Friday 6th June marked a bold new beginning for London’s festival landscape as LIDO Festival made its debut with a revolutionary twist: a fully battery-powered day of music, headlined by the inimitable Massive Attack. Set in East London’s Victoria Park, LIDO’s inaugural edition promised not only world-class music, but a genuine paradigm shift in how festivals might sound — and power — themselves in a climate-conscious future. With the park bathed in crisp, state-of-the-art audio from Martin Audio’s brand-new ML3A system (mixed impeccably by Massive Attack’s longtime engineer Robb Allan), and the main stage run entirely on the Grid Faeries x Ecotricity 1MW battery, LIDO didn’t just talk sustainability — it lived it.
Massive Attack @ Lido Festival 2025
The result? A day of deep listening, deep thinking and breathtaking performance.
Massive Attack, famously selective with their appearances, delivered a rare, emotionally charged and visually arresting headline set. Founding members Robert “3D” Del Naja and Grant “Daddy G” Marshall were joined by a roll-call of longtime collaborators and musical icons: Elizabeth Fraser, Horace Andy, Deborah Miller and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) all graced the stage, delivering a career-spanning set as politically pointed as it was musically pristine.
Opening with the brooding pulse of Risingson, the stage visuals set an immediate tone — dystopian messages flashed in stark, computer-font text: “Do you cry? Do thoughts have shadows?” It was classic Massive Attack — oblique, confrontational, beautiful. Horace Andy’s unmistakable vocals soared on Girl I Love You and later, a towering rendition of Angel, while Elizabeth Fraser bewitched the crowd with Black Milk, a haunting cover of Tim Buckley’s Song To The Siren, and a stunning ‘Teardrop’, still as gutting and transcendent as ever.
Deborah Miller brought warmth and gravitas to the band’s early classics, particularly Unfinished Sympathy and Safe From Harm, while Yasiin Bey — who had earlier performed as one half of FORENSICS with The Alchemist — returned to deliver I Against I with fierce intensity.
Massive Attack’s set wasn’t just musically historic — it was environmentally historic too. In what is believed to be a world first, an entire festival main stage was powered by battery technology, a feat made possible by the pioneering work done on last year’s ACT 1.5 event in Bristol.
Del Naja reflected ahead of the show: “To present London’s first ever 100% battery powered festival day with a dynamic range of artists is an optimum outcome for us… Clean productions beginning this journey to normalisation is good news for everyone — especially for music fans that come to festivals and the local communities that live around them.”
But Massive Attack’s headlining moment was just the tip of the iceberg. From early afternoon, LIDO presented a sharply curated, artist-led bill that reflected a truly eclectic musical palette. Singer-songwriter HUNNY opened the main stage in bold fashion, clad in a Liverpool FC shirt and Manchester United skirt (“Controversial combo, I know,” she laughed), delivering heartbreak anthems like I Was Born to Cry and a soulful Revolution that cleverly folded in Lauryn Hill’s Ex-Factor. “It’s so cool to be the first ever act to play LIDO,” she told the crowd. “It’s euphoric.”
On Stage 2, Richard Russell’s Everything Is Recorded presented a rich sonic collage — part live band, part sound installation — with standout turns from BERWYN on Firelight, and Mary In The Junkyard’s Clari Freeman-Taylor on Swamp Dream #3. Elsewhere, Tirzah and collaborator Mica Levi spun lo-fi R&B and experimental electronics into something beautifully disorienting, her set culminating in the hypnotic Their Love and a sultry, swelling Promises.
Dub legend Mad Professor kept things simmering with a trademark set of heavy grooves and skittering delay, declaring, “Big respect to massive, massive Massive Attack. Attacking you with music. Vibes!” Then came 47SOUL, who electrified the main stage with their genre-smashing blend of Shamstep — a powerful fusion of Palestinian Dabke, hip-hop, rock and electronica. Tracks like Don’t Care Where You From and Ghost Town were fiercely anthemic, politically urgent, and utterly danceable.
And in an intimate early evening slot, FORENSICS made their UK live debut. Yasiin Bey and The Alchemist delivered an atmospheric, sample-rich set that was part sermon, part sonic exploration. Petals were scattered on stage, beats twisted into strange, beautiful shapes. “Peace, peace, peace… This is the UK premier of FORENSICS. Who are you?” Bey asked. “I am me.”
As the sun dipped behind the trees, French electronic pioneers Air took the stage for a masterclass in twilight ambiance. From the opening of La Femme d’Argent, through dream-pop classics like Sexy Boy, Venus and Cherry Blossom Girl, the crowd swayed in soft focus. “We’re happy to play here,” they said simply, their effortless cool matched only by their control of the vibe. Before Massive Attack’s climactic set, DJ Milo — of Wild Bunch and Bristol fame — kept the energy rolling, connecting the dots between the city’s past and its now globally recognised musical legacy.
Among the crowd? A glint of glamour and curiosity: Naomi Campbell, Nick Grimshaw, Chris Packham, Jake Shears, Bella Freud, and Sean Pertwee were all spotted soaking up the launch of what’s already being called London’s most sustainable music festival to date. Jim King, CEO of European Festivals at AEG Presents, put it best: “Big changes require both courage and determination… Massive Attack has demonstrated that there is a better way to operate — for the future of both our planet and our industry.”
Massive Attack’s landmark set marked Day 1 of a 10-day LIDO run, with upcoming headline curation from Jamie xx, Charli XCX, OUTBREAK Fest, and London Grammar. Each headline artist has handpicked their own lineup, curated their visuals, and shaped the day in their image.
But this first day will be hard to top: a festival born of urgent ideas, realised through community, creativity, and impeccable sound. A landmark event in every sense. LIDO didn’t just make a point. It made history.
Himalayas Command The Garage With Coolio, Chaos And Catharsis
Share Thing