All Points East | London, England
24 August, 2025
Photographed by Coco ‘Kit’ Chen
The day being called an ‘indie carnival’ by CMAT herself was the perfect description of the happenings at All Points East where The Maccabees headlined their biggest show yet. And the heap loads of dust wasn’t stopping anyone as people showed up in the thousands for the reunion show of a lifetime.
We began the festival day over on the East Stage with Sorry. Having opened for The Maccabees on their reunion tour, it was a no-brainer that they joined them on the lineup for their last show of that tour. Lead singer, Asha Lorenz’s voice echoed throughout the early afternoon as many stood and watched the band’s rock filled na grunge backed performance.
Over on the X Stage, Man/Woman/Chainsaw began performing one of their recent singles ‘Maddog’ as I walked up to the filled out area. Their song echoing Black Country, New Road in some way, it was wonderful to see them pull in such a large crowd this early in the festival day. The violin’s sound lingered as the art-punk five-piece band performed more tracks like ‘Adam & Steve’, ‘What Lucy Found There’ and ‘Ode To Clio’. With their sharp, electric sound, I can’t wait to see where else this young band go as this set proved that they are going down the right path.
Back on the East Stage, Irish post-punk band The Murder Capital were set to perform. With a Palestinian flag on stage, something that has been with them at every set for almost 2 years, they played tracks such as ‘Can’t Pretend To Know’ and ‘A Distant Life’, and well beloved track ‘Ethel’. Moshpits formed, fans threw their bodies together and attendees tuned in to the raw and powerful tracks. They closed their set with Words Lost Meaning, which is off their most recent album ‘Blindness’, and with friends on shoulders, the sun beaming down and the crowd singing the lyrics right back at them they had left their mark on that stage.
Within our interview with lead singer, James McGovern, which will be out on our website soon, they spoke fondly of the headliners and how much they have helped them when the boys were just starting out. They also let us know that no matter what happens, they will have a Palestian flag by their side at all shows and speak out about the ongoing genocide and if bared from doing so, a performance will cease to happen. That strong alignment with their morals is something that was mentioned by many fans when I spoke to some post set as a key reason for people’s dedication to them.
Now, for an act who has been making the rounds this festival season, CMAT drew in an understandably massive crowd for her set. At the time, her most recent album, EURO-COUNTRY, hadn’t released yet the crowd was screaming the words to the singles and unreleased songs right back at her. CMAT’s performance at All Points East demonstrated that there is a way to perfectly balance having fun for both herself, her band and the crowd whilst displaying her powerful song writing and vocal abilities. From her customary Dunboyne two-step to ‘I Wanna Be A Cowboy Baby’ to the ‘Woke Macarana’ to ‘Take A Sexy Picture of Me’, it was a set that few found fans walked away from with a new spark within them and a drive to search up more about this energetic singer.
Within the Cupp North Arena, as the rays of golden hour shone through the tented sides, six-piece folk-rock band Black Country, New Road, took to the stage performing their recent album ‘Forever Howlong’ in full, in a different order to how the album is structured though. The band are endlessly talented and their fans showed up with signs, themed makeup and the right kind of energy for the band. They are spectacular despite emotionally being different to the other more high energy acts on the lineup.
Moving to the other end of the park, on West Stage, previous All Points East headliners, Bombay Bicycle Club stepped out to a massive crowd of fans eagerly waiting for their arrival. Having also come to the tailend of their summer tour, them performing at All Points East alongside The Maccabees was a fantastic end to their string of shows. Their set covered their range of music from early indie classics like ‘Shuffle’, a fond favourite of mine, and ‘Luna’ to more recent releases like ‘Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing but You)’ and ‘Meditate’, this is an indie band who have stood the test of time.
Now if there is something to know about CMAT, it is that she is a huge Bombay Bicycle Club fan, having grown up in the same era of indie music as most of the attendees, and as she joined them on stage for ‘Rural Radio Predicts the Rapture’, after her incredible set earlier today, we all knew for sure that the future of Indie is in safe hands for the future, Her and the plethora of the other acts that performed that day have proved that Indie will never die as smaller acts in new fonts will always appear at just the right times.
It was now time to hand it over to the band who people have been missing since their hiatus in 2017. The Maccabees one by one joined each other on stage as the crowd cheered, cried and screamed for this exact moment whilst a video that displayed their journey from start to current played for all the grounds to see. Some dust was never going to stop the thousands of people who thought they’d never get to see this band live and Victoria Park’s floor constant shaking throughout the set was exact evidence of that.
With such a well assembled setlist planned for the night, the crowd went from mosh pit heavy and crowd chaos to heartstring tugging and ‘let me grab a friend’ energy within a matter of minutes and it was wondrous watching people pour their hearts out for this iconic band.
In theme with reunions, they brought on longtime friend of the band, Jamie T on for ‘Marks to Prove It’ with a surprise performance of ‘Sticks ‘N’ Stones’. The irony of him singing his lyrics’ about seeing ‘the dust settle’ was not lost on the crowd at all as attendees kicked up dust through the excitement of the current moment.
Hit with waves of nostalgia as they played an encore that consisted of fan favourites, Toothpaste Kisses, Grew Up At Midnight and Pelican, I couldn’t have thought of a more perfect final 3 tracks to finish off such an unbelievable night. And with fan’s hearts both ‘broken’ and ‘mended’ by the power of music, festival season for many ended in sentimental indie rock style. We are sure that everyone who performed has a lot more in store for us all.
All Points East has been a long standing festival attracting hundreds and thousands of people every year. It plays a vital role in the East London music scene and funds the local community through its events. For further information and tickets, visit https://www.allpointseastfestival.com/.
