Not only did Scottish DJ and producer Barry Can’t Swim deliver his first major festival headline set, but he did so on the day he celebrated his 33rd birthday.
It was an adventurous outing with a band, along with horn and string sections backing up the dance grooves, and big-screen visuals.
Barry told the crowd: “Two years ago I played Hoxton Hall and didn’t know if anyone would turn up – there were, like, 400 people. And doing this two years later on this stage, in front of this many people, is crazy.”
In a short time, Barry Can’t Swim has built a catalogue of dance bangers from ‘How It Feels’ to ‘Still Riding’, ‘Childhood’ and ‘All My Friends’ from Loner, released this summer.
The tracks are composed in an almost progressive-jazz manner, something brought out by the live instrumentation.
The show featured a guest appearance from Lapsley for ‘Woman’ and onedeadbeat for ‘Deadbeat Gospel’, while ‘Like It’s Part of the Dance’ samples Brandy’s ‘I Wanna Be Down’.
By the time the blissed-out ‘Sunsleeper’ drew to a close, the park was whipped up into London’s biggest dancefloor.
“I’m buzzing,” Barry told the crowd. “Big up yourselves.”
Before Barry, as darkness fell, the West Stage headliner Orbital built up a punishing set. Sleaford Mods collaboration ‘Dirty Rat’ laid out the intent before classics like ‘Satan’ took hold. Elsewhere, the voice of Greta Thunberg rang out across the park: “Our house is on fire.” The crowd were treated to a mix of Belinda Carlisle singing ‘Heaven is A Place on Earth’ before that was trumped by a remix of the Spice Girls’ ‘Wannabe’ before the eternal sound of ‘Chime’. But there was surprise to follow with Confidence Man rushing from the East Stage for a rendition of ‘Holiday’.
That was the song with which Confidence Man had just closed their own set on the East Stage. Their futuristic and triumphant show was packed with the energetic choreography for which they’ve become known. They opened with ‘Now U Do’ in the high-energy set before hits including ‘I Can’t Lose You’, with Janet Planet and Sugar Bones careering across the stage and at one point into the pit. There was a special guest appearance by JADE for ‘Gossip’, ahead of her own East Stage set on Saturday.
Elsewhere there were massive sets from the likes of Shygirl, Marlon Hofftastadt presents Daddycation (UK Exclusive), DJ Heartstring and Interplanetary Criminal.
This year’s All Points East features headliners Cleo Sol (Friday 15 August), Chase and Status (Saturday 16 August), Pete Tong (Sunday 17 August, free show), Barry Can’t Swim (Friday 22 August), RAYE (Saturday 23 August), and The Maccabees (Sunday 24 August).
