Something in the Way 2027: The Jesus and Mary Chain lead 20 acts at Roadrunner

Run For Cover's February festival returns to Brighton Feb 4–6 with JAMC, Trapped Under Ice, Turnover and Wednesday at the top of the bill.

Boston in early February is not a festival town. It's slush, early dark and the T running late. That's part of what makes Something in the Way work: three nights indoors at the biggest general-admission room in New England, with a lineup built for people who would rather be in a crowd than out in the cold.

Something in the Way runs Thursday, Feb 4, through Saturday, Feb 6, 2027, at Roadrunner in Brighton. The lineup, announced in late September, lists 20 acts. Two- and three-day passes are on sale through AXS.

The festival is the work of Run For Cover Records, the Boston label, and this year's top line leans into history. Treble calls the headliner "noise pop legends" The Jesus and Mary Chain; Stereogum describes them as "Glasgow romantic-noise pioneers" and pairs them at the top with Trapped Under Ice, the "trendsetting Baltimore hardcore head-busters" better known to their fans as TUI, plus Turnover and Wednesday. That split is the festival in miniature: guitar noise and melody on one side, hardcore on the other, and a lot of the audience comfortable in both.

Guitar noise and melody on one side, hardcore on the other.

The rest of the bill rewards getting there early. As listed, it runs: Meat Puppets, Nothing, Model/Actriz, This Is Lorelei, Incendiary, Jejune, Gouge Away, YHWH Nailgun, Knumears, Trauma Ray, Armlock, Wellness, Racecourse, Krill, Holder and Dream Fatigue. A quick note for planning: Nothing, Trauma Ray and Dream Fatigue are also on the bill.

Per-day schedules haven't been posted in what we've seen, so hold off on booking trains around specific sets until the daily splits drop.

Last year's edition gives a sense of the festival's range: the 2026 lineup was led by Explosions in the Sky, Pelican and Sunny Day Real Estate. Moving from post-rock and emo touchstones to The Jesus and Mary Chain and TUI shows a festival willing to change its center of gravity year to year while keeping the same audience in mind.

The room matters too. Roadrunner opened at 89 Guest St. in the Boston Landing complex on March 14, 2022, with a capacity of 3,500, and has been the largest general-admission concert venue in New England since. For a festival like this, that means one big floor rather than a scatter of side stages; you won't be sprinting between rooms, but you will want to know which sets you're willing to stand up front for.

Buy the pass, pack the earplugs and plan your ride home.

Sources: Something in the Way Fest 2027 — AXS tickets (axs.com); Something in the Way 2027 has JAMC, Turnover, Wednesday, TUI & more — Stereogum (stereogum.com); The Jesus and Mary Chain, Turnover, Wednesday to play Something in the Way festival — Treble (treblezine.com); Something In The Way 2027 lineup announced — mxdwn (music.mxdwn.com); Something in the Way announces 2026 lineup — mxdwn (music.mxdwn.com); Roadrunner (venue) — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Bowery Presents to open 3,500-capacity venue at Boston Landing — Boston Globe (bostonglobe.com)