This Thursday 19th of May, the Stag and Dagger one day festival returns to Shoreditch, giving London hipsters an all access pass to the best in new music with just one wristband.

Where The XX wowed crowds way before being rinsed on every TV show soundtrack, Stag and Dagger serves as a platform for normal folk like us to get up close and personal with the Next Big Things at venues across East London.

This year sees a host of hopefuls vying for that shot to go viral. James Yuill, one-man band extraordinaire, takes lo-fi indie sounds to the brink of electro (think Postal Service 2.0), whilst Seattle based Beat Connection achieves summery euphoric dance vibes so convincingly, you’ll believe the tracks were produced on the French Riviera.

Ghostpoet, already making headlines and filling countless headphones, is destined to wow the crowds. But he’s up against another left-field urbanite in the form of Marques Toliver, whose soulful voice, that could melt countless hearts, is set off perfectly by his exquisite violin playing. Yes, you read that correctly.

With so much great music on in such close proximity the biggest challenge, as with every festival, is deciding who to see when two faves clash. So, just four days until Tower Hamlets’ answer to Coachella arrives.

Source: Abadesi Osunsade www.cloakandswagger.com