Did London’s new festival live up to expectation? Is LIDO here to stay? Are the people still feeling BRATty? Keep scrolling to find out.
Sprawled horizontally on Victoria Park’s grassy plains — which dried out ever so quickly from the overnight thunderstorms — there’s an obscure, frantic atmosphere infesting the summer air. I sit up, rub my eyes, squint from the towering sun. In all directions there’s ubiquity; a fervent consistency to the sweltering surroundings.
A swarm of light green. A tidal wave of hedonism. Charli xcx is in town.
It’s the incepting year of Victoria Park’s new opus, LIDO Festival. Today (14th June) marks its fourth of five day-long events across June. Last weekend saw Massive Attack and Jamie xx both curate and headline their own event, whilst London Grammar will play tomorrow, and Outbreak (with Turnstile headlining) occurred the day prior.
It’s an eclectic bunch, no doubt. The fact that the artists themselves led the curation allowed a unique glimpse into the headliners’ respective musical communities — handpicked to nestle within their own stylistic worlds.
As you might expect, Charli’s line up brims with BRAT alums and natural-born party-starters. There’s her closest collaborator, A.G. Cook, whose 2024 record Britpop might not have made the totemic pop culture splash that his contemporary’s LP did, but was nevertheless just as artful and critically revered. Also, NYC’s sauciest schoolteacher The Dare visits the tented second stage, all suited up and sweaty, drawing in droves of thirsty teen girls with his infamous live show and a PinkPantheress cameo.
Quickly rising alt pop favourite Rose Gray, whose early ’25 debut record Louder, Please is a sure-fire sleeper hit, brings the energy and larger-than-life effervescence. Mumble crooner Bladee is a crafty edition, 070 Shake proves a standout, and Kelly Lee Owens is typically excellent.
Gesaffelstein — in one of the day’s premium slots on the main stage in the early evening — was bound to cause discourse. Abrasive, borderline sonically nefarious, unapologetic, the enigmatic French DJ, producer and musical director is built for sticky basements in Berlin. Does it translate onto a summery field in London littered with a zeitgeist-centred crowd, fuelled by discussions of Hackney’s best beer gardens, Casamigos margaritas (delicious I might add) and Vogue cigarettes?
Maybe not. But Charli likes him.
And that’s enough for the thousands of BRATciples who, as the sun threatens to set, cram into the area surrounding the make-shift main stage, ready to unleash their inner party girl.
Firstly, housekeeping. The sound mixing? Sort it out. Barely halfway back in the crowd, you could barely hear the music. I know it’s late, and there’s bound to be noise complaints, but there has to be a better way.
For all five of you who are regular readers of my endeavours, you’ll know that I wasn’t too keen on Charli’s Primavera set. But this London jamboree felt more like a crowning moment for her, a checkpoint in having an entire day festival dedicated to her sonic and cultural significance. And she brings out the goods with her stage design, plays a set bustling with classics, is cheeky as hell, Bladee rocks up, “I Don’t Care” is her valedictory. Good time, all-in-all.
A sea of London’s other favourite green emblem, Lime Bikes, awaits the merry festival goers, shoehorned towards Mile End station. Charli xcx’s LIDO provided the cool kids with an early summer memento. Even if the queues for the loo were quite frankly jaw dropping. And one thing is certain; as it closes out its first run and no doubt gets planning for this time next year, LIDO is here to stay.
Photography – Isha Shah, Patrick Gunning, Henry Redcliffe
Words – Ben Tibbits
