An unexpected highlight and beautiful familiarity at All Points East with LCD Soundsystem
It was an emotional start to weekend two of All Points East. An almost homely feel returning to Victoria Park for the second installment.
We knew our shortcuts, the best bars and food stands, and places to stand in the crowd. Strolling around amongst the eager fans running past us.
It was a feeling I imagine a lot of the Radio 6 dads had as they walked around the festival site. The sense of familiarity from catching bands they liked before much of the crowd was even born must be one full of wisdom and peace.
That feeling emanated in the air. The day was a showcase of music that shined against the bombardment of time embellished with the newer roots that will likely be doing the same in the years to come.
NewDad are already climbing the ranks after playing All Points East on a much smaller stage just two years before. Now playing the East Stage, they managed to draw in a monster crowd showing that their trajectory is giving no evidence of slowing down.
Eccentric duo, Jockstrap had the crowd transfixed with their genre-defying tracks that baffled but couldn’t be ignored. To fit the scene, Georgia Ellery wore prosthetic monster legs to close their show, probably the most accurate visual representation of their performances and music. Intrigued? Exactly.
The North Arena had a good day. Sofia Kourtesis and Floating Points gave it the reputation it deserved for hosting some alluring dance sets that mesmerized from start to finish. Joy Anonymous, on the other hand, I found them missing the mark on getting the audience in the mood with tepid attempts through asking, ‘ARE YOU REEAAADDDYYY’.
Pixies provided the gold-lined nostalgia the crowd was looking for. For such an irreverent band back in the 80s/90s, I had my hesitations about revisiting 30 years on, but they absolutely nailed it. With ‘Hey, Here Comes Your Man’, ‘Wave of Mutilation’, and ‘Where Is My Mind’ on the setlist, not one person there left disappointed.
An unexpected highlight across the day for me was Jai Paul. The illusive producer had something about him that had you rooting for him from the bottom of your heart. It could be the fact that he’s only ever played 23 shows live (excluding small pub venues and private events), the first ever being Coachella in 2023 despite music dating back to 2011.
With a mountainous stage set up and enough lighting to mistake it for a fireworks factory explosion, Jai Paul moved slowly across the set and instead let the audience do the moving.
Having been sampled by everyone from Beyoncé to Drake and many in between, his appearance was significant on many levels, not least the fact that this show was his UK festival debut.
‘Str8 Outta Mumbai’, ‘Jasmine’ (which Arlo Parks has covered) and ‘BTSTU’ provided a sensory overload in the most positive of ways.
Of course, it was LCD Soundsystem that powered through the last of the crowd’s energy supplies with a disco-ball sparkled belter.
The distinguished synths and rhythms had the audience gasping in happy disbelief at various points throughout their set.
All of this was delivered with complete precision despite bearing tragic news. ‘‘Yesterday, we lost a very dear friend of ours, Justin Chearno. We’re all fucking destroyed. We’re trying our best. We love him and miss him. This sucks. Thank you for being here and being a part of it”, James Murphy told the crowd.
Chearno was a co-founding partner alongside Murphy of the Michelin-starred restaurant and wine bar ‘The Four Horsemen’ in Brooklyn, New York.
The New York group must have found some relief in being able to pound their instruments and translate them into some of the biggest sounds All Points East and Victoria Park have ever witnessed.