This October, LOUD WOMEN is 11 years old.
Back in 2015, this all started with a very simple idea: there were loads of brilliant women and non-binary artists making incredible music, and nowhere near enough of them were getting booked. We were bored of hearing the same tired excuses about there supposedly not being enough bands out there, so we decided to prove otherwise by putting on our own gigs.
Eleven years later, I think we can safely say we proved the point.
What started as a little London gig night has grown into festivals, international shows, radio, records, live sessions, collaborations, workshops, festival stages and all sorts of other things that I definitely did not have written down in a business plan in 2015. We’ve taken LOUD WOMEN around the UK and increasingly around the world, we’ve watched bands meet each other at our shows and go on to tour together, we’ve seen artists play tiny rooms with us and then pop up on enormous stages, and we’ve made an absolutely ridiculous number of friends along the way.
So, for our 11th birthday, it seems like a good time to visit our poster archives and compile the LOUD WOMEN Hall of LOUD.
There isn’t an induction ceremony, nobody gets a little glass trophy, and there is absolutely no hierarchy involved. The entry requirements are very simple: if you’ve played a LOUD WOMEN event, you’re in.
The LOUD WOMEN Hall of LOUD
More than 500 artists have now performed at LOUD WOMEN events, from bands who were there right at the beginning to people we first met this summer. Some were already well established when they played for us, some were doing their first few gigs, some travelled halfway around the world to get there, and some probably got the night bus home afterwards carrying a pedalboard and half a drum kit.
There are bands here we’ve worked with once and bands who’ve become part of the furniture. There are people we’ve watched grow into completely different artists over the years, people who’ve joined other bands we later booked, people we’ve ended up travelling around the world with, and people who became some of our closest friends. Looking through all these names is basically looking through eleven years of our lives.
So, in alphabetical order, here they are.
0–9: 2Btch, 50 Foot Woman
A: Actual Crimes, AINAKANNA, Aino Elina, Alice Geary, Alice Nicholls, alx frncs, ALY, Anarchistwood, And So It Goes, Angel Girl, Arabella, Arch Femmesis, Argonaut, Arrows Meet, ARXX, Atrocity Girl, Auraboros, Ava Adonia
B: Baby Arms, Baby Said, Baby Teeth, Bad Pedestrian, Bad Static, Bang Bang Romeo, BANGZZ, Barbican Estate, Bareface, Basic Bitches, BELLA AND THE BIZARRE, Bella Artois, Belle Scar, Bellza, Berry Galazka, Best Praxis, Beth Munroe, Beth White, Beverley Kills, BEX, Big Joanie, Bill Ricky, Billy Reeves, BITCH SWITCH, Bitchin’ Hour, Bitter Tits, Blagged, Blake Williams, BLDSUGR, Blindness, BLONDE SECRET, Border Widow, Boudicca, Bratakus, Breakup Haircut, Breezy, Bridget, Brosephine, Brutalistas, Bugeye, Bullshit Boy, Burly Girlies, Burry, Butterknife
C: carina, Cassie Fox, Casual Wednesday, Cat Crash, Charla Fantasma, Charley Stone, Charlie Austen, Charlie Needs Braces, Charmpit, CHERYM, Chloe Hawes and the Holy Claws, Chloé Dejon, Choked Up, Chroma, Ch’Lu, Claire Pitt Wigmore, Clever Thing, Clitspit, Clitteband, Collars, Comeback Clit, Comic Sans, Cool Hot Rockers, Cordelia Gartside, COWZ, Crack Foxes, Cryptic Street, Cult of Doris, Currls
D: Daddy Issues, Daffodildos, Dark Hearts, DC Dolls, Death Pill, Death Trails, Debbie Smith, Delila Black, Desert Sharks, Desperate Journalist, deux furieuses, Deuxes, Diana Ezerex, Diane Goldie, Die Störung, Dinosaur Skull, Dirtygirl, Disaster Clinic, Diva Cup, Doberwoman, Dolls, Dose, DOWNGIRL, Dream Nails, Dubais, Duck
E: Echo & The Beats, EDDIE, Eevie Echoes & The Locations, Efa Supertramp, Eliza and the Organix, Eliza Shaddad, Emily C Smith, Esme Bridie, Estelle Mey, Everyday Saints, Eville, EYE+LASHES
F: Fast Blood, Felicette, Feral Five, FFSYTHO?!, Fight Rosa Fight!, Fighting Colours, Fightmilk, flirting., Flora Fiora, Florescent, FOLKULAKA, FOSFÍN, Foxcunt, French Toast, Freya Beer, Friend of Franky, Fryo, Fräulein
G: Gaptooth, Gay Skeleton Club, Gaydar, GAYR, Gender Chores, Generation Feral, George Crump, Georgie Lynch, Ghost Mutt, Ghum, Gilan, Girlcrush, Girls Like Us, Goddammit Jeremiah, Gold Baby, Goo, Grace Petrie, Grace Savage, Greenness, Grimrite, Gulls, Gute Katze Böse Katze, GUTTFULL, ĠENN
H: Hagar the Womb, Hail Mary Jane, Hands Off Gretel, Hannah Lou Clark, Hannah Mazey, Harmony Bo, Hastings Punk Choir, Hawk, HAWXX, Healthy Junkies, Helen McCookerybook, Hella Morgan, Hello Delaware, Hex Poseur, HEXMAZE, Hipersona, Hissy Fist, Hollow Mask, Holy Show, Honey Joy, Hoopdriver, Hot Mess, Hot Sauce Pony, HotKid, HotWax, Hurtling, Hussy, Hypsoline
I: I Am HER, I, Doris, Ich Bin Finn, IDestroy, ILL, Immi Dash, Isabella
J: Jack Powers, Jane Ruby, Janine Booth, Jar of Blind Flies, Jelly Cleaver, Jemma Freeman & the Cosmic Something, Jemma Roper, Jenn Hart, JENNY ALIEN, Jess Kemp, Jo Jo & The Teeth, Joanna and the Dropouts, Joanne Joanne, Juju, Julia Faulks, JuliaWhy?
K: Karobela, Kat Five, Kate Wintie, Kenickers, Kerensa, Killdren, Kimmi Watson, KIN, Kiti Black, Kitty Junk, Knight of the Comet
L: Lady Lazarus, Lambrini Girls, Larry_73, Las Fokin Biches, Laura Jayne, Laurapanic, Layla Tutt, Lea Andrews, Les Futiles, Lesley Woods, Liberty’s Mother, LibraLibra, LIINES, Lilith Ai, Lilith Left the Garden, Lilith’s Army, Lily Lyons, Linus, LIPS Choir, Little Fists, Liv Wynter, Long Teeth, Loose Articles, Lost Alice, Louise Distras, Loviet, Lucy’s Diary
M: Mac N’ Toss, Madame So, Maddy Carty, MADELINE, Madonnatron, MAITA, Mammory Tapes, Maneuverputš, Mango in Euphoria, Mara from Mars, Maria Uzor, Mars Ray & The Raptures, Matrone, Mave, Maya Kelly, Maya Songbird, ME and Deboe, Me and My Two Horses, Meg Shaw, Melina Blanco, Mere Amore, Message From the Ravens, Midwich Cuckoos, Miesha & the Spanks, Miffy Englefield, Miki Berenyi, Militant Girlfriend, MIRI, Miserable Wretch, Miss Eaves, MLY, Moira & Claire, Molly Vulpyne, Mona Freaka, Montague Armstrong, Morgana, MOWFY, Moxie Dolls, Ms Mohammed, Muddy Summers & the Dirty Fieldwhores, Muff, Murder Club, MX Tyrants, Mya the Third
N: Nadia Sheikh, Nameless Friends, Nana Punk, Naz & Ella, Nell Davies, Nervous Twitch, New Judgement, Nia Wyn, No Sugar, Not Now Norman, Nova Twins, NXKXTA, Nōōs
O: Ode To Sleep, Oh, the Guilt, Olivia Awbrey, OOMPH!, Opal Mag, Orla Bligh, Ota Brown
P: Panic Pocket, Party Fears, Peach Club, Pelvis, Personal Best, Petrol Girls, Petty Phase, Phat Problem, Phoenix Chroi, Pigeon Lips, PIGEONS, Pillow Fite, Piney Gir, Pink Suits, Pity Party, Planet Enid Collective, Playing Alice, Pleasure Venom, Polynya, Porcelain Doll, PRETTY CRIME, Private Wives, Problem Green, Problem Patterns, Pryma, Pushy Pushy Pushy, PUSSYLIQUOR
Q: Queen Cult, Quick Romance, Quim Smashers
R: R.U.B, Rabies Babies, Radiogirl, Rainbow Reservoir, Rantipoles, Rat Pussy, RATSALAD, Red Alleyways, Renn, Retropxssy, Ro Redfern, Rottweiler, Rubberband Girl, RUENA
S: Sacred, Salvation Jayne, Samba Sisters, Sassyhiya, Sea Vitch, Second Idol, Secondhand Underpants, SEIL LIEN, Serena Jasmine, Shaggo, Shallow Honey, SHAMBOL!CA, Sharp Violet, Shay Khan, She Makes War, SheBeat, Shelley Byron, Shitsick, Shiv and the Carvers, Shooting Daggers, ShyGodwin, Silk, Silva, Silver Fern, Sink Ya Teeth, Sister Ghost, Sisters of Hysteria, Sit Down, Skinny Girl Diet, Skint Knees, Skunk Motel, Slags, SLIP, Slut Magic, Smalltown Tigers, Smallways, SNM, Snoozers, Sonder, Sophie Noel, Sorry Darling, Spanking Machine, Spare Rib, Speak in Spells, Spencer, SPRING MAJOR, Stabbitha & the Knifey Wifeys, Stacey Cohen, Steel., Stef Fi, STONY SUGARSKULL, Sue LaRue, Suzie and the Bad Ideas
T: T-Bitch, T@b Grrrl, Tabi Gervis, Tailor Made, Taylor D, Television Screams, The 53, The Amniotics, The Argyle Jumpers, The Baby Seals, The Bluebonnets, The Calaveras, The Charlemagnes, The Cleopatras, The Croax, The Dead Zoo, The Dix, The Dollheads, The Empty Page, The Ethical Debating Society, The Franklys, The Funeral Crankies, The Hysterical Injury, The Kut, The Legend, The Maggie Pills, The Manic Pixies, The Menopause Army, The Menstrual Cramps, THE MOTHERMOLD, The Muffin Heads, The NaNaz, The New Eves, The Noise and the Naive, The Nyx, The Other Ones, The Outers, The Pingers, The Pirate Queens, The Popguns, The Potentials, The Priscillas, The Red Stains, The Sewer Cats, The Slugs, The Strangerz, THE SUBTEXTS, The Tom Boys, The Twistettes, The Txlips, The Untitled Band Project, The Wimmins’ Institute, Thee Dinnerladies, Think Pretty, Thunder on the Left, Thunderboob, THWACK!, Tilly Louise, Tits Up, Tokyo Taboo, Top of the Pops, TsuShiMaMiRe, Tuffragettes, Tummyache, TV Face, Twat Union, TYDL, Typhoid Rosie
U: UrgentSea
V: Vagina Dry, Vaginas, Velodrome, Venior, Vernon Jane, Vertigo Violet, Violet Violet, Viper Snatch, Viva Zapata!, VODUN, Von Dodds, Vulgar Breeds, Vulpynes, Vulva Voce
W: War on Women, Warning Signal, Wave Machine, Weekend Recovery, Welpe, Wench, What Else?, Where We Sleep, Whip!, Whoremones, Whoroboros, Witch Fever, Witch Spit, Woke Nonsense, Wokerati Party, WOLF GIRL, WOLFS, Worm Girlz
X: Xray Vez
Y: Yakkie, YIOTA, YNES, Young Romance, Yur Mum
Z: Zahra, Zara, Zoe Sky Jordan
And, despite going through eleven years of archives to put that lot together, I absolutely refuse to believe we haven’t missed somebody. If you’ve played for us and you can’t find yourself above, shout. Eleven years is a long time and our administrative systems have not always been what you might call impeccable.
It takes a massive gang of people to do this
The bands are only part of the story. LOUD WOMEN has always run on an enormous amount of goodwill, graft and people saying “yeah, I can help with that”. Over the years, a frankly wonderful number of people have photographed our gigs, written for the website, designed things, filmed sets, worked doors, run merch, stage-managed, engineered sound, hosted radio, driven bands around, carried amps up horrible staircases, lent backline, put visiting musicians up in their homes, introduced us to people, shared posts, made food, fixed disasters and generally got stuck in.
The team changes and grows all the time, and increasingly that team isn’t even in the same country. One of the loveliest developments over the past few years has been working with people in different cities who already know and love their local scenes. They know which bands we need to hear, which venues will work and who else is doing good things locally. That’s how I want LOUD WOMEN to grow: not by barging into places and planting a flag, but by finding excellent people and making something together.
And then there are the people who actually come to the gigs. The ones who buy a ticket when they only recognise one name on the poster, turn up for the first band, stand at the front, buy merch, tell their mates about somebody brilliant they just discovered, travel to another city for the next Fest, or walk into one of our shows on their own and end up knowing half the room by the end of the night. That’s as much Team LOUD WOMEN as anyone else.
Eleven years later, the exciting bit is what happens next
There is loads to be proud of when we look back. We’ve released records, built festivals, taken over stages at Rebellion, made radio, broadcast festivals live, worked with brilliant campaigning organisations, taken LOUD WOMEN around the UK and overseas, and helped a lot of excellent artists get heard by people who might otherwise never have found them.
But what I’m most excited about right now is that it doesn’t feel like we’ve peaked. Quite the opposite. There is so much going on behind the scenes that I’m having trouble keeping all the spreadsheets straight.
There are more countries on the horizon, more local teams forming, more collaborations being plotted, more festivals, more radio, more projects I probably shouldn’t announce yet, and a constant stream of new music arriving from people we’ve never met. Every time I think I’ve heard all the bands, another one appears and blows my head off.
That’s the bit I want more of over the next eleven years. New bands, new places, new projects, new friends, people introducing each other and helping each other, and LOUD WOMEN using whatever platform we’ve managed to build to amplify as many people as possible.
The Hall of LOUD isn’t a museum. It’s a very long guestlist that keeps getting longer.
Come and celebrate our 11th birthday
We’re celebrating on Saturday 10 October at the Hope & Anchor in Islington, which feels like exactly the right place for it: downstairs in a legendary little London punk venue with five ace acts and hopefully a room full of people who’ve been part of this story.
The birthday lineup is Alexandra Leaving + Gemma Rogers + I, Doris + Lola Pony + Pisces, and we’re very much hoping for the atmosphere of a family party, if your family party involved amps, eyeliner and people shouting into microphones.
LOUD WOMEN 11th birthday party
Saturday 10 October 2026
Hope & Anchor, Islington, London
Doors 7pm
£12 advance / £15 on the door
If you’ve played a LOUD WOMEN show, worked one, photographed one, reviewed one, volunteered at one, bought a ticket, bought a record, listened to the radio show, told somebody about a band you discovered through us, or simply stood down the front and made some noise, you’ve helped build this thing.
Thank you.
Now let’s see how bloody long the Hall of LOUD list is by birthday number 12.
