An amazing day at All Points East (Mitski Edition)

I started off the day by catching the last few songs of Riya Gadher’s set over on the Amex Unsigned stage. She had great stage presence and a touching way of storytelling, conveying her emotions about the tiniest parts of life in such a moving way. I really enjoyed what I saw of her set. 

I then headed over to the Cupra North Arena to catch Sir Chloe’s performance. The Arena was packed out with even more people eagerly watching from outside the tent. First up were ‘Should I’, ‘Salivate’ and ‘July’. The crowd was super energetic and were the loudest for fan-favourites ‘Sedona’ and ‘Michelle’. They were very interactive with each other on stage and even played a new unreleased song ‘Forgiving’, before rounding out their set with ‘Too Close’. 

I then went to Main Stage for Ethel Cain. She never ceases to surprise me with her performances. She was joined on stage by her 2 guitarists, bassist, and drummer who had a keffiyeh draped over his drum kit to show their continued support for Palestine.  Her set started with ‘Dust Bowl’ before leading into ‘A House I Nebraska’. She has an incredible voice and can convey her emotions so effortlessly to the crowd. While I tend to listen to more upbeat music usually, Ethel Cain is the one exception to that as there’s just something special in all her songs. It was so wholesome watching all the fans singing and dancing along to her, and her fans were definitely the loudest of the whole day! Next up was ‘Family Tree’, ‘Thoroughfare’ and ‘Crush’. She performed so well while also ensuring all her fans were good and taken care of throughout her set. Her songs are really long with a dark undertone but many interesting guitar solos throughout, contrasting with her ethereal voice and interesting sound production. She sat on the edge of the stage and played the harmonica throughout ‘Thoroughfare’ in between singing. ‘Crush’ is slightly more upbeat while still having the same profound lyricism. Her music can be described as a mix of all genres with a folk twist. She then joked that the next song was a bit inappropriate before starting ‘Gibson Girl’ which just so happens to be one of my favourite songs of hers.  Then it was time for a cover of Jackie DeShannon’s ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ which worked insanely well with her voice, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, (I may or may not have preferred Ethel Cain’s cover to the original)! Before ending with one of her most popular songs ‘American Teenager’. 

Next up on Main stage was Beabadoobee, joined by her guitarist, bassist, and drummer. Her set featured ladders and pots of paint lying around as well as tables covered in paint as if she was playing a show from her garage. She even had a baby photo of herself on the drumkit and artificial plants as a backdrop. She started with ‘California’ then ‘Talk’ and ’10:36’ while playing guitar. I then had to leave her set to catch the next artist, but I did enjoy what I got to see. She also had ‘Take a Bite’ and ‘She Plays Bass on her setlist’ which you may know from TikTok. 

Next on my list of artists to see was Towa Bird over on the L’Oréal Paris Stage. I’ve been waiting to see her for a while now and was so happy to see that the crowd showed up for her, drawing in the biggest crowd of the day to that stage. Her set started off strong with ‘FML’, ‘EW’ and ‘Deep Cut’, which she performed while playing her signature electric guitar and making use of the entire stage while running around. she went on to announce that this was her first time playing a festival performing her own music instead of playing guitar for another artist and that it was fitting that it was back in London where this whole thing started.  she then continued with ‘This Isn’t Me’ which fans held their torches up during, before ‘Bills’ which was the second single off her recently released Debut Album ‘American Hero’. She jumped down onto the barrier and handed out inflatable bananas while singing this one! Before jumping back up on stage to playing one of my favourites ‘Wild Heart’, but let’s be honest it’s tricky to choose a favourite song when every single one of her songs slaps! She then jumped back down to the barrier to grab a lesbian flag with Ed Sheeran’s face on it from her fans that were dressed as Teletubbies. Her set ended with ‘Drain Me!’, the first single to be released from the album and the crowd was super loud for this one!

Then it was time for the Headliner Mitski, the last act of the day over on Main Stage. She held a stretching class before starting her set, encouraging all the fans that had be standing all day to stretch so they were ready to enjoy her set. She put on an amazing performance, which she performed her choreography throughout while singing and making use of every single one of her props including a chair that she danced with. I did enjoy ‘My Love Mine All Mine’ and ‘Washing Machine Heart’ although the rest of her discography wasn’t really my taste of music, I could still appreciate the artistry behind this performance.

 I can’t wait to find out who is playing next year!