KAYTRANADA, Tems, Victoria Monét, Thundercat, and Tkay Maidza launched All Points East
DAY ONE: FRIDAY 16 AUGUST
KAYTRANADA RAISES THE CURTAIN ON ALL POINTS EAST 2024
TEMS IS MADE TO BLUSH BY LONDON CROWD
VICTORIA MONÉT RECEIVES RAPTUROUS RECEPTION ON MAIN STAGE
THUNDERCAT, TKAY MAIDZA, CHANNEL TRES,
AND A HOST OF OTHER ARTISTS PERFORM
AWARD-WINNING TEN DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL RETURNS TO EAST LONDON
16 AUGUST > 26 AUGUST
MUSIC FESTIVAL, FREE COMMUNITY MIDWEEK ENTERTAINMENT
Including Outdoor Cinema, Live Music, Sports & Wellbeing, Kids & Family Activities and many more!
KAYTRANADA, Tems, Victoria Monét, Thundercat, and Tkay Maidza launched Uber One Presents All Points East 2024 in electrifying fashion, marking the return of east London’s celebrated music festival.
KAYTRANADA proved why he is the electronic artist of the moment as he presented a scintillating, genre-defying headline set that kicked off All Points East 2024 with a bang in front of 45,000 fans, who had hailed this a the “lineup of the summer” when it was first announced.
If KAYTRANADA’s mission statement is to cast his musical net into the widest waters possible and create something new, then the dividends he is yielding are leaving an lasting mark on audiences. And this is why so many artists are knocking at his door to collaborate.
Backed by six monolithic slabs that shifted visual effect from song to song, his set unfurled with hypnotic effect. ‘Need It’ was a crowd-pleaser as was a blast of Beyonce’s ‘CUFF IT’, greeted with a mass of voices bellowing the lyrics back at the stage.
Meanwhile the appearance of Channel Tres to duet on their song ‘Drip Sweat’ made for a firm festival moment.
‘Intimidated’ was met by a sea of phones from fans keen to capture the moment, as was ‘Be Your Girl’, which also saw the entire crowd singing as one, lost in blissful communion. “I love you London from the bottom of my heart,” KAYTRANADA announced from behind his DJ platform.
From the exhilarated faces departing the festival site when the lights came up, it’s clear that sentiment was echoed straight back at him.
“This energy is crazy. I wasn’t expecting this,” declared Tems on the West Stage. “This is massive for me, this crowd is massive,” she gushed, before acknowledging her journey by performing the very first song she ever wrote, ‘Mr Rebel’. In fact, it was the biggest crowd ever seen on All Points East’s West Stage.
At one point, Tems paused to say that the love from the audience was making her ‘blush’, but this bashfulness didn’t dilute a consummate and beautiful performance. There was the soulful serenade of ‘Burning’, which rubbed shoulders with the contemporary urban flex of ‘Wickedest’, not to mention the catchy Afrobeat sway of ‘Love Me JeJe’.
The tear-stained ballad ‘Higher’ elicited reverence, as the Nigerian producer and singer took east London on a voyage that delved deep into her acclaimed debut album Born in the Wild. Backed by a dexterous live band, the undulating rhythms and sonics made for a beguiling ride, culminating in the closing, touching ballad ‘Me & U’. This was a show that cemented Tems’ status as a cultural force.
Victoria Monét brought high production values, choreographed dances, and a huge party to London in a U.K. exclusive performance. Taking to the East Stage, the US superstar and three-time Grammy winner delivered a set that dipped into nostalgic 00s R&B and modern pop.
The singer’s sultry sounds were elevated even higher by an enthusiastic crowd who lapped up songs such as ‘Alright’, ‘Jaguar’ and ‘Party Girls’. By the time the infectious strains of the Grammy winning track ‘On My Mama’ rung out, the mic was dropped, and the job was well and truly done for this acclaimed songwriter turned superstar artist. Monét made the east London festival stage her home and the All Points East crowd’s deafening reaction anointed her as music royalty.
The king of collaborations, in demand bass player extraordinaire Thundercat – aka Stephen Bruner – brought his virtuosic soloing and smooth sounds to the East Stage. Before a vast crowd, the inimitable genre-defying multi-Grammy award winner gave All Points East a taste of something different.
“It’s a beautiful day today! Time to start singing some weird shit,” he warned. Some may have found it “weird”, but it was definitely wonderful. Free-form jazz odysseys gave way to sumptuous soul songs, each and every composition underpinned by his bug-eyed bass sound. Tracks such as ‘Dragonball Durag’ slipped down easier than an Aperol Spritz on a balmy day. ‘Funny Thing’ and a climactic ‘Them Changes’ rounded out a mood-altering trek into Thundercat’s wild musical world.
Tkay Maidza dispatched more grooves than a vinyl pressing plant with her early evening set on the West Stage. With a backdrop depicting a blood red moon, and a DJ behind her, the exuberant Aussie was eager to show why second album Sweet Justice is such a brilliant breakthrough.
Evidently thrilled, Maidza beamed that this was her ‘’first festival in London’’ and proved over the course of 45 minutes why it won’t be the last. The sultry febrile strut of ‘What Ya Know’ and ‘Ghost!’ went down a treat and they sat comfortably alongside the portentous deep bass rumble of her signature song, ‘Ring-A-Ling’. The pointed anthemic charge of ‘WUACV’ helped to round off a brilliant set.
With a diamond encrusted microphone clenched between his fingers, Channel Tres prowled the stage, making sure the party vibe was in full swing on the East Stage. The eighties electro pulse of ‘Acid in My Blood’ and the Prince-like summer-soaked slink of ‘Cactus Water’ had limbs moving, so too a funk-fuelled rendition of his Jungle collab ‘I’ve Been In Love’.
Instructing the crowd to follow his command, he disappeared from the stage and was filmed roaming the backstage area as the music built towards its climax. Tres ordered the audience to “bounce” when he reemerged. They did so. It was a moment that bonded the artist and audience as one – to the strains of Tres’ music.
This was a striking set under a blazing sun from a rising star finally reaping rich rewards. ‘’What a beautiful day to be in London,’’ he remarked. The Compton born artist revelled in the deserved adulation and it’s easy to imagine him climbing this bill in the years to come.
Additional highlights from APE Day One included Jyoty, TSHA b2b KILIMANJARO, Blanco, Kitty Ca$h and more, while the day kicked off on the BBC Radio 6 Music Stage with sounds spun by the British DJ, Yyre.
Saturday night sees Loyle Carner make his debut festival headline performance supported by a stellar line-up including Nas, André 3000, Ezra Collective, Lianne La Havas, and more.
The rest of the headliners include Mitski (Sunday 18 August), LCD Soundsystem (Friday 23 August), APE presents Field Day (Saturday 24 August) and The Postal Service / Death Cab For Cutie (Sunday 25 August). In The Neighbourhood returns for free activities from Monday 19th August to Thursday 22nd August. Visit https://www.allpointseastfestival.com/nbhd/ for the full details.
Tickets available from www.allpointseastfestival.com
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#allpointseast | www.allpointseastfestival.com
Reviews for ALL POINTS EAST – 2023
“Grandest in the city’s festival calendar” – Daily Telegraph
“Undoubtedly one of the city’s best day festivals… This is the place to spend your bank holiday.” – GQ
“All Points East offers unique, informed live music curation featuring some of the most influential bands and artists of the past and the present.” – CLASH
“Victoria Park’s huge summer takeover” – Evening Standard
“With such a genre-spanning line-up, All Points East entices a hotbed of audiences” – NME
“The only way to end your summer in London, it has to be on everyone’s list” – MyLondon
“A whole lot of fun” – Dork
Notes To Editors
Press Contacts: The Outside Organisation
chris@outsideorganisation.com | suzie@outsideorganisation.com
About Uber One presents All Points East:
All Points East has become the essential London event since its inception six years ago. The quality of artists runs very deep across the days with established names and those on the cusp of stardom entertaining crowds. 2023 welcomed stunning headline sets from a series of world class artists across two weekends of shows, including Stormzy, The Strokes, Jungle, Dermot Kennedy and HAIM plus a host of midweek activities including the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
2019 saw a flurry of awards for the new festival; Q Magazine awarded All Points East ‘Festival Of The Year’, and that same year All Points East won the award for ‘Best Festival’ at the Music Week Awards. The year before, 2018’s debut established this essential new event as one of the best festivals in the UK. Winning ‘Festival Of The Year’ at the Music Week Awards and ‘Line-Up of the Year’ at the UK Festival Awards, All Points East 2018 boasted headline sets from LCD Soundsystem, The xx, Björk, Catfish & The Bottlemen, The National and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
East London’s beautiful Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets also hosts a hugely popular community focused event each year. In The Neighbourhood, in collaboration with Tower Hamlets Council, hosts a vibrant programme of activities and entertainment, working with the local community, businesses, organisations and suppliers. Previous activities have seen something for everyone – eco-friendly creative workshops, free yoga sessions, street food, open air movie nights, themed drag shows and film panels with Richmix. Everything is free and 2024’s programme will be announced in the new year.
A commitment to sustainability and accessibility goes hand in hand with the community elements and All Points East is proud to have been awarded Gold on Attitude is Everything’s Charter of Best Practice for our commitment to Deaf and disabled music fans.
All Points East continues to work each year with local charity the Tower Project to give volunteer opportunities to young people with learning disabilities and autism on site at the festival, as well as providing education and performance opportunities to the students of nearby ELAM arts and music school. Committing to 100% renewable energy, working towards eliminating single-use plastic from all serve-ware and programming upcycling workshops for children during In The Neighbourhood are further examples of the commitment to the local community and the park.
Local businesses are given opportunities to provide food, drink, merchandise and more so that the local community benefits as much as possible.
About Tower Hamlets:
Tower Hamlets Council owns Victoria Park and in 2017, awarded All Points East Festival promoters a contract with an onus to ensure that community benefits such as supporting culture, business and employment in the borough, working with residents to reduce any negative impacts of the festivals; and generating much needed income for public services are a key part of what is delivered.
About AEG Presents:
Combining the power of the live event with a focus on true artist development, AEG Presents is a world leader in the music and entertainment industries. Operating across five continents, the company has an unparalleled commitment to artistry, creativity, and community. Its tentpole festivals and multi-day music events — which include the iconic Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and the legendary New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival alongside American Express presents BST Hyde Park, Stagecoach, Hangout Festival, Electric Forest, and Firefly — continue to set the bar for the live music experience. AEG Presents promotes global tours for artists such as The Rolling Stones, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Taylor Swift, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Kenny Chesney, Paul McCartney, and Katy Perry, in addition to — through its network of clubs, theatres, arenas, stadiums and renowned partner brands such as The Bowery Presents, Concerts West, Frontier Touring, Goldenvoice, Madison House Presents, Marshall Arts, Messina Touring Group, PromoWest Productions, and Zero Mile Presents — creating and developing an unmatched infrastructure for artist development and audience reach. More information can be found at www.aegpresents.com.
AEG’s European headquarters are located in London.
About American Express® Experiences:
Through Amex® Experiences, Cardmembers have access to presale tickets, as well as the best seats and exclusive offers at some of the UK’s most sought-after entertainment events via partnerships with a range of institutions, including AELTC, AEG, Somerset House, The British Film Institute and the National Theatre. Amex Experiences is just one example of the powerful backing that American Express provides its Cardmembers.
About American Express:
American Express is a global integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success.
Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress,Instagram.com/americanexpressuk, linkedin.com/company/americanexpress,twitter.com/americanexpress and youtube.com/americanexpress.
About Uber:
Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 25 billion trips later, we’re building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.