Freakin’ out with Midnight Rodeo
Tomorrow is the 2026 iteration of the Jarred Up Festival! Can you believe it? Less than 24 hours! What joyous news!
To round off our pre-festival coverage, we spoke to this year’s Jingle Jangle Jungle room headliners, Midnight Rodeo, about how they’re feeling for this year’s festival. Enjoy!
How did Midnight Rodeo come together as a band?
Maddy rounded up a gang of outlaws from the peripheries of Nottingham’s melting pot of a scene, picking pals with psychedelic tendencies. Five years and a few substitutes later, we’re still rockin’.
What are some of your major influences?
The big 60s and 70s thing, as you’d expect. Lots of surf. The groove of Motown and Gainsbourg. David Lynch, Pink Floyd, Dusty Springfield, Stereolab, Juniore, La Luz. Turkish music, cumbia, Brazilian tunes. Escape artists, and anyone who loves what they do. It’s a big cauldron!
What role does fashion play in Midnight Rodeo?
We’d be lost without flares. The aesthetic is certainly a consideration. We were first drawn to each other through how we expressed ourselves with clothes. I'm not sure a huge amount of thought has ever went into it, but we always end up looking like a cult when we’re together. That’s what bands used to be like, eh?
Which bands/artists do you think have a particularly interesting visual identity?
GOAT, Nice Biscuit and Snapped Ankles spring to mind straight away. More traditionally, Fleetwood Mac, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and definitely the Stones.
What’s the Nottingham music scene like at the moment? Anyone we should be paying attention to?
Always firing. Too many to mention, but big shout-outs to Veduna, Cucamaras, Pict, Girlband, Bloodworm and Operation Grandslam. And to The Grove and JT Soar for serving the scene so diligently and humbly.
How important is it to be embedded in your local music scene?
Huge. It’s your platform, your community, and it should be your safe space. Get out there, support your people and get inspired.
If you could play alongside anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Old - CSNY. New - Say She She. Those harmonies… oof!
What’s the strangest show you’ve played?
Outside a pub in Norwich on Halloween, half in costume, in the pouring rain. Our old drummer Ferg was wedged in a bin hole behind the stage, and the rain came through the tarpaulin so badly it killed Sam’s keyboard. Ha!
What can we expect from your show at Jarred Up Fest?
New music! Plenty of good-time dancin’ and some raucous abandon & adventure.
What’s coming down the line for Midnight Rodeo?
Album two is in the kitchen. Expect delectable psychedelic delights and more rock ’n’ roll shows! Freakin' out.
You can catch Midnight Rodeo headlining the Jingle Jangle Jungle stage at 8:30pm at the Jarred Up Festival ‘26. A limited amount of tickets are still available, and you can purchase them here.
Written by Edie McQueen
