IMPENDING CLOUDS COULD NOT STOP THE ELECTRIC ENERGY BROUGHT TO ALL POINTS EAST BY TYLER THE CREATOR AND FRIENDS ON FRIDAY

By Sophie Clark | Muck Rack Portfolio | Press Invite

Even though I got there on the early side, All Points East has such a high-quality lineup I was able to go straight from the gates to see Rayvnn Lenae on the East Stage. Lenae, who has gained international appeal with her hit song Love Me Not, really impressed me with her vocal chops. It’s hard to tell these days whether singers are also good live performers, and Lenae was a great booking for someone to showcase authenticity and talent to warm people up for the other live acts to follow.  

Other than Tyler the Creator, the artist I was most excited to see Zack Fox and he was fully worth the build up. The crowd at the X Stage was amped up to party, and Fox delivered. It takes a really good DJ to prove that it’s not just pressing buttons on a playlist, and it was clear that Fox was working on that stage from playing deep cut house music to a crowd-pleasing remix of Midnight Sun which was much appreciated by those of us who couldn’t get tickets to Zara Larsson last week. 

There’s a type of human connection experienced at a festival which cannot be recreated in another place, and which is why festivals can become an addictive experience in and of themselves. So, even though rain is usually the enemy of a summer festival, when the skies opened up over Zack Fox, I felt closer than ever to all of the total strangers spinning around in the downpour falling onto the parched park grounds around us.

One of the standout reasons to go to a festival is to discover a new act, and my find of the day was Bb Trickz. Made famous in the UK from being on the Brat remix album, the Spanish rapper got everyone up and dancing at the X Stage. I don’t speak a word of Spanish, but I can understand when someone is trying to get a crowd going, and I was along for the ride. 

A perfect day has to include one disappointment, and unfortunately that came in the form (or lack thereof) of Sexyy Red, who failed to show up on time for her set. She was playing in the large blue tent, and the crowds kept pouring in to the point that I started to feel enormously claustrophobic, so I didn’t stick around to see if she ever showed up. This was a real shame given that I do think she has the capacity to be a great performer, but it wasn’t worth risking heat stroke in a packed tent to find out. 

We then flooded over to the West Stage for the headliner, and as soon as he took to the stage I understood why Tyler the Creator has been booked for two nights, and it’s not just to make up for the fact that he was banned from the UK for four years. He is a performer to his core. He commanded his one and a half hour set with such mastery, going from lighting up the crowd with his massive opener, Big Poe, to slower songs like Are We Still Friends. 

I wasn’t prepared at all for this set to end. It flew by. I do wish he’d brought out some other acts, especially given that he has collaborated with several people who were on the day’s lineup. That said, he is such an unbelievable standout in himself; I was mesmerised from start to finish and am incredibly jealous of everyone who gets to see him tonight.

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Photo Credit: @perry_gibson