All Roads Lead to All Points East – Weekend 1 Review

Saturday, 16 August - Cleo Sol, Chronixx and SAULT

Photo Credit: Isha Shah

“Thank you for being here. I don’t take this for granted. I appreciate you singing along. We feel the energy up here and it’s beautiful,” Cleo Sol told the crowd on the first day of the sixth edition of All Points East, in the ever-iconic Victoria Park.

This year’s opening night was headlined by Cleo Sol, Chronixx and SAULT, who brought their monumental production ‘Provenance’ to the East Stage for their first festival slot. Alongside them, NAO, Mariah the Scientist, Sasha Keable, Kirk Franklin, Joe Kay, Gotts Street Park and Ms. Dynamite performed across the secondary stages.

But this was no ordinary festival set. The East Stage transformed into a desert landscape, dominated by a towering pyramid connected to the main stage by a walkway cutting through the 40,000-strong audience. The five-hour production unfolded like a futuristic, biblical vision, with visuals and costuming that shifted from helmets and boiler suits to sumptuous flowing robes, all accompanied by pristine dance routines that had the crowd moving.

With the tone of the rest of the night set, Cleo Sol brought disco pop realness with ‘Why Why Why Why Why’, which got the audience clapping and singing along, before a moving performance of ‘Pray For Me’. The music and visuals worked hand in hand, with robes and fabrics swirling in unison with the 20 dancers, elevating the production exponentially.

Chronixx kept the warmth, leaning into a fun reggae set filled with tracks like ‘Legend’ and ‘Survivor’, urging the audience to believe in the power of community and to “have faith and be strong”. He was later joined by special guest Kelissa for ‘Way You Make Me Feel’, in a beautiful rendition of the song.

The surprises didn’t stop there, as Yasiin Bey and The Alchemist appeared unannounced to perform their most recent project, ‘Forensics’. 

True to the ethos of Cleo Sol and her collaborators, the night also gave space to community voices, with organisations including Boroughs United, Hackney Caribbean Elderly Organisation, Rising Tide and The Pilion Trust each taking the spotlight, reinforcing the event’s deep ties to London’s grassroots movements and local communities. As the evening came to as close Cleo Sol returned to the stage with classics such as ‘Know That You Are Loved 'and ‘Rose in the Dark’, delivering a powerful finale to an innovative production that seamlessly blended music, state-of-the-art production and community-led values.

Sunday, 17 August - Chase & Status

Photo Credit: Isha Shah

On Sunday, 17 August drum and bass veterans Chase & Status took the headline slot, joined by a pristine bill of DJs and MCs who performed exclusive back-to-back sets, including Sherelle B2B Clipz, Dwarde B2B Tim, Joy Orbison and Nia Archives. With a visibly excited crowd moving from stage to stage, not fazed by the expansive dimensions of the festival site, the day played out as a prolonged club party from beginning to end for electronic music lovers.

On the East Stage, Overmono welcomed Kwengface for their collaboration ‘Freedom 2’, while Hamdi invited the crowd into his party on the West Stage in full dubstep glory. Later on in the late afternoon, Dimension’s also set the tone for the rest of the evening, with a very excited crowd and pyrotechnics upping the excitement. 

To close the day, Chase & Status delivered a headline set that reflected their historic achievement of becoming the first English band since 2010 to have four singles in the UK Top 40 simultaneously. Their performance blended drum and bass, dubstep, grime and hip-hop into a high-energy showcase.

The night saw star collaborator Tom Grennan make a surprise guest appearance for their classic track ‘All Goes Wrong’. IRAH, Flowdan and Trigga, regular collaborators iin the Chase & Status world, also took turns on stage, including an extended version of the massive 2023 hit ‘Baddadan’ and the duo’s latest single ‘BACKBONE’ featuring Stormzy.

With a heavy emphasis on pyro, the visuals married seamlessly with the music as fireworks, flame throwers and everything in between turned the set into a show within the show —  making it the best club night in town that evening.

All Points East continues with headliners Barry Can’t Swim on Friday, 22 August, Raye on Saturday, 23 August, and The Maccabees on Sunday, 24 August. For tickets and FAQs, please visit APE’s website.

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WORDS BEA VASQUES

PHOTOS ALL CREDIT TO THE PHOTOGRAPHERS ABOVE MENTIONED