Written by Cameron Wyatt
After lots of anticipation, All Points East returned last weekend to close out the Summer festival season, and it did not disappoint. With a packed lineup featuring Tyler, The Creator as a double headliner, as well as Daniel Caesar, Rex Orange County & Baby Keem, to name but a few, the hardest task of the weekend ended up being making sure you gave yourself enough time to see as much of the amazing lineup as possible. Even with dust in the air on the Friday, and ponchos out on the Saturday, everyone in attendance was in high spirits and ready for a weekend of music.
First up on the Friday for us was Sade Olutola, who performed songs from her EP, ‘Arrow Heart’, such as ‘Game For Two’, ‘2099’ & ‘Don’t Bother’, as well as some unreleased music and a beautiful rendition of ‘Self Control’ by Frank Ocean. The crowd at the X Stage got more and more packed as the set went on, and it set the tone for what turned out to be a great weekend of live music. Love Spells gave an intimate performance of his discography, including his new album, ‘Love is The Law’, showcasing the true diversity he brings as an artist, bringing in a packed crowd to the North Stage. Later on, Rochelle Jordan delivered an electric set at the X Stage, which arguably brought the most crowd energy throughout the first day of the festival.
After catching the majority of her vibrant set, we had to leave Rochelle Jordan slightly early to head over to the East Stage to get ready for Rex Orange County, who was a definite fan favourite for the day, performing ‘Television/So Far So Good’ & ‘Never Enough’, before bringing out Ravyn Lenae for a spectacular performance of Love Me Not. The set finished off with Best Friend & Pluto Projector, closing off a fantastic set leading into Tyler, The Creator.
‘Big Poe’ was the opener for the first night of his headline weekend, which instantly brought the energy from the crowd, even if the majority were a little damp from the rain. Tyler then went through a setlist full of his most popular tracks and albums, with ‘St. Chroma’ acting somewhat as a second opener after ‘Big Poe’, bringing even more energy to the crowd. This was followed by a mixed pace of songs including ‘Darling, I’, ‘WUSYANAME’ and ‘EARFQUAKE’, with the latter bringing one of the best reactions of the night from the crowd. There were nice moments of crowd engagement between songs, with Tyler talking about how much he loves to perform in London, before joking about his infamous ban previously imposed by Theresa May. Going back into the performance, ‘NEW MAGIC WAND’ was just as electric as expected, before closing out the set with ‘See You Again’ to wrap up a fantastic day one of All Points East.
Going into Saturday, our expectations were already high after how great Friday was, but any expectations we had were blown out of the water. The rainy weather wasn’t enough to dampen our spirits, and we headed straight towards the North Stage for PARTYOF2, who brought plenty of energy to their set, opening with ‘OUT OF BODY’, and bringing strong fan engagement when performing ‘FRIENDLY FIRE’, taking a crowd vote on who won in the duo’s rap battle track, with Jadagrace taking the majority of the plaudits. After such an energetic opener for the day, the rain began to fall again, but that didn’t stop the excitement for one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend in Jim Legxacy. This was his first time ever even attending a festival, let alone performing at one, and the tent was already nearly full about 30 minutes before his set even began, which was a good sign for what was to come. We’ve rarely seen a crowd so engaged in a performance, and the set arguably had one of the best atmospheres of the whole weekend, as well as being one of the standout performances – with the entire tent singing along to every word. Jim opened with fan favourite ‘Stick’, before going through the majority of his 2025 mixtape ‘black british music’, as well as other highlights such as ‘idk idk’ and the cult favourite ‘candy reign (!)’. We had to leave slightly early to get to the East Stage in time for Daniel Caesar, but that took nothing away from just how good Jim Legxacy’s first ever festival appearance turned out to be, even fighting through sound and mic issues throughout.
The rain finally stopped to open up a beautiful pink skyline just in time for Daniel Caesar’s set, with a stunning live choir performing on stage with him throughout. Opening with ‘Rain Down’, the Toronto singer’s performance went through highlights of his recently released album ‘Son of Spergy’, such as ‘Call on Me’ and ‘Who Knows’. Heading towards the end of the set, there was barely a dry eye in the crowd with his performance of ‘Always’, setting the scene with a backdrop montage of Sid and Cassie from Skins. Next up was a slight change in pace and tone over the West Stage for the penultimate act of the weekend, Baby Keem. Keem’s performance delivered exactly the high energy show we expected, running through 17 of his best tracks. The set opened with ‘Ca$ino’, before delving into other fan favourites including ‘Good Flirts’ and ‘Orange Soda’, before ending a spectacular set with back-to-back performances of ‘family ties’ and Baby Keem all-timer ‘16’.
Heading back over to the East Stage for one more show of the weekend, Tyler, The Creator arguably even surpassed night one with his Saturday set. With a varied setlist, Tyler went through a wider selection of his tracks, with older songs like ‘Tamale’ and ‘IFHY’ making the list, as well as newer singles like ‘SAG HARBOUR’ and ‘THAT GUY’.
On top of this, Tyler went even further to close the festival out in style, bringing out two surprise guests in Rex Orange County to perform ‘Boredom’, and A$AP Rocky for ‘WHO DAT BOY’ for the pairs first-ever UK appearance together, which arguably drewthe biggest reaction of the weekend. As Tyler himself joked, the energy on night two seemed even higher, and combining that with Tyler’s energy, crowd engagement and top class performance, resulted in one of the best festival closers we could’ve expected.
As a whole, All Points East provided the perfect amount of variation in genres, tone and energy, making it one of the best weekends of music London has seen this festival season. The crowds at the sets we managed to catch were not those you’d expect from a wet and windy weekend in London – they were excited, loud and engaged with every artist that came out, proving why the UK, and London in particular, remain favourite destinations for so many artists to perform. Closing out this year’s festival season in style, we can’t wait to see what they bring in 2027!
