There are few things more humbling than spending half an hour in a festival queue, gradually realising that the person controlling the door has absolutely no intention of letting you inside.

At this year’s Manchester Psych Fest, there’s one set in particular where you might want to prepare yourself for that possibility.

Angine de Poitrine have gone from two men from Québec making wonderfully strange, hypnotic music to one of the most talked-about live acts on the planet. Somewhere along the way, their mixture of repetitive synths, absurdist vocals, synchronised dancing and general French-Canadian weirdness escaped from the confines of the internet and started filling venues.

Their set is likely to be one of the busiest of the day, and with MPF spread across venues of very different shapes and sizes, getting a ticket for the festival doesn’t necessarily mean getting through the door for every band you’ve carefully highlighted on Clashfinder. But that's sort of the point.

The best festivals are rarely remembered for the meticulously planned itinerary you constructed three days earlier. They’re remembered for wandering into a room because something sounded interesting, catching a band you’d never heard of, and emerging 30 minutes or so later convinced you’ve discovered the future of music.

So, if Angine de Poitrine reaches capacity, or you simply can’t face joining a queue stretching halfway down Oxford Road, don't panic.

There are plenty of other places to be, and we’ve got that covered.

BILLY NOMATES

If you want an alternative that isn’t exactly a consolation prize, Billy Nomates is a pretty good place to start.

The Leicester-born, Bristol-based musician — real name Tor Maries — has built a career out of refusing to sit neatly in one musical box. Post-punk, electronics, indie and flashes of pop all find their way in, while her lyrics turn the everyday frustrations and indignities of modern life into something surprisingly danceable. There's an infectious physicality to her music which makes standing politely at the back increasingly difficult. Songs can be funny, angry and deeply personal without ever becoming weighed down by themselves. Missing one of the weekend's most talked-about acts only to stumble into one of Britain's most compelling alternative performers? We've heard of worse festival disasters.

ROSCOE ROSCOE

Alternatively, you could just float away for a bit.

London six-piece Roscoe Roscoe deal in the sort of dreamy neo-psychedelia that makes considerably more sense after several hours wandering around. Formed by school friends before gradually developing into the band they are today, their music is built around gorgeous, wandering guitars and ethereal harmonies, with songs that seem to drift rather than arrive. If the thought of battling through another packed crowd doesn't appeal, this might be your reset button. Find some space, switch off and let Roscoe Roscoe do the rest.

LAEL NEALE

Lael Neale offers another opportunity to take things down a notch — although describing her music simply as singer-songwriter territory doesn't quite do it justice.

Originally from Virginia and now based in Los Angeles, Neale’s music began in the sparse world of minimalist drone-pop, but has gradually expanded into something considerably more adventurous. There’s still plenty of space in her songs, but increasingly there are synths, organs, percussion and strange little textures creeping around the edges. Her Virginian upbringing remains woven through her songwriting, giving even her more experimental material a strangely timeless quality. For anyone suffering from a little mid-afternoon festival sensory overload, Neale could provide the perfect antidote.

BLEECH 9:3

Or you could do precisely the opposite.

Dublin's Bleech 9:3 are drawing heavily from the fuzzier, heavier end of ‘90s alternative rock, pairing huge guitars with frantic basslines and vocals capable of punching straight through the noise. They’re already beginning to make serious waves beyond Ireland, helped by live performances that aren’t particularly interested in conserving energy. If you were heading to Angine de Poitrine because you wanted something slightly unhinged, this might be the diversion for you. You won't get synchronised dancing. You might get tinnitus. Fair trade.

AUTOMATIC

Coming out of Los Angeles’ DIY scene, Yuck alumni Automatic take post-punk, no wave and synth-pop and put them through something cold, rhythmic and distinctly Californian.

The trio have been making music together since 2019 and have since developed a sound driven as much by repetition and rhythm as traditional rock instrumentation. It’s angular without being inaccessible; strange without feeling deliberately difficult. Their tightly wound rhythms give their performances a hypnotic quality of their own. Anyone mourning the repetitive grooves happening elsewhere might find themselves remarkably well catered for.

GHOSTWOMAN

Psych festival. Psychedelic rock band.

Sometimes you don't need to overthink these things. Canadian outfit GHOSTWOMAN take a deliberately analogue approach to making music, pulling from the warmth and imperfections of ‘60s recordings without sounding like they're simply trying to recreate them. That philosophy carries into their live shows too. Rather than obsessing over reproducing the recorded versions note-for-note, songs are allowed to shift, stretch and change depending on the room they're being played in. It’s loose, fuzzy and organic.

GROUP A.D.

Group A.D. stands for The Group For Action & Dance, which is both an explanation of the name and a fairly useful description of what you’re getting yourself into.

The Leeds project throws dub, psychedelic post-punk, no-wave and assorted sounds from several decades into the same pot, before seemingly deciding that separating them again would be far too much effort. The result is music that feels simultaneously familiar and difficult to place. Action and dance, then. They did warn you.

HONK

Any band describing themselves as “trash can country” deserves at least ten minutes of your attention.

Manchester-and-Dublin outfit Honk are difficult to neatly summarise, which is presumably how they’d prefer it. Country provides part of the foundation, but their self-described genre-warping approach means things have a tendency to veer off course rather quickly. That playfulness extends to their live performances, where unpredictability isn't so much an occupational hazard as the entire point.

MAQUINA.

If it's repetition you're after, though, Lisbon trio MAQUINA. might be the strongest alternative of the lot.

Drawing from krautrock, punk and psychedelic rock, their music is constructed around hypnotic grooves, relentless percussion and the sort of rhythms that gradually convince your body to start moving without asking permission first. Their second album Body Control pushed that approach even further, transforming some of the looser, jam-based instincts of their earlier work into something more direct and beat-driven. Live, those songs become properly physical.

RENNY CONTI

By this point in the day, there’s also every possibility that you've had enough of having your brain chemistry altered. Enter Renny Conti.

Coming from San Francisco, Conti occupies a considerably gentler corner of the festival, writing warm, acoustic songs built around storytelling and the small details of real life. His music has an easygoing quality without becoming background music, helped by lyrics that wander through personal experiences with wit and charm.

THE SPEED OF HONEY & HER OSCILLATIONS

There isn’t an enormous amount of information out there about The Speed of Honey & Her Oscillations.

Which, frankly, makes them exactly the sort of band you should be seeing at Psych Fest. The three-piece describe themselves in suitably genre-bending terms, with originality sitting at the heart of both their music and live performances.

SECRET SET @ THE ABBEY

Say less.

Can’t Get Into Angine de Poitrine? Here’s Where To Go Instead at Manchester Psych Fest