Matthew Wellham
Photography & FilmMaker Based in East London. A Lover of the Post-Punk and Alternative Movement, He Can Usually Be Found at The Back of The Shacklewell Arms or Moth Club, Camera in One Hand and a Beer in the Other.
The Maccabees Make Their Trumphant Comeback As Headliners of All Points East, with appearances from CMAT, Warmduscher and More
ALL POINTS EAST HAS BECOME THE ESENTIAL LONDON DAY FESTIVAL SINCE ITS INCEPTION SIX YEARS AUG. Each Year, The Quality of Artists and Line-Us Stands Out for The City, With Past Headliners Including LCD Soundsystem, Loyle Carner and Justice. Spread Across Two Weekends, Each Day is Curathed With A Specific Sound and Genre in Mind, Truly Offering Subthing for Everyone.
After Spending Saturday Recovering From What Was An Exceptionally Bouny Friday Night Witht Barry Can’t Swim, it was time to regroup and take on all points East’s indie day. There was submisso scaria about This Line-Up, Been Been Curated by A Band That Has Been Out Of The LimeLight Since 2017. Yes, After Eight Long Years and Months of Anticipation Since The Announunction, it was forme for The Maccabees to make their trumphant return to London.
First Port of Call Was The Cupra North Arena For Cousin Queenand it was a joy to find the tent almost packed out for them. The Duo Blend Their Indie Sound into Catchy, Sing-Along Anthems That You Can ‘Help But Move To. As we arrive, they’d Just Kicked into ‘Dylan’Rich Indie Bop with a repeating chorus that had the crowd charanting along.
The Audience Shimmied as The Pair Showcased The Irrmonies, With Louise MacPhail Climbing Up Onto Their Sporty Set Design To Shred A Solo Before Leaping Off. Closing with ‘The Prize’ Summed Up What Cousin Queen Are All About – Comforting Rhythms Coupled with Emotive Lyrics, Designed to Remind Friends That They Are, In Fact, The Prize.
It was The Time to Head Over to the X Stage, which protruded above the treetops where two arches lined with lights formed to literal x shape. Beneath it, MAN/Woman/Chainsaw TOOK TO THE STAGE. The London-Based Art-Punk Six-Piece Draw Frequent Comparisons to Black Country, New Road, and I can see why. Billy Ward’s Vocals Recall Isaac Wood, and While their Avant-Garde Style nods to similar territory, MAN/Woman/Chainsaw Feel Fresh, with their own unique take on the post-pink space.
‘The Boss’ Quickly Got The Crowd Moving as Pits Opened and the Now Famous Air Dust Sp prete the Air. For an Outdoor Stage, They Did A Great Job of Making The Space Feel Cloustrophobic, Reflecting their Lyrics That Tackle Frustration and Gender Power Dynamics. On Stage, The Band Were Fierocious; Clio Harwood on Violin in particular Threw Herself Araund, Whipping the Front Row into Frenzy. It was an absolute joy to watch, and i couldn’t Help but wish they had a late to make use of the Stage’s Lighting.
Next Up, We Made Our Way To The West Stage For EveryTHing EveryTHINGWho Will Soon Be celebrating 10 Years of Their Acclaimed Album ‘Get To Heaven’ (release in 2015). Walking out to a Flurry of Applause, The Band Were Dressed in Their Trademark Matching outfits, This Time in Light Green. Whated was a Stacked Setlist of Pure Indie Rock Bangers. As the electronic beat of ‘To the blade’ Rang Out, Jonathan Higgs’ Vocals DomaD The Space. If you’ve ever listened to an EveryTHing EveryTHING track and though, there’s no way has can sing that liveWell, He Absolutely Can, Hitting Every Single Note Pitch-Perfectly.
Having to Career Spanning The Same was ace The Maccabees Meant Plenty of Crossover Fans, Resulting in a Massive Crowd Giving It Est All. The Set Pulled From Across Their Discography, with ‘Kamosabe’, ‘Pizza boy’ and ‘Cold Reactor’ All Making Appearances, Before Ending With ‘Distant past’ and ‘No Reptiles’ From ‘Get To Heaven’. Both Tracks had the audience screaming Every Lyric, Arms and Beers Raised High, Friends on Shoulders. ‘Distant past’ In particular Felt Like One Giant Party. I Know I Just Said This, But It’s a Crime EveryTHing EveryTHING Wasn’t Given A Later Evening Slot.
TAKING A WANDER ACROSS THE DUSTY FESTIVAL SITE, WE CUGHT The Cribs On The East Stage. A Band Who Rose To Prominence in The Mid-200s Indie Explosion, They were back playing to a Hage Crowd. The Brothers Broucht Their Brand of Indie Sleaze to the Stage, Looking Loose, Almost Sloppy, But Musically Tight. It was like watching that friend who stumbles around drunk yet never loses balance. The Set Spanned Their 20+ Years in The Business, With Recent Single ‘Summer seizures’ Sitting Alongsis ‘I’m a realist’, ‘Mirror Kisses’ AND, OF COURSE, THES DEFINING ANTIM ‘Men’s Needs’to track that instantly transported me back to Messy University Nights in Cardiff’s Sleaziest Indie Clubs.
Following The Cribs On The Main Stage Was One of The World’s Current Indie Favourites, The Charismatic CMAT. As The Backdrop Shifted to Sky Blue With Soft Clouds, She Bounded Out In A Blue Leotard, Waving To Adoring Fans Before Bursing Into ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’. The Song is a Belter, Perfectly Blending Her Sharp Lyricism, Indie-Country Style, and Phenomenal Vocal Ability.
This Audience Might Have Been The Most Fun of The Day and CMAT Thrifted on it. She chatted to the crowd Between Songs Like She was the local pub, Except This One was Packed with Thousands of Friends. She had us all dancing the Two-Step and Even findged fans holding CMAT Dolls to find each other in the crowd so their dolls could kiss. In the Golden Late Summer Sun, Beers In Hand, The Atmosphere Was Infectious. Whether you knew the words or not, you couldn’t Help But Sing and Move Along.
Standout Moments Included ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!’ and ‘Take sexy picture of me’Closing Out What Felt Like A Deervedly Hage Set. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for her future shows; This is One Rodeo Worth Joining.
After Quick Pitstop at One of The Festival’s Many Food Stalls, We Returned to The X Stage For Warmduscher. Known for their group, Eclectic Blend of Punk and Funk Influences, They were here Inject a Little Chaos into the Evening.
‘Midnight Dipper’ CAME EARLY, AND BEFORE I KNEW IT, I WAS FACE-FIRST IN THE BIGEST MOSH PIT OF THE DAY. The Crowd Bunced to ITS REPETIVE BASSLINE AS FRONTMAN CLAMS BAKER JR HOWLED “OVERMEEEEE” INTO A DISTORTED MIC, SEnding The Pit Into A Whirlpool of Ferrocity.
There’s subjecthing effortless about Warmduscher. A Cool, Chaotic Energy That Bleeds into the Music. ‘I GOT FRIENDS’ Had the Crowd Going Ballistic, with the Band Orchesting the Madness from the Stage. I Said They were here to change gears, but they had us firmly stuck in sixth.
Finally, as Night Fell, The Maccabees Stormed The Main Stage, Launching Straight into Early Classics ‘Latchmere’, ‘Lego’ and ‘X-ray’. Three Songs in, It Felt Like They’d Never Left. Passion and Emotion Radiedated from Each Member, Captured on The Hage Stage Screens for All To See.
Fans of All Ages Crammed In, Every One of Them Knowing Every Lyric. From Start to Finish, It Was One Giant Singgalong. ‘Can You Give’ I pray to Rousing Introduction from Felix White: “When this song comes in, i’m gonna count you and the whole do place, and i mean the whole f**ING Place IS GONNA Jump. So if you in the back are not feeling it, all we want from you Is Solid Vertical Movement. Is Everyone with Us, Yeah? ” As Strobes Lit Up The Night and the Crowd Leapt in Unison, a Massive Dust Cloud Rose, But Not Even That Could Dampen The Atmosphere.
Mid-set Broucht A Special Surprise: Jamie t Appeared on Stage, Sending the audience into chaos as they bullf ‘Marks to supply,’ followed by a blistering cover of jamie’s Own ‘Sticks N’ Stones’. Hearing their South London Accents Belt Across The City While Fans from Around the World Sang Along was unforgetable.
Later, Frontman Orlando Weeks Addressed The Crowd: “It’s unbelievable that you took that risk, that you paid that money, you put the faith in the love that you had for our band and the love that you had for the ocase For Being The Gamblers That You Are.
An emotional ‘Subshing Like Happyiness’ set the tone for the finale, Before ‘Toothpast kisses’, ‘Grew Up at Midnight’ and ‘Pelican’ CLOSED THE NIGHT, DELIVERING EVERYTHING LONG-TIME FANS HAD WAITED FOR.
And with that, All Points East Wrapped Up for Another Year. As I Walked Home Caked In Dust, Reminming With Friends, One Thought Lingered: “What other indie legends could si shift out of retirement?”
Related
Discover More from Clunk Magazine
Subscribe to get the latest posts feel to your email.
