All Points East opened Friday with strong soul vocals from females on every stage before giving us Provenance: SAULT’s 2nd live show with Chronixx and Cleo Sol.
SAULT @ All Points East 2025
All Points East kicked off beautifully on 15th August with Gotts Street Park on the West Stage for the best of summer. The Leeds trio have 4.1M followers on Spotify with tunes from their 3 albums appearing on my playlists for years, and as the longest member of my personal lineup list for the day it seemed fitting to start there. Joined by a 4th, the humble lads stepped on stage and addressed the tiny but growing crowd before starting their first sets of instrumentals. I hate the term “vibing” considering it a lazy descriptor but it works for what Gotts Street Park were doing.
There’s nothing like neo-soul, jazz and RnB on a sunny day. After 3 tracks we were treated to their vocalist guests for 2 tracks each. The hip-hop collective are fantastic jazz musicians as noted by reviews and the amount of jazz stank face given as they play, but they really soar for their female vocal guests. Olive Smith came on for Tell Me Why, the top song on the group’s Spotify, before Pip Millet sang crowd pleaser Got To Be Good and then after another instrumental, Celeste ended the set. These singers are excellent, and after Celeste’s belters closed the set I jokingly told our photographer “this is it, no matter what happens I’m happy now”. If they had vinyl, clinching a Gotts Street Park vinyl at the merch stand would have been perfect.
Celeste with Gotts Street Park @ All Points East 2025
Our next stop was Mariah The Scientist. It was a much younger and energetic crowd here and if not for the iPhones in everyone’s hand you could have mistaken the year for 2000 with the fantastic crowd outfits. Although I hadn’t heard of Mariah the arena had, it was loud – she boasted the highest Spotify listeners of today’s lineup at 7.1M and 3M followers on Instagram alone. She brought excellent music and fashion and I particularly appreciated the pink sparkly microphone the Atlanta-born singer used. The link between acts on the opening day appeared to be strong female singers. The lineup was rooted in soul, RnB and some strong female vocals. Here I faced the first clash from the festival gods – to enjoy Mariah, I had to sacrifice a live performance of Dy-Na-Mi-Tee over at the X Stage. Long live Ms Dynamite. Acts I also missed were CARI, Jordss, 00ab and Nia Wyn.
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SAULT @ All Points East 2025 (Abigail Shii)
2nd stage acts included Yves Jarvis, Safii Koii and Sasha Keable. Not able to make Yves Jarvis from my lineup list, I did make it to Sasha Keable. The London singer is recognisable for her collaboration with Disclosure on track Voices and is pure fire and bravery on the stage, with waist long red hair and the best jacket I’ve ever seen. She sounded beyond London when addressing the crowd – even making Adele sound somewhat well spoken. She and Adele would possibly make an excellent duet actually. Her top track NIGHT OFF has 18 million listens on Spotify and gets music fans doing that pigeon head bob when they listen.
With notable mentions to our remaining acts for the day: Demae, Fliss, Nao, Kirk Franklin, Joe Kay and Sabyna, I HAVE to talk about the main act situation today. Notably different from other festivals, headliners Cleo Sol, SAULT and Chronixx (all frequent collaborators/contributors) were all set to play “from 5pm” on their own stage in a 5 hour long conjoined performance. Following SAULT’s Drumsheds performance two years ago, nobody knew quite what to expect. That show was extravagant and included an immersive experience as well as music, and whilst I couldn’t go I remember extensively reading reviews on Instagram and being hit with two major takeaways. First, fans were upset by the price point that would’ve covered such production (in this economy, tickets in the £100 region plus transport in for non-Londoners on a week notice had many upset) and the second was that the show was unbelievable and the “best thing” people had “ever seen”. I have been a long time fan of SAULT. The UK Collective is thought to be helmed by Adele and Lil Simz producer Inflo and draws 3.6M monthly Spotify listeners, with Simz a former SAULT collaborator. Artists working in and with the group are kept hidden. Prior to their live shows, their secrecy was part of the magic in the same way the shroud around Banksy makes him talked about. From stunts such as releasing 5 of their 12 albums without notice and as zip files (suggesting a statement that music is for the people and not the profit more than because people download things these days) to having very little presence on social media, you never really know what SAULT is going to do next. The festival was abuzz with gossip. “I’ve heard Cleo is bringing someone out!” “Is it Lil Simz?” “NO, didn’t you hear? They’ve had a falling out”. The gossip creates this creative tension that means SAULT’s live performances are set up with extra anticipation. It’s genius.
Production and creative direction for the East Stage was like nothing seen before. Before reaching the main stage, there was a 30ft pyramid with steps and lights, suggesting performers would be there. The pyramid connected to the stage via a 6ft high runway and the stage itself looked like Tatooine, if Tatooine had pyramids (visible here in the background amongst sand dunes on the 50ft wide display wrapping the wings and behind the stage (bigger than what you’ve seen before, if you frequent All Points East). Guitars and drums, orchestral instruments and a full size harp sat atop the various rock formations positioned around the stage, and the only movement between 5pm (the time they’d be supposedly starting) and 5:50pm was the clouds in the digital display, a rotating sign that read “EXILE” and “LOYALTY” and constant members of crew coming out to test things. Crowds were restless given the 28 degree pure sun and I rarely say anything negative about these things given the amount of work that goes into shows like this as late starts are nobody’s choice, but fans noted that it was poor form to have the start time of the set brought back an hour only to be delayed an hour and have missed other acts in that time to be stood for an hour doing nothing. It is not anyone’s fault however that it was hot and dirty, aptly described “the dust bowl” by an X user.
SAULT @ All Points East 2025
Smoke emerged from the Tatooine house tunnel at 6pm, and the orchestra and live choir began just after 6 clad in sand coloured cloaks and futuristic headwear. Robed figures emerged in succession to cross the runway to the pyramid – theatrical and musical as expected. Air, SAULT’s orchestral album, ranks lowest amongst fans, but the genre fitted perfectly here. Emerging from the pyramid, ragged characters appeared and began fighting the beautifully dressed acolyte characters in choreography to the orchestral soundtrack. It was like a choreographed runway show, akin to the creativity behind Kanye’s Beautiful Faded Fantasy film, or Kid Cudi’s Entergalactic movie. Perhaps self-indulgent but unmistakably artistic. Characters emerged in what’s becoming SAULT’s character trademark look, a motorbike overall and helmet. Think The Stig meets Daft Punk in a Mad Max setting. Theatrics continued with an acted dialogue from the top of the pyramid, to mixed reactions from the crowd. Festival goers didn’t all appreciate the creative visions however – most were restless for music. SAULT song titles and lyrics featured in the 15 minutes of scripted dialogue, but anticipation was running thin – if you come to SAULT shows in future, be prepared for an all around creative experience, not just live music.
SAULT @ All Points East 2025
Music was delivered first by nine acapella singers in yellow robes and red trousers singing a cover of Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s The Moon is Walking. The first SAULT song featured a bassist and singer appearing at the top of the pyramid in large sunglasses as the bassline for Glory started. Big screens did an excellent job of projecting the dancing and musicians despite a split stage. Cleo Sol was the one addressing the crowd, apologising for being late. “Stay hydrated, have a good time.” SAULT hits followed in quick succession for the next hour; Free, Let Me Go, I Just Wanna Dance all accompanied with backup dancers clad in burned linen outfits. The show hit hard in its first hour having covered all the very best and biggest, well known SAULT hits. This was an interesting move for a band – if you open with all your hits, how will you keep a crowd’s attention and what will you do for an encore?
Talking about all the songs and all the costumes would take up most of this website – it was a 5 hour set. During Pray For Me, seven female dancers came out in a continuous dress (“they’re all wearing one outfit” exclaimed our photographer.) The aesthetic is Wasteland meets Ritual, Dune meets London, Sci Fi meets Ancient Religion. The sunglasses game is strong, partly for concealment costume purposes but also because the sun setting directly opposite the stage made it hard to look back at the pyramid. The bassist atop the pyramid for the duration of the set wore his SAULT overall. Backup dancers in distressed three-piece black suits featured for a few songs and strutted up and down the runway like fashion models. Cleo Sol, who is mostly SAULT’s singer, wore a gold jacket ensemble, then a hooded mesh dress in what I would describe as gold griege, like a desert queen. Her mic is gold, and only AFTER the show did I learn Cleo is short for Cleopatra – how fitting that our female vocal shows today would end with a queen.
Between sets, actors returned with some hard hitting truths about black history, fitting given SAULTs discography heavily features racial issues. We could not hear the play entirely given the crowd using this time to discuss the performance and visit the bar and the food trucks, but the crowd ignoring the serious messages in favour of entertainment only is not a bad metaphor for society as a whole. I felt the actors portrayed the feeling of frustration and exhaustion well and I could see engagement from others around me, but other fans were disappointed. “There’s not even any other music on right now we can go and see. I know they’re trying to be like, niche and that, but everyone was on a vibe when they was playing” a fan behind me said. Later, costumed activists took to the stage from Hackney charities for young people, elder support, theatre programmes, and community space. It was divisive again. Nobody disputes those things are important, but I don’t feel like the crowd received it – this show was supposed to bridge the gap between sets to create something fluid, but the crowd was too rigid to accept fluidity.
SAULT’s set ended as a female singer at the top of the pyramid delivering what sounds like northern African/Middle-Eastern song, beautiful with the sun setting behind her, which was then mirrored in the pyramid structure’s lighting. Chronixx’s set was beautiful and the red/orange tones of lighting could not have been more perfect, contrasting with the musicians clad in Canadian Tuxedos. It can be difficult to name a reggae artist that isn’t Bob or his descendants, but Chronixx (real name Jamar McNaughton) is credited with returning the genre to modern music. Regularly addressing the crowd via the females, he called them Lionesses. “Lioness celebration. All the lionesses make some noise please”. He also stated All Points East being a celebration of family, of unity, and resilience. His guest, fellow Jamaican Kelissa came out for a duet on her song Way You Make Me Feel. Energy was high for Skankin Sweet and a mini crowd surge for Eternal Light. He sang Love On The Mountain aptly from atop the pyramid. After addressing the crowd and asking us to make noise for SAULT, Cleo, reggae music and love, the last thing Chronixx did before his stage exit is thank his backing singers/band.
The most unexpected moment of the event goes to the addition of Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) for six songs just before Cleo Sol. Opening with a Madlib cover, the songs were unpredictable and his patchwork plaid robe not completely fitting with the aesthetic of the other performances. Although I liked his performance, I laughed at a tweet on the way home saying “I love Mos Def but he is doing nonsense at All Points East”. With a blue stage sky and purple lights, the final set began with bongo drums, a shaker and a drum kit.
Cleo Sol @ All Points East 2025
Energy was brought back into the crowd and the orchestra returned. When Cleo Sol returned to the stage she was in a beautiful floor length gold gown and her hair curly and flowing to her waist, completely different to her braided hair earlier in the show. Her music is mellower than SAULT, more chill, slower songs and more about love than social issues, but she performed as more reggae duet with Chronixx.
As I left the pyramid, I leave you this advice: for All Points East, do not wear your white trainers and bring hand wipes. For a SAULT performance, bring your apprehension and expect a theatrical experience.
Live review of All Points East 2025 featuring SAULT, Cleo Sol & Chronixx @ Victoria Park London on 15th August 2025 by Jemma Sharpe. Photos by Abigail Shii.
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