All Points East Festival 2019

[Dom Wall]

What was the ground like later on yesterday? Any signs of effect from the downpour at Chemical Bros?

[Brave Sir Robin]

9 minutes ago, Dom Wall said:

What was the ground like later on yesterday? Any signs of effect from the downpour at Chemical Bros?

Completely fine.

[charlierc]

Yesterday was a curious one. North Stage is where I spent most of my time but it felt inconsistent. Best sound was when I was there for Anna Calvi, and that includes Dream Wife, when I was in the front row. Interpol was hit and miss, although the tunes held it up well enough. Enthusiasm of a crowd that had circle pits for them helped. West Arena sound for Jarvis was curious - nothing but bass for the opening track but everything that followed was nice and crisp, even if he had a distorted mic.

Strokes was better sound than my other 2 forays to the big stage, though oddly sounded better when I went further back from my main position by the left-side delay tower. Crowd and performance were good at least.

The sheer amount of queues for food was absurd - tried to find a bite between Courtney Barnett and Interpol and nearly everywhere had such long queues.

[jamieaslee]

APE seem to be DM'ing people on Twitter Re sound issues yesterday. Anyone received one?

[scatteredscreens]

6 minutes ago, jamieaslee said:

APE seem to be DM'ing people on Twitter Re sound issues yesterday. Anyone received one?

I've tweeted out to them now, will see if they DM me, curious as to what they're messaging people, and if it is just a generic apology - why is it not simply posted to their Twitter?

[Daemonk]

4 hours ago, Fleetwood_Mac_And_Cheese said:

Yesterday for me was a mixed bag. The majority of the music I saw was great (Angie McMahon, Paraquet Courts, Argyl and the Sniffers).

Johnny Marr and The Raconteurs were absolutely Incredible. Was great hearing some Smiths songs (he also sounded a lot like Morissey) and Jack White was fantastic.

Fat White Family, Jarvis and The Strokes on the other hand were very disappointing. Ive seen FWF a lot of times and thought they were great but yesterday they felt really off.

Was gutted about Jarvis, was expecting him to be the highlight of my day but I couldn't hear him and turns out for me at least his solo stuff doesn't hit the spot.

How did you catch both Jarvis and Johnny when they clashed? 

[jamieaslee]

20 minutes ago, James96 said:

I've tweeted out to them now, will see if they DM me, curious as to what they're messaging people, and if it is just a generic apology - why is it not simply posted to their Twitter?

they've tweeted now

[scatteredscreens]

4 minutes ago, jamieaslee said:

they've tweeted now

 

Thank you to The Strokes for joining us last night for a truly incredible show. The sound quality at our shows has been of a consistently high standard since we started All Points East in 2018 and we were disappointed to learn that there was a sound issue in some areas of the site during The Strokes' set. The sound engineers worked hard to address the problem as quickly as possible and, whilst it improved, we regret that a section of the audience didn’t have the audio experience that we expect for them. We will be responding to individual customers in the next few days.

This bit makes it seem a bit ridiculous, how do you pick and choose the individual customers?

[some dude]

5 minutes ago, James96 said:

 

Thank you to The Strokes for joining us last night for a truly incredible show. The sound quality at our shows has been of a consistently high standard since we started All Points East in 2018 and we were disappointed to learn that there was a sound issue in some areas of the site during The Strokes' set. The sound engineers worked hard to address the problem as quickly as possible and, whilst it improved, we regret that a section of the audience didn’t have the audio experience that we expect for them. We will be responding to individual customers in the next few days.

This bit makes it seem a bit ridiculous, how do you pick and choose the individual customers?

Well they weren’t going to get an angry complaint email, but since they asked so nicely...

[John L]

Getting a bit busier in here now. Wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve just opened the gates to the locals. 

[Fleetwood_Mac_And_Cheese]

1 hour ago, Daemonk said:

How did you catch both Jarvis and Johnny when they clashed? 

Stayed at Jarvis for a few songs, decided it wasn't to me and went to see Johnny just as he played How Soon Is Now? 

Very happy I got there when I did 

 

[lexiins]

7 hours ago, Tom Connolly said:

Does anyone have 2 BMTH tickets i could have? x

I do! Still need them?? 

[gfa]

3 hours ago, some dude said:

Well they weren’t going to get an angry complaint email, but since they asked so nicely...

my thoughts entirely

[Tom Connolly]

2 hours ago, lexiins said:

I do! Still need them?? 

i would love them please, ive dmed u x

[TheWaters]

If anyone needs a pair of Bon Iver tickets DM me

EDIT: Gone

Edited May 26, 2019 by TheWaters

[Samjones]

Mate is Selling one ticket for BMTH £25 and 2 for Bon Iver £30 each, message him on twitter @cam_padfield

[TheWaters]

Sam Fender pulled out of the Mumford day? He's disappeared off the website and clashfinder.

[Tom Connolly]

2 minutes ago, TheWaters said:

Sam Fender pulled out of the Mumford day? He's disappeared off the website and clashfinder.

yeah he tweeted about it

[TheWaters]

2 minutes ago, Tom Connolly said:

yeah he tweeted about it

Ah just seen it. Not overly keen on him anyway, hope there's a semi-decent replacement although I assume it's a bit short notice and Jade Bird will just be bumped up.

[DarthSaul]

1 hour ago, lighthouse said:

So how was Christine?

She was really good, full on production with dancers, moving pieces of set and fireworks. Ruined somewhat by a crowd that insisted on talking the whole way through, some not even bothering to face her, and the sound was pretty low so it was a little hard to hear at times. I guess that's what you expect when people haven't paid to be there 

[zzzfest]

Christine was PHENOMENAL. Very theatrical, so spectacular. And it worked under the difficult festival circumstances, which deserves a praise in itself. The best act of the whole weekend for me (and I wasn’t particularly interested in her before). Unlike DarthSaul, I felt every one of the crowd around me didn’t want the show to end. Pity the 10:30 Sunday curfew hence no encore.

[Fleetwood_Mac_And_Cheese]

Christine was incredible. Overall I felt the day was stronger with Christine, Princess Nokia and Beach House being the highlights of my day.

I had a few issues with the crowd but after moving around a few times ended up near a group having a great time. Her visual show was pretty impressive and the sound issues apparent for the first two days seemed to have gone away. 

Did anyone else spot when the right side of the stage caught fire?

[Jne___]

Yeah last night really was brilliant. More than made up for the well dodge sound for strokes. Christine,  beach house and metronomy especially. Saw the fire too!

We’re after tickets for Mumford and Bon iver  if anyone happens to have got them through O2 (gutted I missed that!)

[Odessa]

Got a lot of time to kill on the coach back up from London so may as well post a few thoughts about the weekend.

I wasn't meant to be going on Friday but ended up bagging a spare train ticket for free, and found some Chems tickets on Thursday night for 30 quid. So that already felt a massive win but then I won Chems tickets on Dice on the way down so it got even better. Won CATQ tix on there as well to add to the pair I'd already won elsewhere. I hope they carry on with 6 days cos it's clearly just way too many tickets to sell. I'm busy next weekend or else I'd be heading back down to see Bon Iver for free. Ah well.

I don't really echo the sentiments about poor sound in general. I didn't really have any issues except for The Strokes. 

Friday:

Ibibio Sound Machine: didn't know who these were but my mate fancied it. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it but not my cuppa tea at all really. Only boring set I saw all weekend. 2/10.

Little Simz: saw her years ago at some Vevo event and wasn't keen at all, but caught a fair bit of her set and she's much better these days. I'll have to give the album that everyone has been raving about a go. 6/10.

Danny Brown: was really excited to see him as I've not had the chance to before. Thought he was decent enough but kinda expected more from him tbh. 6.5/10.

Hot Chip: fucking brilliant, obviously. Pretty much the same set I saw them do in April but that didn't matter. Just a total party. Seeing these in the middle of the night in Bilbao is gonna be sensational, and I'll be heading to the tour as well. Can't get enough of seeing a live act when they're this good. 9/10.

Chemical Brothers: memory of this isn't perfect but they were really good. Preferred the set I saw them do last summer but no complaints. Got To Keep On especially stood out as outstanding for me. Didn't notice any sound issues or speakers blowing or whatever. 8/10.

Saturday:

Fat White Family: not massively familiar with these; I've only properly listened to the new album. Thought they were good though, I defo need to delve deeper with them. 7/10

Parquet Courts: brilliant stuff from these again. I'm a big fan but a couple of my mates weren't overly aware of them and were defo won over. AHTSAF/IAOOP just absolutely goes off. 8/10

Johnny Marr: we're talking about the man who was in the two greatest British bands of all time. What more do you need to say. 8/10.

The Raconteurs: this clash with Interpol was an absolute killer for me. Had to weigh it up for months even though logically this was always the choice to make, as I've seen Interpol a few times and they're not likely to go away any time soon, whereas The Raconteurs could easily just disappear forever after this year. And of course Interpol are at Glasto. I'd never seen Jack White in any form before but watching him perform was something else. He was so up for it. Band as a whole absolutely killed it and I enjoyed it more than I expected to. It felt like it could have been a headline set, and maybe a Raconteurs day would have sold more tickets than a day headlined by CATQ or BMTH. Who knows. 9/10

The Strokes: I was pretty gone for this tbh. I remember having a great time so that's all that matters, but the sound was definitely not good at all. I don't feel hard by or anything but I'll still shoot APE an email just in case they're handing out any refunds. Can't really give it a rating as I was steaming. Their set in Bilbao  will be better as the sound will be spot on.

Sunday:

Kurt Vile: found him very disappointing at Glasto a few years ago, mainly cos I thought the sound was awful, but really enjoyed his set yesterday. Wakin On A Pretty Day into Pretty Pimpin was amazing. Very glad I gave him another go. 7.5/10.

Beach House: really nice stage set up and chilled atmosphere for this. They have some great songs and I was dead happy to hear Space Song and Lemon Glow live especially. They are samey though, I'd had my fill by the end. 7/10.

Metronomy: wall to wall bangers. Band absolutely smashed it and seemed to really be enjoying themselves. Think the drummer is the most smiley person I've ever seen. Half the set was new stuff which is not what I would have chosen beforehand, but it all went off. New album should be good, whenever that is due. 8.5/10.

Christine and the Queens: wew. Did not expect this to be so good. Absolutely sensational. It's a shame she's not a big enough name to have warranted the slot in terms of sales, as it was empty there, but she definitely warranted the slot performance wise. Hoping it's doable to see her at Glasto now cos it was a seriously good show. 9/10.

So yeah, top weekend on the whole. Lots of negativity floating about but I had a great time. The fact I only spent 75 quid on a ticket and saw all that is just beyond obscene.

[zzzfest]

Below are the acts I saw.

Friday: Steve Mason (part), Kate Tempest, Little Dragon (part), Roisin Murphy, Jon Hopkins, The Chemical Brothers

Saturday: Dream Wife, Temples (part), Fat White Family, Parquet Courts, Johnny Marr, Courtney Barnett (part), The Raconteurs, The Strokes

Sunday: Yves Tumor (part), Lou Doillon, Ezra Collective (part), Toro Y Moi, Kurt Vile (part), Beach House, Kamasi Washington (part), Maribou State (part), James Blake, Christine & The Queens

 

And my top 5:

Christine & The Queens

Roisin Murphy

Johnny Marr

Jon Hopkins

Kate Tempest

 

Comments:

The Raconteurs could have joined top 5 but the two nasty brawls that happened very close to me (and reported by someone above on this thread) ruined it for me. So horrible. My general feeling is that Saturday was way overcrowded and as the time went by, the situation became increasingly unpleasant. I was among those who escaped from the first barrier (set in the back of the front section) during The Strokes’ performance. Couldn’t enjoy the show at all there, almost pressed to die.

To answer lighthouse’s question, I only knew Beach House by name but decided to give them a try. Live they sound like something that connects Cocteau Twins with Slowdive/shoegazers. Dark and atmospheric, I liked it even if I don’t count them among the top 5.

Another band I gave a try is Fat White Family, but despite a good reputation I had heard beforehand, their Saturday performance felt somewhat pedestrian if not disappointing, as someone says here. An off-day perhaps.