End of the Road Festival closes 2025 with juxtaposing headliners Father John Misty and Black Country, New Road

Cruising out onto the Woods stage with a brief “great to be here,” suited-up bandleader Father John Misty – aka Josh Tillman – quickly got his smooth, sardonic, but unshowy set underway — a far cry from Self Esteem’s maximalist staging a day earlier. Instead, Tillman let the brass-elevated folk-rock from his back catalogue speak for itself.

Tillman – who has released six albums under the Misty moniker since 2012, including latest, Mahashmashana – and his eight-piece band covered the gamut with control, finesse, and piano-punctuated irony before finishing on fan favourite “Real Love Baby”, the 2016 standalone single that he originally wrote for Lady Gaga but kept for himself. “I’m not going to forget this evening anytime soon,” he shared. “They don’t make them like you.” Tillman actually made his solo UK festival headline debut at End of the Road back in 2017 but first came here back in 2009 when he was still on drums for headliners Fleet Foxes.

Meanwhile, Black Country, New Road — who popped up to chat to Stewart Lee for a secret Best Fit session a few hours earlier — walked on to Big Star’s uplifting “Ballad of El Goodo”, a Palestine flag draped across the piano and another worn as a t-shirt by bassist/co-vocalist Tyler Hyde.

“This is one of the best places to be,” Hyde said of the festival’s verdant second stage, illuminated in northern lights hues. “This is a dream come true to play on the Garden Stage. It’s honestly one of the best stages in the world, so this is a bucket list thing for us.” The band last played End of the Road in 2021, with a mid-afternoon slot on the Woods Stage.