South London’s much loved Wide Awake festival returns to Brockwell Park for its fifth edition.
They have really defied all odds following a hectic fortnight with headliner, Kneecap under investigation from Counter-Terror police leading to band member, Mo Chara being charged with a terror offence 2 days before the festival. If this wasn’t enough, Brockwell Park itself was also under scrutiny from local campaign group Protect Brockwell Park, claiming the run of events/festivals are exceeding their 29 day limit and in turn damaging the park’s ecosystem
For all of the administrative furore surrounding today’s event, revellers are out in style with big smiles on their faces as the sun shines on the opening festival weekend. A sea of Irish sports jerseys and Palestine flags are on display and Brockwell Park is also looking the part, with 7 stages dotted around plenty of food outlets and bars.
It’s a day for standing up for what you believe in. Independent MP, Jeremy Corbyn, takes to the stage to open proceedings with a speech. “We’re here to celebrate music,” Corbyn declares. “Celebrate music venues and celebrate the joy music brings to millions”. It makes for a rallying cry early in the day; a reminder of how truly magical music is, especially live music.
The day is jam packed with performances from independent artists across multiple genres. Some standout performances throughout the day from Kylie Goes Berghain, Curtisy, Fat Dog, English Teacher and Mannequin Pussy to name a few. COBRAH struts onto the stage in her latex bodysuit with a whip in hand; holding the crowd in a trance as she dances and sings on stage. She may have been late to the stage but the crowd soon forgot that once that first heavy bass instrumental dropped.
CMAT erupts on to the stage with her quirky style and the “Very Sexy CMAT Band” and oh boy do they know how to put on a performance! Their staging, backing vocals and dance moves are on fire! It’s time for fan favourite and internet sensation ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’, she has the whole crowd doing the viral TikTok dance. Elsewhere, Peaches headlines the Bad Vibes Stage and is as unapologetic as always with her erratic performance, stance on feminism and activism: “no one is free until we’re all free”.
All things considered, Kneecap’s headline performance is due to be one for the books. The stage is dark and there are tricolour balaclavas popping up all over the crowd, before newspaper headlines about the trio adorn the screens. Their performance is electric and passionate, with intermittent chants of “Free, Free, Palestine” – alongside the occasional “Free, Free, Mo Chara” in reference to Chara’s current legal proceedings.
It truly is incredible to see a band standing up for what they believe in. The Belfast trio, repping their heritage and platforming the Irish language as ever, even have the whole crowd at the Wide Awake stage shouting “Tiocfaidh ár lá”. It’s a slogan which translates to “our day will come” and – as the entire population of Brockwell Park bounces in unison – it’s hard to argue with them.
imagery: Luke Dyson
