This Feeling and John Giddings Celebrate Ten Years of Breaking Amazing New Bands at Isle of Wight Festival

If you’re worried that the world is ending then you’d better have the best time, rocking, rolling and loving each other, whenever possible.

To be fair, that sounds like what many of us already do.

If you’re lucky enough to be at the original rocking music festival, Isle Of Wight, then do it all over again this weekend. Click here for any remaining tickets (check availability)

There’s a party going down where 45 of the best new bands are coming up. Plus look out for two secret sets! If you can’t be there, don’t take your eyes off This Feeling, good times keep coming. Also, you might as well get to say that you saw them closer before they hit the big stages in the future.

HAPPY 10th IoW Anniversary, to THIS FEELING and all Zone Rangers!

Zone Island, #PlanetWater25 - SO many stars! What is this, a galaxy?

“This Feeling are the best in the business when it comes to finding new artists and propelling them upwards.

“It’s a pleasure to support what they do, it’s incredibly important that we support new music and the next generation of headliners here at the Isle of Wight Festival.”

John Giddings, Festival Director”

This Feeling is one of the golden threads in TheZineUK documenting of grassroots guitar bands and beyond. Some of the above names are already woven in, more to weave. It’s a beautiful thing.

The K's. Red Rum Club. Crawlers. The Royston Club. The Amazons. Yonaka. Dylan John Thomas. The Sherlocks. The Clause. The Lilacs. The Kairos. Rianne Downey. Seb Lowe. Overpass. Trampolene. Pastel. Crystal Tides. Andrew Cushin. Himalayas. Calva Louise & so many more played This Feeling Stage at Isle Of Wight long before they broke.

For many, this was their first ever festival appearance, most of them didn’t have booking agents. The best bit is how a genuine family of music world loyalty is making uniqulture a reality, by staying mutually involved as their stories unfold.

“**The K’s Are All the Rage in the U.K. Now They’re Ready to Take Over America” (Rolling Stone, 15th June 2025)**

2025 can never have too much positivity and there are myriad stories happening here this year - let alone the amount of high profile names, chart bands, radio/festival faves etc who are part of ‘This Feeling The Virtual Movie’ over the years.

For instance, ‘ALWAYS ON THE RUN’ (hear it!) the brand new single from the increasingly major EIGHTY EIGHT MILES is already a festival headliner’s classic. Trust.

Now consider how special the entire line up are gonna be.

**Eighty Eight Miles** are already going far!

Zone IN

When TheZineUK first uploaded in 2014, ideas of the non-privileged getting to play at a major festival was largely what dreams were made of after the 1990s. Since circa 2015, artists have been able to dream bigger despite yawny sofa-critics consistently (and wrongly) jeering “guitar bands are over”. In YOUR dreams, mate!

Thanks Mikey and all for the Zone Airport of talent still taking off. What a story channelling from the Channel Islands.

This Feeling at Isle Of Wight gave our origin stories year (2017) added tingle.

The black n white pic below (from our on line mag front cover), was from a first set of the day!

2017 Spring Summer documenting Punks Take St Paul’s, Abbie McCarthy’s Karma Club and This Feeling Stage at Isle Of Wight Festival.

Just discovered a cool excerpt of an interview with John Giddings by Heather Minx for TheZineUK in 2019. Click here.

There’s a man with HOW MANY tales to tell? A genuine giant of the music world. While Heather and Albert were filming, I was just gawping in awe at everything, ha ha! Seriously have a listen. It makes sense of This Feeling being part of his festival.

If independent music was a game, the consistent next levels of fun keep coming, but this is also our real lives of grassroot venues and artist/allies struggling, ducking and diving at the trickle-up end while there’s still largely arena-greed at the no-trickle-down top.

So yeah, out there in the field, all excuses for singing, dancing, cheering and hugging should be taken.

“My first major festival”

(Megan Wyn interview for TheZineUK by Louise Schofield). It’s fair to say that both Megan and Louise have come a long way since This Feeling’s Isle Of Wight Stage in post-lockdown 2021.

As a situationist endeavour, we feel it’s also a good insight into how anything can happen in or around The Zone! Megan Wyn returns to the TF stage for this 10th anniversary weekend!

“10 years on and I still pinch myself we've got a stage at the Isle of Wight Festival. It's a huge opportunity to give new acts their big break and it's a responsibility we take very seriously and I'd like to say a HUGE thank you John Giddings for believing in us and investing in new music, legend!”
Mikey Jonns (This Feeling founder)

The phenomenal **Harvey Jay Dodgson** © **Rhona Murphy** at The (Louise Schofield hosted) Musos Awards (where **This Feeling won Promoter For New Talent 2025**). Rhona is another legend (first met at, you guessed it, a This Feeling festival stage!)

Actually gonna let Mikey tell the story of the inspiration behind This Feeling festival stages in his own words.

“When I was a student in Sheffield I managed a band and despite consistently ramming venues, often supporting signed “industry” acts when doing so, they couldn’t catch a break at festivals.

So when John Giddings gave me the chance to host a stage at the Isle of Wight festival in 2015 I knew what I wanted to do; give acts who impressed and did well for This Feeling at their local grassroots venues the opportunity to show what they could do at a major festival.

And that’s what we’ve done ever since.

Since 2015 we have given over 1000 acts from ALL over the UK (and world!) an opportunity at major festivals including the Isle of Wight, Truck, Y Not, TRSMT, Tramlines, The Great Escape and Reading & Leeds.

Over 900 of them didn’t have a live agent at the time and for many it was their first ever festival performance.

This year is our 10th anniversary on the island including one “virtual” festival stage during Covid.

I’m so proud of this tent and what it represents and very grateful to everyone who’s helped along the way.

Thank you!”

Mikey Jonns

OMG, it’s The Velvet Hands! It’s been a thrill seeing the punky adventures of Cornwall’s top alternative rock band go from strength the strength, with This Feeling in all the chapters.

This Feeling Stage 10th Anniversary Edition

There have been poignant, hilarious, outrageous and gorgeous moments combined at this festival stage.

Be there for the ambitious tunes, star shaped performances, the community vibrations and your soul. Look after each other and hold the magic!

As THE BRACKNALL sing, it will be ‘ETHEREAL’ - so come on! (video)

Words by TheZineUK Events Dept (Caffy St Luce)