All Points East final day sees indie giants Foals and Bombay Bicycle Club co-headline
The final day of the festival was brimming with excellence; from small acts to headliners alike
Maisie Peters performing at All Points East 2021. (Photo: Jonathan Dadds)
It’s the home run of All Points East 2021: the Bank Holiday Monday. We’ve all been waiting a long time for this. In typical British nature, the weather isn’t the best — but the grey skies make no impact on the atmosphere created by the radiance of festival-goers and music alike.
Foals performing at All Points East 2021. (Photo: Lauren Luxenberg)
All Points East adhered to its name with a simple but effective layout. With an East Stage, a North Stage, a West Stage, and a 6 Music Stage the festival was easy to navigate — allowing swift transitions from stage to stage and ensuring no one misses out on any of the highly anticipated line-ups (after all, no one likes a trek!).
It’s big, and it’s worth noting the high-quality screens also featured a space for British Sign Language translation; enabling increased accessibility and making festivals enjoyable for everyone.
Throughout the day All Points East exhibited an eclectic variety of acts; from Arlo Parks to Working Men’s Club, as well as headliners Foals and Bombay Bicycle Club.
swim school performing at All Points East 2021. (Photo: Jonathan Dadds)
The Edinburgh-based indie band swim school brought the stage to life with a powerful kick. Their heavy shoegaze sound was accompanied by lead singer Alice Johnson’s strong vocals, which were the perfect juxtaposition of dreamy and aggressive. These vocals — as well as the impressive instrumentation — are what quite literally drew us in from afar.
Once in the crowd, our expectations were exceeded: we found ourselves eagerly hanging onto swim school’s electrified stage presence, the crowd moving around with enthusiasm. If you get the opportunity to see swim school live, definitely don’t pass it up. They’re not ones to miss.
Providing a spectacular contrast with swim school was Lianne La Havas. With Lianne’s powerful hybrid sound of folk and soul, she gave an impactful performance. Her set wasn’t one that demanded energy from the crowd, but rather one that induced the most calming concoction of peaceful introspection.
Lianne didn’t pass up on the opportunity to bless our ears with an unforgettable cover of Radiohead’s Weird Fishes, staying true to the original song whilst adding her own authentic, moving twist to it.
Bombay Bicycle Club performing at All Points East 2021. (Photo: Gus Stewart)
The start of Caribou’s performance was notable, to say the least. We were queueing for a food stall near the East Stage when Caribou’s performance started. The set began with thrumming, experimental synths accompanied by immersive visuals, creating an upbeat trance-like feeling. This irresistible combination lured crowds of people running over to the stage — a stampede of music lovers — as well as ensuring the entirety of the queue I stood in swang along.
Having joined the crowd for the second half of the set, I was met with Caribou’s versatility, as within this latter half they showcased catchy dance tracks that had the crowd singing along, creating a club-like atmosphere.
Foals performing at All Points East 2021. (Photo: Lauren Luxenberg)
Before we knew it, it was almost time for Foals — the much-anticipated headliners. The entire crowd was buzzing for their set, with fans from all walks of life bonding over their love for the band. This excitement reached its climax when Foals entered the stage; the band were met with a welcome embrace of cheers.
They opened with The Runner; inducing instantaneous cheering, dancing, singing and moshing. The setlist was a perfect mixture of songs from all of their albums, with the band reviving old classics such as Blue Blood and Black Gold, which rarely used to be performed live after the Total Life Forever era.
Foals also revisited the poignant yet “magical” (as accurately described by frontman Yannis) Spanish Sahara. The performance was ethereal, with the music, crowd and lights combining into one thrumming heartbeat of the rhythm. This feeling was amplified by the spectacular blue lighting, beautiful vocals and utterly skilful instrumentation.
Foals performing at All Points East 2021. (Photo: Lauren Luxenberg)
As well as performing songs old and new, Foals also introduced us to their new, yet to be released track, Novo: a perfect blend of traditional arp synth sounds entwined with the funk guitars found on 2010’s Total Life Forever. Despite not knowing the song, the entire crowd was hooked to Novo from start to finish, which can be attributed equally to the quality of the song itself and Foal’s excelling and enchanting performance.
This remarkable set concluded with the finale it deserved: Two Steps Twice being the closing track of the night, and therefore the entirety of All Points East 2021 — to which it did great justice. The crowd’s euphoric energy was reflected by the pink confetti and streamers that filled the air, setting alight the night sky.
Foals did not cease to amaze for a single moment, they effortlessly exceeded everyone’s expectations and ultimately provided All Points East 2021 with the send-off it deserved.
Roll on next year.
