Baybeats Festival 2025: When a Nation, a Scene, and a Community Move as One

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In a region where mainstream trends often drown out the voices living on the fringes, Baybeats Festival 2025 (more details at https://www.therealcosmos.com/eng/baybeats-2025-singapore-largest-alternative-festival) stands as a powerful reminder that independent music still thrives when given the right home. Held from 30 October to 2 November at the Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay, this year’s festival once again proved that Southeast Asia’s alternative music culture is not only alive, it’s evolving, expanding, and uniting people through shared energy and emotion.

Baybeats has always been more than a festival. It’s a cultural anchor. A gathering point. A living organism. And this year’s edition reaffirms why it remains one of Asia’s most beloved platforms for alternative, underground, and genre-defying artists.

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A Festival for Everyone; Built on Inclusivity and Discovery

Walk into Baybeats and you’ll see something rare: a crowd that doesn’t look like it belongs to just one genre, one scene, or one social group. Teenagers in their first band tees, office workers rushing straight after their shift, families soaking in new sounds, queer fans celebrating the freedom of the space. Everyone finds something here; even uncles and aunties walk up to see check out the weird cool bands on stage.

That’s because Baybeats is curated with heart, range, and intention. Across shoegaze, punk, hip-hop, experimental, math-rock, post-rock, metal, indie-pop, noise, and everything in between, there’s always a stage where someone discovers a new favorite band.

And this year, the festival deepened its regional focus; pulling artists from Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Argentina, and beyond, while still anchoring itself in Singapore’s local scene.

This year marks the first of the many to come with 5 stages:

• ARENA – staged at the riverfront of the DBS Foundation Outdoor Theatre
• ANNEXE – slightly smaller indoor but pack with punch in the Annexe Studio
• POWERHOUSE² – an indoor seated theatre with cool a/c at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre
• LIVEWIRE STAGE – a large outdoor stage for the headbangers at the Forecourt Garden
• CHILLOUT STAGE – a semi acoustic stage just right next to LiveWire but indoors with a/c at Esplanade Concourse

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Personal Highlights From Baybeats 2025

As someone who has grown up with myspace era discovering that there’s a lot of Singaporean artists that are really really good and this year’s lineup hit especially close. Here are the artists that left lasting impressions each for a different reason:

• A Vacant Affair (SG) Back like they never left. Their set swung me straight into my teenage years; emotional, melodic post-hardcore delivered with the same heart and urgency that shaped a generation of Singaporean alternative fans.

• Alec Orachi (TH) Bringing youthful spirits onto stage. Alec Orachi is an act that stood out with his unique ways of live performances.

• ALI (ID) Guaranteed dancing. ALI turned the entire outdoor theatre into one big groove engine; funk, hip-hop, and global rhythms blended into an irresistible performance that commanded movement.

• Alliance of Hate (SG) Guaranteed dancing. ALI turned the entire outdoor theatre into one big groove engine; funk, hip-hop, and global rhythms blended into an irresistible performance that commanded movement.

• Anechois (SG) Polished, subtle, yet crushing when it mattered. Their dynamic post-rock/math-rock blend reminded everyone why they remain one of Singapore’s most musically thoughtful acts. Brought me back to the era of discovering new music on Soundcloud.

• Blanco Teta (AR) All the way from Argentina. An explosive noise-rock performance that proved one thing: louder is better. Chaotic, theatrical, unforgettable. The seats were the only thing that kept people from jumping around.

• Carsick Cars (CN) 90s alternative vibes at their finest. Noise-pop meets post-punk meets indie rock. One of my personal favorites. Their set felt like an embrace from a bygone era.

• Chicosci (PH) Myspace legends forever. Their alt-rock nostalgia hit differently on a Singapore stage, bringing back memories of a time when Southeast Asian rock was bursting with rebellious optimism.

• Dirgahayu (MY) One of Southeast Asia’s best instrumental bands. Their math-rock/progressive precision blended with hypnotic rhythmic patterns that showed just how high the region’s musical standards truly are.

• Fayzz (CN) Clean, subtle, beautiful. A math-rock act with a gentle touch; intricate music played with purpose and clarity.

• Flesh Juicer (TW) The third time I’m seeing them and they’re still as electrifying as ever. Taiwanese metalcore with a stage presence that can bring everyone’s feet off the ground. Guaranteed circle pit.

• Ford Trio (TH) Thai neo-funk excellence. They reinvent what funk can do, offering surprises at every turn. Their live set never stops challenging expectations. My neck feels loose after grooving too much.

• haldi honey (SG) Queer math rock selected through this year’s Budding Bands programme. Bold, refreshing, with a sweet touch melody and is a beautiful example of the next generation rising.

• JPBS (TH) An experience that cannot be replicated on recordings. Avant-garde performance art meets experimental rock. Absolutely wild in the best way. Felt so proud to see these guys perform on an international stage as they clearly deserve this.

• Lemony (TH) Thai indie-rock energy that lifts the crowd off its feet. Infectious rhythms, youthful spirit, and a live presence that explodes with color.

• motifs (SG) From Budding Bands graduates to atmospheric shoegaze favorites. Their crowd was massive and is the proof of how a mentorship programme can grow headliners. I also like how the fans immediately ran to the band for autographs after they finished their acoustic set.

• mouse on the keys (JP) AMAZING. Jazz, math-rock, classical, and post-rock swirl together in impossibly complex compositions delivered with supernatural precision.

• NYPD (HK) Raw, jagged post-punk. Everything great about the genre; tense, rhythmic, gritty, poured onto the stage with energetic chaos on the stage.

• ONE CLICK STRAIGHT (PH) A vision of the new era. Their blend of alternative pop, synth textures, and modern indie energy signals where the next wave of Filipino music is headed. Finally got to saw them live after featuring in our 2023 international album of the year (revisit our 2023 list at https://www.therealcosmos.com/cosmos-theory/23-international-albums-of-the-year-2023).

• paranoid void (JP) A Japanese female math-rock trio that absolutely tore the stage apart with intricate riffs and tight musicianship.

• pines (SG) Emo revival done right. Their set brought me back to my deepest emo era; cathartic, melodic, honest. Looking forward to more of their releases.

• Plainsunset (SG) Legends. Beautiful pop-punk songs that carry the emotional weight of early teenage years. Their influence is timeless. I really enjoyed watching their set along with emo parents carrying kids on their shoulder.

• Silica Gel (KR) SUPERB. Korean experimental pop at its peak; hypnotic, layered, and deeply immersive.
  

• temp. (TH) Laid-back, soft, easygoing. Songs that bring warmth and genuine smiles. A reminder that simple music can be the most healing.
  

• TOFU (TH) Youth-driven, high-energy, charismatic. Their performance captured the younger crowd’s attention instantly. A future favorite in the making.

• toconoma (JP) Unreal musicianship. Jazz, funk, and electronic fusion in the kind of set that reminds you why live music matters.

• weish (SG) Phenomenal. There’s no other word for it. weish commanded the stage with haunting vocals and emotional force. I was completely starstruck; her performance held the audience in absolute stillness.

The lineup was very curated. I enjoyed the bands so much that I ended up walking over 12,000 steps each day throughout the weekend. My legs were resigned but my heart was eager to see more acts so I keep pushing forward as much as I could.

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More Than Stages – Baybeats Is an Ecosystem

Beyond the music, Baybeats hosted panel talks that dove into touring realities, creative communities, and the evolving festival landscape. These conversations matter as they expose audiences to the machinery behind the music, and they give emerging industry professionals the knowledge they need to thrive.

This is where Baybeats sets itself apart from most festivals in the region — it doesn’t just celebrate artists, it supports the entire ecosystem around them. Whether you’re a mentor behind a budding band, an agent looking for opportunities, artists making connections through the smoking area, or the dedicated staff making sure that the festival runs smoothly, I’ve hand countless quality conversations that lights up the spark inside of me; wanting to connect more of the South East Asian regions together like what Baybeats had platformed for many years.

The Budding Bands programme remains the heartbeat of that philosophy. Many of today’s biggest local names were once mentees in this programme and seeing them return as headliners is the kind of long-term, grassroots payoff that most scenes can only dream of.

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Conversations That Matter: Baybeats 2025’s Panel Sessions

While the live stages were buzzing with energy, Baybeats 2025 also carved out space for something equally important: honest, unfiltered conversations about the music industry. This year’s panel sessions were some of the most forward-thinking the festival has ever hosted; gathering artists, organizers, booking agents, and regional festival promoters to discuss the realities behind the art.

Instead of surface-level motivational talk, these sessions dug deep into what it really takes to build a sustainable creative career today. This year’s topics were:

• Independent on the Move: Touring without a Backing
• Evolving Audiences: The Changing Landscape of Festival Culture
• Breaking the Mold: How Asia is Redefining the Global Landscape
• Growing Spaces and Building Creative Communities

What made these panels meaningful wasn’t just the expertise, it was the honesty. Artists spoke openly about problems they faced while touring and the emotional grind that’s often invisible to the public. Industry professionals shared the realities of booking, curation, declining sales, and how audiences have changed throughout the years. Venue owners shared their insights on how DIY communities are important towards the local artists.

For new musicians and young creatives in the crowd, these discussions were a rare education; insights they might never get from YouTube tutorials or social media threads.

But most importantly, the panels reinforced Baybeats’ core philosophy: The scene is powered not only by great artists, but by informed, empowered professionals working behind the scenes.

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The Impact of Government-Backed Cultural Infrastructure

It’s no secret that Esplanade is backed by government funding but what matters is how that support is used. Rather than pushing for commercially safe programming, Baybeats takes risks. It books niche genres, invests in emerging artists, keeps admission free, and maintains a year-to-year continuity that gives independent musicians a future to grow into.

Government-supported culture, when done right, becomes a catalyst not a gatekeeper. Baybeats is proof.

Imagining a niche festival supported by the state like Baybeats to happen in Thailand is still a pipe dream; although we had better signs recently but we are still far from reaching that end game until we have a stable government that really cares about music and arts.

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A Community That Shows What’s Possible

What I love most about Baybeats is how united the community becomes during this weekend. From artists to crews, sound engineers to videographers, photographers to festival-goers, everyone contributes to a space that feels safe, expressive, and deeply passionate.

Yes, the mainstream will always dominate the airwaves. But Baybeats reminds us that when we join hands and build something together, we can create a wave big enough for the world to notice.

And this year’s wave?

Stronger than ever.