Baby's First Festival
where i've been #5: my experience at all points east 2023
Last Monday, I attended my first ever festival: All Points East at Victoria Park in London. It is an annual festival that takes place over two weekends in August. This year’s headliners were Stormzy, Aphex Twin, The Strokes, Jungle, Dermot Kennedy and Haim. The latter of these were the headliners the day my friend and I attended the festival.
We booked our tickets back in March, registering for a pre-sale via Haim’s website. Thankfully, there wasn’t a mad dash to get tickets, but it was nice to know that we were sorted.
Flash-forward five months, we arrived in London after the planes-trains-automobiles journey from Hell. We spent the Bank Holiday morning shopping in Covent Garden and Soho, then got ready for the festival. We both opted to wear black crop tops and pants, mimicking the stage wear of the three-piece band.
As per my last newsletter, I brought a small black crossbody bag: it carried phone, my hand sanitiser, my ID, my hotel key, my film camera, a packet of tissues and some medication. We both bought bottles of water and shoved them into our pockets.
We took the overground from Liverpool Street, where we were staying, to Cambridge Heath. It wasn’t too long of a walk to get to the park. Thankfully, it was a lovely sunny day, but we’d both brought hoodies for when the sun set later on. The walk through the park wasn’t too long either, following the many people headed to the festival.
Once we’d got in (after a small scare when my ticket app logged me out unexpectedly), we decided to watch the end of Griff’s set on the main stage. She was energetic and had catchy songs, including ‘Black Hole’ which I was familiar with. Following Griff was Girl in Red, whose most popular songs I was more familiar with and she was equally funny and charming when interacting with the crowd. Afterwards, we headed over to the dance tent to watch Romy, a former member of the xx. I enjoyed her songs, particularly the nostalgic sample of Alice Deejay’s ‘Better Off Alone.’ Over on the smaller stage, we watched Scottish singer Joesef, who played chilled pop music that provided a perfect soundtrack to the sun setting over the festival.
During all of this, I went to the bar tent several times to buy cans of Inch’s. Now, I love Inch’s and I will rarely say no if you offer me one, especially in a can. Therefore, I bit the bullet and paid the extortionate £6.10 they were asking for, bitterly thinking about how you can buy four for a fiver in Tesco. But I was in London. At a festival. During the cost of living crisis. Sometimes you have to suck it up and be grateful you’re a lightweight.
After Joesef, we ate some seasoned chips from a vendor who’s name I cannot remember, then ventured back to the dance tent to listen to Confidence Man. I knew that Confidence Man were popular, judging by the excited online comments about them when the festival line-up was announced. However, I didn’t know anything about them and never bothered to listen before we went. Oh my god. They were insane! They are an Australian electronic group that got the crowd going with their upbeat, bouncing tunes. It was impossible not to dance. And yes, they’ve now taken up a fair amount of room on my Spotify ‘On Repeat’ playlist. I didn’t get any good videos (sign of a good time?), so I’ll link the video the group posted of the best song they played: ‘Feels Like a Different Thing.’
After tearing ourselves away from Confidence Man, we used the unbelievably clean port-a-loos (like shockingly clean), then watched the end of FKJ’s set. We marvelled as he pulled out the saxophone and seamlessly played the melody to his most-known hit ‘Tadow.’
At this point, it was time for Haim. I bought a ‘Women in Music Part III’ t-shirt from the merch stand, another can of Inch’s from the bar tent, then set off towards the main stage, along with everyone else at the festival. I would say that we managed to get into the middle of the pit, or rather the back of the front section. We were packed like sardines, but everyone was very courteous when moving for others.
Following an amusing warm-up of Fergie’s ‘London Bridge’, Haim took to the stage and the rest is history. They were absolutely fantastic. They played several hits from ‘Women in Music Part III’ and ‘Days are Gone’, in which they were celebrating its 10 year anniversary. Alana Haim gave a heartfelt speech about the band’s love of London as the place they ‘made it big’, Este Haim humorously asked the crowd for local nightlife recommendations and Danielle Haim’s vocals were unmatched in brilliance. We even got to see them perform their iconic and deeply memeable ‘I Know Alone’ dance. Although they didn’t play my favourite song ‘Los Angeles’ (fuming), it was an incredible concert that I’m so unbelievably grateful that I went to.
And then I saw Callum Turner. Okay, let me rewind a moment.
When the set ended after their rousing rendition of ‘The Steps’, we followed the mass exodus towards the exit of the park. On the way, I saw three people stood talking and caught a glimpse of a man’s face. It was, in fact, Callum Turner, a British actor best known for portraying Theseus Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts series. In my rather drunken haze, I had to double-check to make sure it was him, then I heard one of the people say ‘thanks Callum.’
I couldn’t believe it. I was gobsmacked for the next half-an-hour. I have an unbelievable amount of TikTok edits saved of this man and there he was! In the flesh! I was a bit annoyed with myself because I’d just seen such an amazing concert, but my head was spinning from seeing him. Oh well. I don’t care. He was even more handsome in real life!
No, I didn’t get a photo. Devastating.
Anyways, after following the crowds, we jumped on the tube from Mile End back to Liverpool Street, then crashed out in our room at midnight.
I’d highly recommend All Points East. Apart from Haim, I didn’t know any of the artists very well, but after listening to a range of acts, I have now expanded my music taste for the better! I will definitely go to a Confidence Man gig if they ever come my way.
I’d also recommend the festival to those like me, who hadn’t been to a festival before and were feeling a bit nervous about the crowds and the long hours. It had a great, welcoming atmosphere, where it was obvious that everyone was there to dance, sing and hear great music. The overall vibe of the guests felt like Londoners who wanted something worthwhile to fill their Bank Holiday with, rather than this massive event where you have to go all-out or you’re not doing it right.
If I am a fan of any of next year’s headliners, I’ll definitely consider going back. I doubt it will be topped, but Tame Impala were meant to play the cancelled 2020 festival, so you never know…