the top slot at London’s All Points East just the day before.

But Mainnie has clearly been a festival headliner-in-waiting for some time. His characteristic brand of groovy, melodic and often jazz-infused house music has the crowd moving throughout, while a hypnotising light show and the scattered inclusion of live instruments makes for a set that perfectly encapsulates the eclectic array of artists who performed earlier in the day.

The highlight of his set has to be newer track About to Begin, which, when its thumping kick and groovy bass line fill the Clifton Down airwaves, takes the atmosphere up several gears and once again solidifies Barry Can’t Swim as the dance festival circuit’s latest headline favourite. Literally my only criticism of his set is that it wasn’t longer, and at one and a half hours anyway, that’s saying a lot.

Barry Can’t Swim is on an exponential upwards curve at the moment, and his Forwards headline set proves it’s well deserved. If you ever get the opportunity to go to one of his shows, we strongly recommend you take it.

Should I go to Forwards next year?

If you’re a Bristol native and festival lover, Forwards should be a no-brainer. As it wraps up its fourth year, we can only imagine the calibre of artists that might appear next year. Its lineup is hugely varied, and this is reflected in the diverse array of music lovers who turn out. It’s also a logistical triumph, with the site very well and ergonomically mapped out, meaning it feels perfectly busy – not too sparse, not too packed out.

Even if you’re not from Bristol, making the trip to attend Forwards in 2026 would certainly be worthwhile. Of course, it’s still very early days and no artists have been booked yet, but given the festival’s current trajectory, we’d assume next year’s lineup will be just as good, if not better. And if you do decide to go, we’ll almost certainly be seeing you there.

Sam is the Associate News Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Thoroughly immersed in music culture for the majority of his life, Sam has played guitar for 20 years, studied music technology and production at university, and also written for the likes of MusicRadar, Guitar World, Total Guitar and Metal Hammer.