Festival Review: LIDO Festival Jamie XX
10 years on from his debut album ‘In Colour’, Jamie comes to Victoria Park with a desirable bill of musicians all at the apex of their individual genres, promising a day of dancing and ecstasy.
The Skrillex X Jamie XX b2b was the set on everybody’s lips, hauling in a large crowd at the early time of 14:30 to watch these two titans go at it on the decks. But a last minute switch up in stages would see a mass movement towards the sound production stage for a set designed better for the main stage. Whilst fun and full of memorable moments, watching the legendary dubstep artist entertain with Jamie was dampened ever so slightly by the poor sound quality.
The second stage offered more than solace from the rain as Shy FX’s offerings of drum and bass had the whole tent moving in euphoria, Wookie’s emceeing keeping energy levels at a constant high and setting the tone for the set.
Jamie had stated that he hadn’t played with Nia Archives before, but the two meshed well together as Nia provided her junglist flavourings and Jamie’s fountain of musical knowledge was able to match, both of them turning the tent into a early noughties rave that saw gun fingers and skanking dominate.
Sampha was a highlight if you dared to brave the sheer force of British rain showers. An up tempo, playing old school classics like ‘Without’ with the rest of his band huddling into a drum circle to play the track before the song peters into the soulful and emotional piano outdo that Sampha has added when playing the song live. Closing with ‘Blood on Me’ from his acclaimed album ‘Process’, it was a set to convert those unknown to Sampha whilst acting as a perfect setlist for long standing fans.
Arca brought the beauty, the sultry, and seductive as she strutted around on stage performing a set full of her reggaeton flavoured tracks, ‘Rakata’, and singles from her more recent discography, providing glitchy experimental palette to the day’s array of sounds.
The day would end in a soggy euphoric set that would see the reunion of The XX, Oliver Sim’s appearance gaining a whooping cheer from the audience as he swoonfully sung his track ‘GMT’ from his debut album ‘Hideous Bastard. Romy, after a house heavy, electric set from earlier on in the day, returns to the stage as she performed the vocals for ’SeeSaw’ off of Jamie’s debut album ‘In Colour’. ‘Waited all Night’ welcomed an unofficial reunion of the trio, openly embracing one another on stage as they culminate their on stage get together. Oona Doherty captured the audience with her captivating dancing and sincere ode to the dance floor with the track ‘Falling Together’ becoming the pinnacle of the show, as she emphatically hyped up the crowds with her euphoric movements and the audience joined in, chasing the crescendo. Another highlight of the set was the mix of an acid track from STUM to the beginning of ‘Gosh’ earned a rapturous reception from the audience, reciting each ad lib with precision and further highlighting the cultural impact Jamie has had on UK dance music. A showcase of his career as well as a well curated day of artists that had the audience dancing in the rain.