The National - All Points East 2022 Review

Friday 26th August 2022

It had been three long years since I was last at Victoria Park for All Points East. I was last there watching Mumford and Sons headline the multi-day extravaganza. I was excited to be back, this time armed with my camera and ready to enjoy.

An easy journey across London and a quick walk down the canal from Mile End tube station arriving at site, the entrance was smooth and painless. Wasting no time, it was straight across to the Ray Ban West stage to catch American Singer-songwriter Valerie June deliver a good introduction to the day’s festivities.

Villagers were next up on the main stage. The Irish Indie folk band fronted by Conor O'Brien carried on the guitar heavy day.

Next up we hot footed it back to the East Stage to see Indie Folk singer Lucy Dacus who we really enjoyed and was the surprise discovery (for us) of the day. A chilled vibe with a positive crowd.

We did manage to pop in and photograph Balthazar on our way back to the main stage.

Kurt Vile and the Violators were up next on the main stage.

We stopped to grab some food at this point and wasn’t disappointed by what was on offer. Thankfully, long gone are the days of poor burgers and cold chips, the modern festival now offers food to cater for all tastes and All Points East is no exception.

Next up we had our second taste of the North Arena to see Public Service Broadcasting who brought a bit of something electric and different to the day. They had the tent busy and the crowd going for it. Nice to see a bit of energy.

Up before the headliners on the main stage were Scottish post-rock band Mogwai. Their mainly guitar-based instrumentals were something new to me, but they had the crowd lost in their melodies and loving it.

A slower dash across the site due to the crowd building up and enjoying their day to catch Fleet Foxes headline the West Stage. Robin Pecknold and band delivered their form of indie-folk to the crowd with the sun setting on the East London venue – it was the perfect build up to the main event.

Back over on the main stage, The National came out just before 9.30pm to a now much fuller field to rapturous applause and anticipation. Turns out I was not the only one massively excited to catch the band performing their only London date of the year. Matt Berninger lead the band out to the Leonard Cohen track 'I can't forget' and the singalongs quickly started. The American band were straight into 'Don't swallow the Cap' before 'Mistaken for Strangers' and 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' just gave us time to catch our breath. Barely taking anytime between songs to talk, the band fired through hit after hit. Berninger keeping the crowd on their toes when he headed into the audience to sing. In a 19 song set in only 90 minutes the band made their way through the extensive back catalogue, stopping to dedicate rarely outed 'Pink Rabbits' to Matt's parents wedding anniversary and to then introduce Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes to sing new song 'Weird Goodbyes'. The crowd around me were fantastic and held a great atmosphere throughout, most seemingly knowing every lyric that was sung. I was in good company. An amazing end to the set in which we heard 'Mr November', 'Terrible Love' and 'About Today' - the crowd were on their way back to the tube singing along.

I had an amazing day and can't wait to see what All Points East have in store for next year! I'll be back.