Stonedead 2025 opened on a Friday night with Jayler, Sweet Electric and Tyketto. This evening may be billed as a smaller warmup party, but the numbers are so high now that the audience seems on par with the main day itself.
Friday – Stonedead Festival 2025
Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire – 22/23 August 2025
Words: Liz Medhurst
Photography: Paul Hutchings
At 6 pm, the arena was packed and positively humming with anticipation, and a crowd built around the main stage in advance of the first band, Jayler, making their appearance.
Jayler
These are youngsters with old souls and a sound directly from the patchouli-soaked velvet and flares era. The Rugeley quartet may have only formed three years ago, but have ambition to match their sound, so expect them to go stratospheric in the future.
The main inspiration is, of course, Led Zeppelin, but they own that, fully leaning into it. Once they find their own unique voice, this band will be something very special indeed, but for now, they entertain beautifully and opened up proceedings marvellously.
Sweet Electric
If you are having a party, then you need to make sure that Sweet Electric are invited. These German rock ‘n’ rollers are here for a good time and have no problem taking us with them.
Frontman Brad Marr (ex Massive, now based in Cologne) was resplendent in gold lame and giving off Jack Black-like energy and wackiness backed by a band who brought their A game.
Over a monster of a set, we were treated to high-energy shenanigans that embraced the true spirit of rock and also encompassed some funk as well as plenty of cowbell. Their ethos can be summed up perfectly by the well-chosen cover of Party Rock Anthem.
A band that are genuinely modest, saying how thrilled they were to be sandwiched between two fantastic acts, Sweet Electric need not have worried. This is exactly what was needed.
Tyketto
Tyketto finally made it to Stonedead after originally being billed to play at the cancelled 2020 event. The merch stand had done a swift trade in cowbells after Sweet Electric’s set, so tonight’s headliners had some extra percussion to help them along.
Danny Vaughn took to the stage in a jacket that looked like it had been borrowed from Brad Marr – tonight was all about shine and sparkle.
The sound quality was superb, Tyketto were tight, and Vaughn’s vocals were as wonderful as ever. No new tracks were heard tonight, although there was a teaser announcement that there will be a new album in 2026.
A run through the back catalogue and a welcome appearance of the Waysted track Heroes Die Young produced melodic rock delights.
It is debatable whether Tyketto are the best choice to headline a party night, as the tempo was dialled down for this set, creating a calmer mood overall.
There is no denying the talent, though, and Forever Young ended proceedings with a blast of pyro, closing out a great start to the weekend.
You can read all MetalTalk’s Stonedead Festival 2025 coverage at metaltalk.net/tag/stonedead-2025
