Having ousted the likes of Field Day and Lovebox from East London's Victoria Park for a relatively successful debut All Points East in 2018, the festival-of-sorts returned for its second edition to cap off the spring season. With The Chemical Brothers, Bon Iver, and The Strokes headlining over its two weekends of music, here's our low-down of the Bring Me The Horizon-headlined day.
Firstly, we should note that we didn't manage to stick around for Bring Me The Horizon (in our defense, we did end up going to All Points East again for the rest of the weekend) so we can neither condone nor endorse their performance. That said, we're pleased to report that there was plenty to shout about from the outset. And few, if any, of the sound issues reported on previous days.
We've raved about Black Futures' live prowess previously, and if anything, they appear to have upped the ante. With a strategic position on the Firestone Stage, close to the entrance of APE, bypassers quite literally stopped in their tracks to see why a rock duo adorned in black were flanked by hazmat-costumed back-up. In fact, the action would soon come to the audience with their guitarist going for a wander and crowdsurfing back to the stage.
With Black Futures displaying why they can lay claim to being one of the best live bands anywhere in the world, Yonaka were next unto the breach. This time over at the defacto second stage aka the North Stage, a far cry from the relatively intimate setting that we had last seen the Brighton band at 2018's Rockaway Beach.
The quartet energetically ran through tracks from their new album 'Don't Wait Till Tomorrow' as well as golden oldies like the NSFW 'F.W.T.B'. Notably more polished than the last time we had seen Yonaka, it's little co-incidence to discover that they've just signed with Fueled By Ramen, the imprint that has built the wildly successful careers of Paramore, Twenty One Pilots, and many others. Big things potentially to come.
Over at the main East Stage, IDLES showed no inhibitions, perhaps best summed up by guitarist Mark Bowen rampaging around the stage in his boxers. Meanwhile, frontman Joe Talbot was endearing himself to a welcoming London crowd, discussing the importance of men sharing their feelings as on their track 'Samaritans', having an open attitude to foreigners, and railing against right-leaning media outlets.
Best of all, Talbot's self-deprecating remark that IDLES are like "Sleaford Mods with a Waitrose membership". Their mischief extended to the music, dropping in unexpected tidbits of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' and Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', amid a visceral set of punk that left us reeling. No surprise that when we walked by later, Nothing But Thieves noted: "Playing after the best band in Britain? Hard thing to follow."
It was about time for something different, and Girli duly delivered in the Jagerhaus - an odd enclosed pop-up of sorts that frequently saw long queues across the various APE days. (Which also saw six-time snooker World Champ Steve Davis DJ-ing at one point.) With her bouncy electro-pop and even bouncier collaborator DJ Kitty, Girli's sweat-inducing feminist anthems such as 'Deal With It' and 'Mr 10pm Bedtime' delighted the packed room.
Our next act changed things up once again, albeit in a more curious sense. Headlining the Firestone Stage, Happyalone didn't seem particularly enthused during their performance, arguably taking their name a little too greatly to heart. Perhaps understandable with their downtempo material, evoking the likes of DJ Shadow and Massive Attack, although disappointingly at the cost of much of a live spectacle.
"Whassssup? That's how we say hello!" It was apparent from an early point in Run The Jewels' set at the East Stage that rapper Killer Mike and producer El-P were up for the APE challenge of winning over a rock-leaning audience with their hip hop sounds. And the crowd responded in kind, with a vociferous reception that justified their seemingly anomalous place on the day's line-up. (Shout out to the organisers on this inspired choice.)
Killer Mike noticed as much, pleasingly requesting that security tone their actions down and equally for the buoyant crowd to be respectful of staff, as well as commenting hilariously when an audience member found themselves in strife: "Pause the moshpit! Pick that motherfucker up. Opening with 'Talk To Me', the remainder of the setlist was mostly plucked from 2016's 'Run The Jewels 3', closing a wildly successful showing on said album's opener 'Down'. All in all, a grand day out.
Find more info on All Points East Festival at allpointseastfestival.com.
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