RAYE delivers escapism from the dust bowl at All Points East

Notwithstanding its impressive reach and clear, well-maintained positioning on the alt-leaning side of the music scene, APE is still a festival in its early days, and with it comes its teething problems. Taking over the heart of East London, Victoria Park, for two of the final weekends of summer each year, it’s hosted headline names from Björk to Tame Impala, and Bon Iver to LCD Soundsystem, since 2018.

Boasting such high profile artists, the festival slightly feels like a child masquerading its maturity. Facing frequent complaints (in fairness, as every festival seems to) about sound quality, long toilet and vendor queues, and general disorganisation, it continues to attract reams of festivalgoers. In part this is down to its strong line ups, and in part because of the ease of its location; opportune for Londoners looking to roll out of a pre-drinks, catch an evening of excellent talent, and be back on their doorstep by midnight.

Its eighth edition has been quite literally plagued by stories of the dust cloud that blanketed the festival site, well-captured on social media by festivalgoers documenting ‘before’ and ‘after’, and laughing at resembling chimney sweeps on their journeys home. As thick plumes of hazy smoke fill the air, it's both astoundingly dystopian as well as quite an exciting talking point as crowds traverse the barely recognisable park.

Amidst other nights headlined by Sault, Barry Can’t Swim, and The Maccabees, this year’s fifth volume sees a riotous showing of female mega stars take to the stage. What connects all of these names? Aside from literal genetics — with RAYE’s younger sisters Absolutely and AMMA both on the bill and laying an impressive stake in the ground — they all have a fast and loose relationship with pop music, unafraid to play from its fringes and incorporate strands from a diverse and eclectic array of genres. They are also all visibly hungry to be on stage and experience a slice of stardom, unafraid to put in the work to get there.

The line-up being so conceptually sound means everyone receives equal love from the crowd, whether a top name or undercard booking. With palates attuned to sniffing out a new crop of talent firing on all cylinders from the start of their careers, sets from the likes of Sienna Spiro and Chloe Qisha go down particularly well under the early afternoon sun.

You’d assume the festival site would be quite compact but there is in fact a lot of ground between its two largest stages (aptly named “East” and “West”) which stand opposite each other. The site is then punctuated by other focal points, including the dance music paradise of the X stage, a Cupra-sponsored tent, and an AMEX Unsigned stage supporting the grassroots of the industry with performances by independent artists.

On the East stage, festivalgoers are treated to a night that just keeps building in pizzazz. The infectiously energetic JADE captivates with her now well-toured and pithy 40-minute set, gearing up for the release of debut solo album That’s Showbiz, Baby! next month (she repeats this just a few hours later at a 700-capacity after party in Hackney’s Colour Factory).

Rising popiana auteur Tyla follows this up with an all-out spectacle in ass-shaking, entertaining the crowd with all of the showman staples for her UK festival debut: merch guns, a surprise guest (in the form of Wizkid), and a hot pink, glittery skirt. “That’s the song of the summer, I don’t even care,” she laughs to herself after a rousing performance of “IS IT” and her set strikes an obvious peak with the booster 2024 hit, “Water”.

In the time before RAYE’s entrance, Doechii’s replacement FKA Twigs maintains momentum headlining the West stage. Atmospherically backed by a cloudy amber sky and desert-like haze, East London is the perfect place for the sun to set on her final EUSEXUA tour performance. Shouting out members of her band for travelling all the way from Brazil to play the festival last minute, the show goes off without a hitch, turning the energy up to a twelve.

By the time RAYE takes to the stage, no one needs convincing of the sheer talent they had already seen on display. Still, folding together fan favourite hits like “Escapism.” and “Oscar Winning Tears” with a helping of unreleased material and jazzy renditions of “You Don’t Know Me” and “Bed”, now analogous club anthems from a previous artistic life, her set is grandiose in the best way, impressing in its variety and scale.

“This is the kind of moment a little girl dreams of,” she tells the crowd between mind-blowing and self-professed melodramatic vocal runs. “Thank you, London, for making a little girl’s dreams come true. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves.”

As always, she connects with the audience almost instantly; babbling between tracks and even awkwardly singing for security to help someone who had fainted. The most potent and lucid moments come in her unwillingness to shy away from the difficult backstories behind “Mary Jane.” and “Ice Cream Man.”, becoming the mouthpiece for an audience that needed her.

Although Doechii-less, All Points East’s fifth night packs plenty of punch. You may have thought it was water that you needed to survive the desert… it turns out a fiery mix of pop talent will also do just fine.