Joy, pain and resilience set the tone at Le Guess Who? 2025

Digging in to uphold true independent music values for communities and cultures from all over the world, Utrecht’s flagship alternative festival was a four-day beacon of innovative music and raw emotion.

On the Sunday night of Le Guess Who? 2025, The Cosmic Tones Research Trio closed out their second performance of the weekend with something they called the ‘Universal Tone’. The Portland-based spiritual jazz group invited the packed crowd in the Hertz concert space to make as much noise as possible for two minutes, joining in the cacophony themselves in a cathartic peak after their mesmerising, soulful performance. It was a powerful moment of togetherness among many scattered throughout the 19th edition of the much-loved music festival in Utrecht. 

Largely based around the towering venue complex Tivoli Vredenburg, Le Guess Who? has cultivated a truly independent, leftfield offering that stands proud amongst the landscape of alternative festivals in Europe. Most attendees are long-time devotees – it was more common to chat to punters who had been to 10 or more editions than to meet first-timers. Artists from BIG|BRAVE to Snakeskin’s Julia Sabra talked fondly on stage about their past experiences of playing the festival. The organisers balance out a bold, wide-reaching booking policy with a cosy familiarity by nurturing relationships with artists over years, if not decades. 

The first edition of Le Guess Who? in 2007 was framed as a weekend showcase for indie and crossover electronic acts from Montréal (anyone remember MSTRKRFT?). Founders Johan Gijsen and Bob van Heur quickly moved the focus beyond such location-specific booking and the festival grew in size to reach the ambitious scope it boasts today, with a full suite of talks and workshops (newly curated as the Sound and Culture Summit) and a whole additional locally-focused programme, U?, running in parallel to the musical core of the festival.

If there were any question marks over Le Guess Who?’s commitment to respecting global grassroots culture, Bob van Heur’s welcome speech alone made clear where the festival lies as he protested against the sceptre of private equity and its encroachment into independent music spaces. His position chimed with talk topics spanning the roots of treasured US label Mississippi Records and the importance of youth clubs in creating the conditions for new culture. With the benefit of experience and funding, Le Guess Who? is in a position to invite artists from all over the world to showcase the music of their communities to much wider audiences. There was a notable abundance of experimental music from Beirut’s thriving scene, The BATEKOO collective’s insight into cutting-edge Brazilian club sounds and a guest curation from Beijing’s Tianzhuo Chen offering wildly imaginative, multidisciplinary projects. All this was interspersed between consistently adventurous, globally-minded bookings. 

Being globally-minded also means being realistic about the world we live in, and there was a pensive heaviness in the room at a lot of the standout shows. The monolithic drone surge of Sunn O))) and Moin’s murky noise rock sat alongside the gothic pallor of Tristwch Y Fenywod. Saul Williams, Lonnie Holley and even jazz veteran Gary Bartz called out injustice and pain in distinct ways during their time on stage. Whether framed by dream pop ambience, searing metallic textures or intricate electronics, Snakeskin, Sawt El Doumouh and Youmna Saba (appearing alongside Al Wootton) brought a rawness to their performances, singing from a Lebanese perspective. Nothing hit as hard as Maya Al Khaldi, however. Joined by qanun player Sarouna, the Palestinian singer interspersed pieces from her album Other World with grief songs that pierced the smaller surroundings of Theater Kikker and everyone in it. The pain in her astounding voice was unmistakable, and it was humbling to experience it so tangibly.    

There were moments of towering beauty, as well. Lithuanian-Belgian duo Merope were joined by their frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily for a stunning concert in the vast 12th-century Jacobikerk church. South Carolina’s Niecy Blues brought her impossibly gorgeous strain of ambient neo-soul to the intimate EKKO club space and left every swooning afterwards. Yara Asmar’s disarmingly intimate songwriting lulled the Hertz crowd into a daze that lingered over the rest of Thursday night. Omnipresent percussive force of nature Valentina Magaletti was all over the festival, but her collaboration with upsammy stood out thanks to a perfect synergy of delicacy and drive, capped with the latter’s elegant, expressive and light-footed electronica. 

Even if there was a pensive, lower-tempo trend across Le Guess Who?, there was plenty of space for explosive energy and joy, too. As well as The Cosmic Tone Research Trio’s aforementioned uplifting closing, there was Tanzanian flair and a perfectly infectious stage show from The Zawose Queens, DJ Marcelle’s mischievously disruptive, rabble-rousing style of DJing, heartwarming classic reggae done right by The Congos and shit-kicking blasts of synth-punk energy from the electrifying Goblin Daycare. When the opportunity came to move, the well-seasoned, age-expansive crowd was more than responsive. That was especially true with the insight into Colombian-Carribbean picó sound system culture, curated by Edna Martinez with a full takeover of the Pandora space to see out the festival on the Sunday night. Martinez’s own blend of global club sounds were backed up by sharp technical flair from ARN4L2, fast and loose vibes from Nayi Lokura and a truly deeply-rooted representation of the picó tradition from Wilfred Guerrero. 

In a climate of heaviness, Le Guess Who? felt determined in its programming of grassroots culture and crossover collaborations,  echoing throughout performances, conversations and partnerships. Independent music relies on a resilient network of mutual support between artists, events and fans to keep the culture safe from venture capitalism and its profit-first attitude. For four days in Utrecht, Le Guess Who? demonstrated how much can be achieved with the right people at the controls. As the 20th anniversary looms into view for 2026, it’s the kind of institution that tells you the future of experimental festivals is in safe hands.