It's no secret that the hosts at RTL Today Radio (hipsters and contrarians all) are very excited for this year's Congés Annulés festival, kicking off at Rotondes on Friday, 23 July.
Mostly because the line-up, once again, doesn't disappoint: Westside Cowboy, Deafheaven, Deadletter, Just Mustard, Adult DVD, and Joshua Idehen (just to name a few) all feature prominently on the programme.
As such, we recently commissioned our in-house videographer and elite metal curator Ethan Carey to record our most-anticipated outfits. Here's a choice selection.
This year's winners (if there's such a thing), nearly everyone at RTL Today Radio is pumped to see the Manchester four-piece in the flesh. We're huge fans of the singles they've released ahead of their upcoming debut LP, It Goes On, and we clearly can't shut up about them on air.
Every member sports a microphone, and they've even invented a micro-genre for themselves called 'Britainicana.' They've got so much going on and might just be the next big thing.
With the recent announcement that Westside Cowyboy are playing at Rotondes' Congés Annulés festival on 3 August, the Algo decided we needed to hear more.
So they might not be everyone's cup of tea. But when the post-metal, blackgaze, 'white metal' band Deafheaven hits, they hit hard. Some hosts at the station have seen them live and can confirm: their shows are an insane, wall-of-sound experience that should not be missed. Featuring vocalist George Clarke's witch howls and guitarist Kerry McCoy's masterful riff-writing, earplugs are definitely recommended, too.
A local favourite for a multitude of reasons, DEADLETTER are a poetic post-punk outfit brimming with attitude. We really enjoyed their latest album, Existence is Bliss, which released late February 2026, and can't wait to see them in person after interviewing their lead singer, Zac Lawrence.
With their second studio album Existence is Bliss coming out on Friday, 27 February, Tom caught up with DEADLETTER frontman Zac Lawrence.
The Irish experimenters are, by some measures, one of the most interesting rock bands out there right now. The Dundalk five-piece took a warmer, more atmospheric approach on their third studio album, We Were Just Here (2025) – although we certainly don't mind their darker, roguer material, either.
An English dance-punk outfit from Leeds, they specialise in hard-hitting, gripping numbers that belong both in cool, northern-English clubs and indie stages the world over. We've featured them on our New Noise show quite a bit, and for good reason: their tunes are like drinking a tin of flat beer in the rain. In a good way!
An American singer-songwriter specialising in retro, folksy, indie stylings, Tyler Ballgame feels remarkably familiar even though he's only just gotten going. We would heartily recommend his debut album For The First Time, Again (released in January his year).
Dance-y, spoken-word artist Josua Idehen musical forays with the producer Saturday, Monday have yielded some pretty incredible results. It seems like these sorts of sounds tend to tickle the hosts at RTL Today Radio – for fans of Antony Szmierek and Ben Kidson, two of our (other) faves.
We, of course, can't wait to see all the great Luxembourgish bands playing at Congés Annulés this time around, either. Experimental art-wave duo Sheebaba will be present at the festival's opening night, whilst you can expect to see Esch-based alt-rockers Mutiny on the Bounty very early on supporting Farquat on 26 July.
In fact, most opening acts will be local scene legends: Mutiny on the Bounty, Autumn Sweater, Hanna Ida,, Waffle Killers, Emily Grogan, Napoleon Gold, The Red Light Tapes, and many more bolster the festival's programme.
Don't miss the two nights dedicated to the local scene either on 29 July and 13 August. Luxembourgish music has never sounded better!
