Festival Review: All Points East Jungle
Drenched in music: A rain-soaked day of performances at All Points East.
Freshly squeezed from last night’s endeavours at the east London park, we pull ourselves together for the Saturday ’23 edition. A multi-genred, jazz infused, neo-soul, jungle, pop cocktail with legends like Erykah Badu playing. The last of the fragmented August sun shining upon entry encouraged a positive start to the antepenultimate day at All Points East.
The sky is moody with flashes of lightning, foreshadowing what’s to come. Unfazed by the brewing storm, the crowd welcomes CDW as she follows her band onto the West stage, they cooly play through their set, the flashes of lightning become more frequent, the thunder is disguised by the bass. Technical difficulties mean we don’t get to hear CDW’s guitar, disallowing her to showcase her full musical offerings. We are sympathetic to the cause and the vibe is still a positive one. We hear popular releases like Mountains and new song Forever. Then the rain starts, almost 24 hours after the weather storm feat. Amyl and the Sniffers, we are exposed to a much, much heavier downpour. “Give it up for yourselves,” Charlotte calls into the crowd as we naively stand in the rain “it’ll pass” is the collective thinking. Umbrellas unfold and makeshift hats and ponchos appear, handfuls at a time. The Canadian gets an early wrap up, regrettably ending the show two songs early as the floodgates burst, it’s hailing now.
We seek shelter near the full band stand. All music has stopped and the ambience of Victoria Park matches the weather. Soggy trainers and pizza boxes squelch by and the pause has us thinking “is £6 really that reasonable for a can of red stripe”. We make a break for the Cupra Tent, the only stage with shelter, hopeful that someone will be playing there soon. Alas, no band/DJ is performing, however, the community spirit is rife and attendees are cracking jokes with their neighbours.
The rain stops and we refuel, taking full advantage of the weather change. Stocked up on food, pint in hand, we head over to the East stage with no idea as to who will be playing next. The stage lights are being tested which felt promising, although a capital lettered projection stating “LIGHTNING RISK, STAY AWAY FROM METAL AND TREES” occupies the backdrop. Echoes of “1 hour delay,” “2 hour delay,” “cancelled,” stream back through disheartened attendees. A security guy repeats that it will be “1.5 hours on average, till everything is back up and running”.
We head back to the Cupra tent, the promised land of shelter and vibes - and apparently music! No idea who was playing (believed to be Lil Silva), but it was wild and welcomed! Thanks hun.
A double rainbow arcs over Victoria Park, still sceptical to venture further afield we hang around Cupra for Nia Archives. The Bradford born producer blows out any doubts from the day thus far. Even if Jungle / D&B is not your thing, the spirit that Nia Archives exudes is so rich and vibrant that it could make the driest mouth salivate, plus the visuals are sick.
Surprise, surprise, we stay in our big blue tented abode for FLOHIO, still delirious from the storm and Nia Archives’ set. We end up missing Badbadnotgood, although a report from the most sober, jazz-enthusiast looking attendee we could find, stated that they were simply “just bad.” Sorry fellas.
Somehow, we missed Erykah Badu. Confusion, cut sets and the genuine misunderstanding on my part that Badu was headlining the night (which to be fair if you see Badu’s name on any line-up, you assume it's going to be the top slot) were all reasons for this faux pas. These, plus the only sheltered stage in Victoria Park bewitching us made us miss this icon, we heard positive notes from her audience as we stumbled over to the East stage for Jungle.
Jungle’s music is a guilty pleasure, you don’t always want to be seen panic choosing to play it at a party, but it’s unlikely to be complained about if you do. Opening with Us Against The World from their latest release Volcano, their die hard crowd grooves to every note. The set design, reminiscent of Daft Punk’s Get Lucky music video, has the duo, plus band, lit as silhouettes in front of a sunset. The sound ain’t great where we’re standing, but the atmosphere is light and free. At 25 tracks deep, it’s a healthy setlist that leaves little room for complaints.