Devlin and Wookie prove unmissable at Streetfest

• This Event
• Reviews
• Photos
• Forum
• Event Home

Streetfest 2012

Sunday 6th May 2012
Hearn Street Car Park, Shoreditch, East London , England MAP
early bird £12

Daily capacity: 5,000

The Bank Holiday weekend served up a treat as nestled behind the trendy shops and alternative drinking holes in Shoreditch, urban music festival Streetfest (in alliance with Adidas) took over a car park and delivered a day of live talent and entertainment showcasing British talent across the board of the arts. Thanks to Ryanair I was delayed in getting to the festival after returning from abroad and missed the early afternoon festivities. However I did roll up in time to catch female MC of the moment, Lady Leshurr, strutting her stuff onstage.

As a performer she had the crowd enthralled and although not to everyone's taste (OK I'm not a huge fan of her style) she was suitably entertaining for the occasion, making the most of the small stage and delivering her fast paced lyrics with power and a ferociousness. She portrayed the whole street style vibe that was going on with a leopard print cropped top and Flintstones boxer shorts underwear peaking out of her baggy jeans. There was a clear crowd of supporters who chanted her tongue-in cheek puns along with her.

The layout of the festival was surprisingly small, based around a car park building and in the street surrounding it, with extremely talented graffiti artists designing the walls along the street, various food and clothing stalls, and a small skate ramp outside.

Inside there was a bigger skateboarding ramp that received a lot of attention during the day as skilful enthusiasts rode, skated and flipped their way across it; a lot more food, clothing stalls and bars, and the main stage room where most people were stationed.

Old School garage legend Wookie took to the stage and tore up the venue for an epic set that lasted nearly 2 hours; the place was transformed into a rave as people of all styles and creeds let loose busting classic shapes like it was the early nineties.

Elsewhere I enjoyed seeing some extremely talented street art unfolding in front of me, as graffiti artists continued to create pieces right before the crowds' eyes.

The highly anticipated headliner of the evening, Essex born MC Devlin, had a huge build up as it was clear the crowd was ecstatic at the premise of him performing and the atmosphere in the building bubbled in anticipation.

The 23 year old took to the stage with as much gusto as was possible in the smallish venue and did not disappoint the throng of fans and flashing cameras, launching into his classics such as Runaway, Brainwashed and London City with the power, determination and exquisite lyrical delivery that has made him an unstoppable force in the UK's grime/hip hop movement.

It's amazing to consider of the youthfulness of Devlin with his poignant raw lyrics and delivery that had the crowd riled up as he maintained his strong presence. In extremely good spirits he bounced about the stage and encouraged the crowd to get hyped up as he and his DJ (Big Beatz) took over the venue effortlessly.

He communicated with the crowd in an extremely personable way and when a young lady shouted her love for him, he simply replied "I love you too darling" in the most charming of ways.

He finished his set with his trademark F64, which completely tore the roof off the venue as he spit the bars like he was born to do it and had the crowd literally clambering over each other.

Overall, the festival was a nice addition to the hipster scene of Shoreditch but appeared to lack a certain something in terms of varied entertainment and size; however Wookie's high energy set and Devlin's top class performance made the event an unmissable one.