The Gods must have been smiling on Hackney this weekend as All Points East Festival was blessed with heavenly weather all the way through Friday to Sunday. Following an epic, soul ascending set from Kaytranada on Friday night, Saturday cradled us back to life with smooth jazz and percussion.
From Oreglo to Berlioz, Nubya Garcia and Lianne La Havas, jazz in its many forms was peppered throughout the day. As the sun lowered in the sky, Mercury Prize winning jazz quintet Ezra Collective took to the West Stage, drawing a mammoth crowd in doing so.
Last month, the band’s drummer Femi Koleoso criticised Wireless Festival for the performers’ low standard and lack of musicianship on social media. “To be on stage is such a blessing, such a deep privilege, and you’ve put zero effort into the set? I don’t even understand,” he wrote on X, promising his followers that when Ezra Collective show up to All Points East (or anywhere) they’d give it their all. Safe to say Koleoso kept his promise.
Erupting, as the sun set, with infectious tracks such as Ajala, You Can’t Steal My Joy, Togetherness and São Paulo, the audience was given one task: dance. An Ezra Collective show is something that everyone should experience at least once in their life. You are encouraged to look away from the stage and to the people surrounding you – to turn a field into the largest dance floor in the world, to two-step with strangers and sweat out any anxieties.
Ezra Collective aren’t interested in being a crowd’s focus, their aim is to project joy and reduce everyone present to fearless, dancing vessels of euphoria. Koleoso also used the moment to share a message with the crowd, referring to the recent far-right riots across the country. “I’m a born and bred Londoner and there’s not many times I’ve been more proud to be a Londoner than these past months. We were an example to the rest of the country. The things that divide us are not as important as the things we have in common.”
The band drew to a close with songs Victory Dance and God Gave Me Feet For Dancing, by which point, everyone was either jumping, tapping or twirling. Thousands of faces beaming at one another.
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Next up, US hip hop royalty Nas took over the East Stage. “You are the G.O.A.T!” (greatest of all time) fans shouted as he appeared to the sound of Nas Is Coming, followed by Get Down. “I’m sending this next one out to my late, great sister, Amy Winehouse,” he told us, and Winehouse’s voice boomed through the speakers as Cherry Wine began to play. Between chanting the lyrics to tracks such as Represent, N.Y. State of Mind and 30, the rapper asked the audience to shout the words “life is good” – “Speak it into existence!” The highlight of the set, undoubtedly, was his 1996 hit featuring Lauryn Hill, If I Ruled the World (Imagine That).
Following Nas, crowds flocked to the other side of the festival to catch André 3000; though what they discovered was a surprise to some. Towards the end of 2023, André 3000 dropped a surprise solo album, played entirely on flute, marking a new, celestial chapter for his career. It was well received by critics, despite the world having known him as the OutKast rapper responsible for bringing us huge hits such as Hey Ya!, Ms. Jackson and Roses. The comically long title of the first song on his album explained the new direction: ‘I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A "Rap" Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time.’
And though some festival-goers at All Points East were ready to embrace the various panpipes and woodwind instruments, most of the crowd was left confused when the former rapper proceeded to play an hour of improvisational flute. At one point, André 3000 began to speak to us in his own, completely made-up language. ‘I always loved other languages but I never learned them,’ he confessed, before revealing his message: “What I was saying to you was that the airline lost all my luggage so I’ve been wearing these clothes for two days. I smell awesome though. Sound good, smell good.”
Occasionally, someone in the crowd would shout the lyrics “Hey Ya!” or “I’m sorry Ms. Jackson!” in protest. While someone else called out, “We’ve all been catfished!” For those wanting less intergalactic ambience and more baseline, Sully offered relief via drum and bass over at the BBC Radio 6 Music Stage.
Eventually, it came time for headliner Loyle Carner to give us his greatest performance yet. A true homecoming for the Londoner, Carner lives just 10 minutes from Victoria Park and had even cycled to the festival. “This might be one of the best days of my life,” he said, making a grand entrance as fireworks lit up the field. Following tracks Plastic and Ain’t Nothing Changed, the rapper continued to look stunned by the crowd’s ecstatic reception, slapping himself round the face as if to say “wake up”.
Shortly after, Carner was joined by his first guest of the evening, 75-year-old Guyanese playwright, John Agard, who recited his poem Half Caste – the inspiration for the rapper’s song, Georgetown. More guests followed after Agard. Tom Misch received an almighty roar as he came on to perform Angel and Damselfly, and later, Jordan Rakei would appear to perform Loose Ends and encore song Ottolenghi.
The rapper also welcomed Youth MP Athian Akec to the stage, who gave a powerful speech on knife crime – the same one that he spoke in the House of Commons aged 16. “Have more faith in the young artists who are pushing unity in their poetry and prose than fear of those who spread division and bigotry,” Akec urged.
Carner’s set was a cacophony of everything you want from a spectacular show. It was powerful, political, emotional, joyful, there were multiple surprises, plus hit after hit. By the end of the set, Carner had reworded his earlier sentiment from “This might be the best day of my life”, to “This is the best day of my life.” Between them, Saturday’s performers made sure this wasn’t a day we’ll soon forget either.
