The 1975, Lewis Capaldi and more for Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee

Joe Goggins

30 January 2023 at 4:41 am·2-min read

Split of Matty Healy of The 1975 and Lewis Capaldi — The 1975 and Capaldi joined forces in Newcastle last week. (Photos: Wikimedia Commons)

The 1975, Lewis Capaldi and Arlo Parks are among the first raft of names for this year’s Radio 1’s Big Weekend, which will be held in Dundee.

Also heading to the City of Discovery are Raye, Niall Horan and Anne-Marie, for the three-day event set for the second of May’s bank holiday weekends, between the 26th and 28th.

Over 80,000 fans are expected in attendance at Camperdown Park. The BBC’s flagship festival has a long track record of being held in UK cities that are not normally host to major live events, with past editions taking place in Middlesbrough, Swansea, Perth and Exeter.

🎶🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿WE ARE COMING TO DUNDEE🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎶#BIGWEEKEND @gregjames pic.twitter.com/I5Q1HLODQB
— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) January 30, 2023

Last year, fans headed to War Memorial Park in Coventry for sets by the likes of Harry Styles, Calvin Harris, Lorde and Foals. The 2020 instalments of Big Weekend had been set for Dundee before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shutdown of live music in the UK. “We were gutted not to come to Dundee due to the pandemic so it’s massively exciting to finally fulfil our promise this year,” said Greg James, host of Radio 1’s Breakfast Show. “I was on holiday close to Dundee in the summer and decided I wanted to move there so doing Big Weekend nearby is just the first part of my cunning plan to get out of London. I’m glad Radio 1 have fallen for it.”

The full lineup will be confirmed in the coming months, along with ticket details, with precedence again expected to be given to local residents. Radio 1 will broadcast live from across the event all weekend, with video highlights to be made available on BBC iPlayer.

Big Weekend will mark the first outdoor show of the summer for The 1975, who wrap up their ‘At Their Very Best’ tour of the UK in Belfast tonight (January 30). Last week, at a show in Newcastle, they brought out fellow headliner Capaldi as a surprise guest, although only after introducing him as Styles, who reportedly turned down an invite to join the band at The O2 in London. Capaldi covered The 1975’s cult fan favourite ‘Antichrist’, as well as Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’.