East London’s Victoria Park’s newest and most exciting summer festival for the 2018 calendar has to be All Points East. The festival spreading across the weekend of the 25th to the 27th of May, featuring titans of both the indie-rock and dance scenes.
Friday 25th May will see the festival kick-off with a stellar line-up headed up by Brooklyn dance-rock hero’s LCD Soundsystem and seminal fellow New Yorkers the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, each making their long-awaited return to the UK festival scene after similar periods of musical hiatus. Both have become almost mythologized in indie-rock, the back catalogue of each band becoming anthems in their own right, from LCD’s heart-tugging ‘All My Friends’ to Yeah Yeah Yeah’s riff-roaring ‘Dance With the Night’ or the frequently-remixed and much-loved electronic anthem ‘Heads Will Roll’. With French indie-pop band Phoenix, Leeds’s very own psychedelic rockers Hookworms and London’s electro-techno producer George FitzGerald adding their own unique sound to the bill, All Points East has pulled off the the ideal line-up.
Now for Saturday, the centrepiece of the marvellous musical offerings of All Points East. Headlining the day are sombre indie royalty The xx, who are seemingly conquering the world with ease with their most recent album, I See You, catapulting them further towardslegendary status. In addition, the unconquerable Lorde will be giving a performance that is sure to mesmerise and enthral as she plays hits from her critically-acclaimed sophomore album Melodrama. She’s joined by soulful singer-songwriter Sampha, who really needs no introduction after his debut album, Process, deserveadly earned him the Mercury Prize in 2017. The undercard also looks very promising with appearances from dreamy Scandipop sensation Lykke Li, honey-voiced RnB up-and-comer Rex Orange County, and the effortlessly cool jazz mavericks BADBADNOTGOOD. You’d be more than foolish to miss Stefflon Don, the unapologetic grime rapper who puts on electric shows and has been hotly tipped for stardom. As she has been branded by many as “the UK’s great hip-hop hope”. All in all, it certainly seems as though there are worse ways to spend a Saturday.
The acts just get better and better each day of the festival, and the Sunday certainly doesn’t disappoint. Already announced are bands such as indie pop favourites Friendly Fires and French newcomers Parcels, bringing their playful tunes to the UK. The combination of newer acts with more established bands makes All Points East a refreshing and welcome addition to the British festival scene, which often sees line-ups regurgitated year on year. Among the latest wave of acts to be announced are djs The Black Madonna, Byron the Aquarius and Mr G who will have you cutting shapes you didn’t even know existed. And of course, can’t forget to mention the fact that Icelandic pixie queen Bjork is headlining, undoubtedly finishing off the whole festival with a bang. With so few women headlining major festivals this year, this promises to be a summer highlight. Bring on festival season!
Tickets to this unmissable weekend are available here.
Words by Poppie Platt, Alex Gibbon and Rosie Simmons