Location: Mote Park, Maidstone
Date: Friday, 18 July 2025
Gates Open: 13:00
Curfew: 23:00
Camping: From 09:00 if you’re keen enough to beat the bog queue
Alright, festival fam – Friday is locked, loaded, and louder than a jet engine in a Portaloos queue. 🛩️💩 Whether you’re a day-tripper or already face-down in a field clutching a lukewarm can of Strongbow, here’s your essential set time breakdown for both stages at Maid of Stone Festival 2025.
Let’s get to the juicy bit. Who’s playing, where, and when?
🔥 INFERNO STAGE (Main Stage / Planet Rock Stage)
This is the biggie. The one with enough wattage to make your nan’s curtains shake from Kent to Cardiff. Expect soaring vocals, shredding solos, and enough swagger to put your ex to shame.
💥 Inferno Friday Lineup:
⏰ 18:15 – Joanne Shaw Taylor
Guitar goddess. Blues powerhouse. She’ll melt your soul and your pint plastic simultaneously. Arrive early and bow down.
⏰ 19:45 – Honey
No, not the one from the Mariah Carey movie. This is the UK’s rising alt-rock darlings with riffs sharper than your cousin’s eyebrow slit. Sweet and savage.
⏰ 21:45 – Dirty Honey (Co-Headline Set)
This is the moment. The LA boys are back with their bluesy sleaze-rock anthems. If you’re not scream-singing “When I’m Gone” at full tilt, are you even at a festival?
🔥 Fun fact: Dirty Honey played on the Stone last year. This time they’re IN it. Welcome back, lads.
🔥 FIRESTARTER STAGE (Second Stage – for the wild ones)
This is where you go when you want to discover your next favourite band, grab a pint, and pretend you were into them before they were famous. Legends are forged here – and maybe your new favourite hangover too.
⚡ Firestarter Friday Lineup:
⏰ 17:45 – Gorilla Riot
Blues, grunge, and groove – with facial hair levels deemed legally impressive. If Soundgarden and Black Label Society had a Mancunian baby, this would be it.
⏰ 19:15 – TBC / Secret Guest
Ooooooooh mystery slot! Could be a local hero, a surprise acoustic vibe, or even that band your mate swears they saw at Download in 2012. We’ll update you the second we know, promise 🤐
⏰ 21:00 – Final Firestarter Act (Also Secret… For Now)
Either it’s super hush-hush… or someone lost the USB stick with the lineup. Either way – expect something loud, heavy, and potentially fuelled by Jägermeister.
🌟 VIP & Acoustic Sets
If you’re one of the lucky buggers swanning about in VIP with a cocktail and not queuing for noodles, there are whispers of acoustic sets from:
- Kris Barras
- Stephan Brian Leonard
These are usually tucked away in a chill zone somewhere between the bar and the fairy light zone, so keep your ears open and your camera ready for an intimate unplugged moment. 🎸✨
🎪 Festival Tips for Friday Survivors
- 🥵 Bring suncream AND a waterproof. It’s Britain. Pick your fighter.
- 🥤 Hydrate between beers (yes, beer is 90% water but no, that doesn’t count)
- 🧻 The good Portaloos are always near the second stage. FACT.
- 📸 Charge your phone BEFORE you hit the pit. No one wants to see blurry videos of Dirty Honey on 2% battery.
- 🎧 Make a playlist of the Friday bands ahead of time. Helps when you’re three ciders deep and trying to impress someone in a vintage Biffy Clyro tee.
📍 How to Get There
🚂 By Train:
Head to Maidstone East. It’s walkable if you’ve got legs. If not, there’s always a cab… if you can find one not playing ABBA on loop.
🚗 By Car:
Parking passes are still available – but don’t rock up last minute and expect to be parked next to the gate. This isn’t Glasto.
🚌 By Shuttle/Taxi:
Check local options – and for the love of Lemmy, book your ride back before you’re stuck in a field trying to barter glow sticks for a lift.
🎤 Final Word from The Riff Report
Friday’s looking absolutely lush, mun. Dirty Honey bringing the filth, Joanne Shaw Taylor bringing the fire, and Gorilla Riot bringing the vibes – what’s not to love? It’s a proper warm-up before the weekend blows the roof off Mote Park.
🎸 Tidy line-up
🍻 Reasonable drink prices (we hope)
🏕️ Fields full of rockers, weirdos, and legends-in-the-making
We’ll be there. You should be too.
Catch ya in the pit, butt! 🤘
Need Saturday and Sunday set times too? Or fancy a full review post-festival with mud stats and sausage roll scores? Just give us a shout!
@theriffreportuk
🏴 Powered by riffs, rain, and ridiculous Welsh slang.
