“We used to come here to this park as little kids and now look at us.”
This proved the ultimate mantra in a weekend inundated with homegrown acts returning to once-known pastures. In regular times, Brockwell Park caught itself occupied with a myriad of summer weekend festivals, namely Mighty Hoopla and Field Day of yesteryear, as the thirsty masses of South London descended upon its steeped peaks to quench their insatiable thirst for musical expression.
So we returned to this scene, ‘post-Covid’, at last anticipating a sunshine-filled weekend beseeched by a lineup of UK-based artists of the punk persuasion for Wide Awake Festival and jazzier-indie persuasion for Cross the Tracks Festival.
For the former, some of this country’s latest and greatest acts made an appearance to the galvanised punk-infested crowds who’d suitably shown two fingers to a weekday’s worth of work on this fine Friday afternoon. And who better to initiate such a rebellious act than potentially one of the world’s most recognised, current, punk bands, Idles. From the pertinent protest theme songs of ‘Model Village’ and ‘Mr. Motivator’, to the cataclysmic forces of ‘Samaritans’ and ‘Divide & Conquer’, the band proved their weight in caustic gold as their boundless means of reciprocated love resonated throughout, “obviously this is a fucking dream.”
Yet as the day drew on, the unusual aspects to a punk/funk/jazz-inspired festival began to protrude peculiar sentiments as the more experimental acts of Squid and Black Country, New Road descended into their sets. Along with the awkward sound mixing hindering the main stage, tracks which required more patience and awareness wore thin on the mid-afternoon, sun-stricken crowd. Many of the ballad-inspired tracks of the latter, as well as the careening aura of the former’s tracks, failed to impress such fans, even on the grandiose vastness of an open-air stage.
And while today’s impressive undercard, noticeably Dry Cleaning, Crack Cloud, Crows, and A Certain Radio, all played their pertinent part on a day of rebellious festivities, it was the sub-headliner Black Midi which indelibly shone through the raucousness. Wiizing through a multitude of tracks from their recent LP, Cavalcade, the band proved to be the only ones to break the sound mixing stigma tied to the main stage for the near-entirety of the day. Morgan Simpson’s drumming techniques were a sight to behold, along with the small enclave of huddled brass instruments which bolstered frontman Geordie Greep’s illness-stricken set of vocal chords.
What began as a cataclysmic start to Friday, saw a similar sight on Sunday afternoon’s opener as Nubya Garcia commenced proceedings at Cross the Tracks’ main stage. Garcia’s frenetic entourage of double bass, saxophone, keys and drums proved at odds with an imminently warm, likeable presence on an equally warmful summer’s afternoon, reciting many of her tracks on her latest LP, Source.
“South London stand up!”
But as we glided through the day’s undercard, the frenetic nature tied to this country’s burgeoning jazz scene only ratcheted further in each passing act, commencing with Yussef Dayes. “It’s good to be home, South London stand up”, became another homecoming cry as the dexterous hands of Dayes effortlessly mastered the embellished set of drums as he marshalled the rest of his on-stage entourage. Where the sound mixing just 48 hours ago was deemed sketchy, questionable and awkward, now proved controlled, nuanced and pertinent as Dayes performed an illustrative setlist of soulful, glistening, modern jazz.
The ratcheting of intensified jazz and soul truly reached its undoubted climax during Sons of Kemet’s jazzified-Afrobeat set. With the clamours of middle aged parents beseeching the main stage legendary act of Sister Sledge, just a stone throw’s distance away, saw Shabaka Hutchings and his certified entourage stamp an authoritative mark on the Sunday evening crowd within a packed-out tent. Where the studio-based tracks from their latest LP, Black to the Future, seemed upbeat and bright on record, here hurled with exhaustive energy and prowess into the bodies of the dance-infested, obstreperous crowd revelling in the tuba-fortified basslines from Theon Cross.
Transcending away from these glorified heights levied by this act, our festival headliner and local act, Lianne La Havas, suitably softened our landing. Having grown up another stone’s throw away in Streatham, La Havas soothed the crowd’s Sunday-blues souls with her latest tracks ‘Can’t Fight’ and ‘Bittersweet’ as a multitude of neo-soul, modern jazz and indie singer-songwriter facets oozed into the hearts and minds of South London’s huddled masses.
And such is the power of community-based festivals such as this, particularly after a prolonged time apart due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The disease may take away many of our liberties, comforts and loved ones, but music and the arts will forever be there for us - so no matter what the situation, the increasing necessity to support our local arts scenes proves undeniably essential and I, for one, am grateful to have witnessed a weekend of glorified homecomings from some of this county’s most respected and successful artists to date.
Tickets for Wide Awake and Cross the Tracks Festivals are on sale now and can be bought here.
All photographs are courtesy of Gary Jones Photography and Luke Dyson Photography whose work can be found here.
Comments