Gorillaz get All Points East underway with their eclectic set
The first day of London’s All Points East boasted a varied lineup where each artist showed off unimaginable levels of energy.
Photo: Perry Gibson
The heat was already high with London parks being hit by heatwaves, yet Victoria Park was hit with an inferno of sound on Friday. From newcomers Newdad to Pusha T, and Kenny Beats to the act everyone was dying to see, Gorillaz, the park was packed with energy as soon as the first act took to the stage.
For my first multi-stage festival experience, Friday absolutely left me wanting to attend more. There was plenty of care taken for festival-goers, with fresh water taps and free Coke Zero dotted around the place — and enough food and drink stands that there was very little chance any two ticket holders shared the same experience.
We used the official app while on the bus there to plan our experience prior to entering, passing security into the festival just on time to watch Newdad take the Ray-Ban West stage. The Galway quartet immediately won over our hearts with a surreal atmospheric indie pop set, showcasing immaculate talent and songwriting which had me lost in their sound for the full half hour.
We did peel off slightly before the closing of their set to see the beginning of Remi Wolf’s energetic extravaganza while passing various food, vape, and Reddit (?) stands to get there. The twenty-six-year-old Californian blew up the stage with powerful, soulful vocals on fun and bouncy songs. With her three-piece band behind her, she had the entire North Stage tent jumping up and down with her. At this point, I knew that festivals were something amazing.
We made our way to the East Stage and caught the end of Femi Kuti’s performance. No holds were barred at all. Complete with a horn section, percussion and dancers, liveliness erupted from the stage. The Afrobeat saxophonist took a heartfelt interval to tell the audience about love before wowing us with an enchanting saxophone solo. His son brought his set to a close with the final song, featuring a saxophone solo where he held a note for a staggering total of 50 seconds.
Following the mesmerising end to this set, we then sat for a water and coke zero rest near the BMW Play next stage, with Julie’s shoegaze in the background.
Starting off the evening was Pusha T, with a wealth of songs from his recent album It’s Almost Dry. He and his DJ brought a whole new level of energy to the East Stage to set the tone for the rest of the evening. Moshes started appearing and the crowd was going suitably crazy for the Virginia rapper. With a perfectly paced set slowly bringing more classics from Daytona the further the set went on. Our nostalgia peaked near the end of the set when everyone heard the Mercy vocal sample and the Runaway piano, closing off a very powerful start to the evening.
Up next on our agenda lead us back to the North Stage tent to see Knucks, stopping at the Firestone Stage on the way for an enchanting rock set from Gglum.
Knucks was a blast, the London rapper started off with the energetic drill from his latest album before quickly blessing an excited audience with the songs that shot him to fame. Knucks bore witness to a lot of dancing and moshing in the crowd, and screaming rang from the audience as he brought out Loyle Carner for Standout. Closing off the set with Los Pollos Hermanos, we then left to rest before heading to the East Stage to see Turnstile.
We sat near the back to recuperate during Turnstile’s set but I still felt super energetic just sitting there listening to them. The hardcore punk band blew the standard set by everyone else so far out of the water, rocking the field with heavy riffs and powerful vocals.
Following their conclusion, we reached the Idles set — one that was already quite populated before they’d even appeared. We made our way to the centre to get a decent view — that turned out to be a mistake as that was where the mosh pits formed, and there’s nothing worse than a mosh pit when you’re not feeling up to it. The set was amazing with stage diving and crowd surfing amid the chaos.
We stopped at one of the independent pizza stands for our dinner and watched the picturesque sunset before heading for the final act of the day.
Gorillaz as a headliner was a perfect choice for All Points East. The set started with The Static Channel, a visual build depicting a TV switching channels before the band exploded with energy into M1 A1. Gorillaz have been known to collaborate with a lot of musicians and this concert was no different. With Popcaan, Moonchild Sanelly, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, and Shaun Ryder amongst the many artists who shared the stage with them. I was slightly disappointed that they hadn’t brought out Thundercat for their recent single Cracker Island but I quickly forgot about that when they debuted a new song with today’s headliners Tame Impala. The audience erupted when Kevin Parker walked out.
The whole of the set felt like a dream; the storytelling visuals alongside a very energetic band and frontman Damon Albarn flying about the stage like he owned it, changing in and out of a robe and theatrical blue wig. I hadn’t seen a performance like it.
Unfortunately, we had to leave early to catch our trains and ended up missing their encore — but at least we got to experience a Gorillaz set in the flesh. Though I can say for certain I will be back next year, maybe even for the whole festival this time! Day one of All Points East 2022 opened a new world of live music to me and it was certainly a pleasure to attend — we’ll be back.
Grab your tickets for the rest of the festival here.