Returning to Southwark Park for a fourth year, Rally Festival has spawned and sustained an individual vibe even in its short lifespan. It’s said to be inspired by “DIY culture and grassroots movements”, and even as the acts on the bill get bigger each year that still remains prominent, from the aesthetic of the stages to the diversity of the lineup. Of course there are corporate elements, but it’s far less prominent than some other London day festivals.
Upon entering in the mid-afternoon, I felt as though I’d already missed half the party. Parris was slamming down techno bangers to a field full of bobbing listeners at one end of the site, while mark william lewis was strumming away sweet melodies to a more disparate watching public on the main stage at the other end. In between, Arabic shoegaze duo Kiss Facility were enthralling a tightly packed throng on the Agnes stage.
It was on this stage that I set up for my first proper viewing: GENA. The combo of Liv.e and Karriem Riggins released their moody, atmospheric album earlier this year and I was curious to see how it would be brought to the stage. It was simple, but perfect: Riggins on the drums and samples, Liv.e doing her bit on the mic. Once she locked into his groove, it wasn’t long before they had the crowd locked in too. Riggins was the sage presence at the back, nodding along with his beats and in satisfaction with his partner in crime, while Liv.e sang and rapped with natural charisma. Between songs she kept the audience talking, swirling up a good time for all.
Over on the main stage it was then time for outrageous Atlanta duo Coco & Clair Clair, who came out all guns blazing by starting with “Pop Star”, which immediately had the crowd cramming in to shout along. Backed by a visual of chintzy exploding fireworks, the pair strutted around the stage with all the sass inherent to their songs, trading off lines with glee that transmitted radiantly to the crowd.
Meanwhile, back over on the Agnes stage, James K was serving up something altogether different for those not in the mood for outspoken pop. The New York singer and producer treated the audience, bunched together under the stage’s trees, with enormous swathes of dreampop and shoegaze, with hints of drum and bass and other beat-heavy asides. Through all of this, her vocal cut through and glided, transporting listeners away from the spitting rain to somewhere much comfier and warmer.
The dinner run happened next, with everyone figuring it was the best time to get their fill before the final acts of the night. As I waited for my salmon poke bowl, I was treated to the bamboozling combination of YHWH Nailgun in one ear and Smerz in the other. As I’m set to see the NYC band at End Of The Road this weekend anyway, it was the Scandinavian act that won out on this occasion.
Bolstered from a duo to a quintet on stage, Smerz drifted dreamily through cuts from last year’s breakthrough Big City Life and select cuts from their cult favourite earlier releases. Perhaps not as energetic as one might have wished, the band eased the audience through dusk into the darkness with an assured beauty. There was a peace that settled over the crowd as they listened to Catharina Stoltenberg’s weird and incantatory musings, swaying magnetically in the evening air. Anyone who might have doubted the crowd’s engagement was proven wrong as they finished with the surprise sleeper hit “You got time and I got money” which brought all those swaying bodies to life with cameras aloft and voices joining in combination.
Finally it was time for the day’s headliner – and the curator of the main stage – Dev Hynes and co, aka Blood Orange. Judging by the excitement in the crowd beforehand, this is whom many had come to see – and they did not leave disappointed.
The set drew primarily from Essex Honey, which celebrated the one year anniversary of its release over the weekend. This afforded Hynes and his excellent band the opportunity to show off their mind-meld like combination – almost as if they were all cogs in Hynes’ brain. However, this would be doing them a disservice, as each is an accomplished performer and singer; with the multiplicity of different vocal timbres being used to the fullest through the set.
Like any good headliner, Blood Orange were able to sound big while also maintaining an intimacy. The songs of Essex Honey are more cerebral than straight pop bangers, but tracks like “Thinking Clean” and “Mind Loaded” sounded big and engrossing, while a moody and grungy cover of Bjork’s “All Is Full of Love” – with Hynes on cello and a background montage of the England football team – was spellbinding.
Of course, the pop bangers had to be in there too and “Best To You” was there to bring the carnival atmosphere from across town. Hynes retreated to the keys while his backing singers took centre stage to cavort and play the leading vocal roles with aplomb. Following this up with “Chosen” – heartbreaking banger – put the set over the top in crowd excitement, with many losing their voices as they tried to emote along.
In the final stretch – which came far too quickly – the mesmerising “Uncle ACE” drove for the horizon with muscle more reminiscent of a full-on rock band, while “Charcoal Baby” went the other way, introducing a sermon-like reverie among the throngs. “Champagne Coast” took us back to the beginning of Blood Orange, before we were brough right back to the present again with the delectable “The Field”.
Before leaving the stage, Hynes gave a brief speech about art and community and thrilled at the festival’s quality – which he called the best in the country. The man knows music.
