We spent a great couple of days last weekend at the London site of Wireless Festival. Living in London and attending Wireless last year I was really interested to see what this year’s festival would have in store for me with the move from Stratford to Finsbury Park. It also after years of not having a true musical identity has clearly found its place as the UK’s premier urban music festival, showcasing genres from all realms of R&B and Hip – Hop to the leading lights of dance music’s various streams.

Photo Andrew Whitton

Friday

Not having to camp is something that, I am not very used to but was a very nice change, living a small 10 minute bus journey away from the site, the journey was as expected, effortless. However, as soon as we stepped off the calmness of the bus at Finsbury Park station, we were greeted with confusion generated by a lack of signs and directions offered by stewards combined with the unfamiliarity of those in attendance with the new venue.

The other thing that was as apparent as last year, was that those in attendance were not your run of the mill festival attendance. This was a more image conscious crowd than you’d be used to than at Reading & Leeds, Bestival or even Field Day, this obviously largely be attributed to the stylised and image obsessed nature of the music on show although the non-camping element of the festival obviously played a part. You got the feeling this would lead to it being a lot less likely to end up with a pint of unidentifiable liquid hitting you in the head, which was nice.

After finding which way we were meant to walk it was a very short but congested walk to the site, entry was very quick, while there was a comforting level of Police presence, not too much, not too little. We were also allowed to bring in our own water with little fuss which as it was easily the hottest day of the year so far was brilliant.

The first thing you notice as you arrive, is the site was significantly smaller than last year’s festival at the Olympic Park. Given the weather this was definitely a blessing in disguise, no one wants to spend their time walking in the roasting heat.

We headed to the bars straight away and stocked up on a few pints of nasty Tuborg, at around £5 it’s what you expect from a Live Nation festival.

Photo: Rachael Wright

The first act we watched, Vic Mensa, was arguably one of the best. The Chicago based rapper is coming through the city’s thriving scene along with the likes of Chief Keith, although the two cannot be compared, played a fun set that went hand in hand with the sunny day and ended with him jumping into the crowd.

We then checked out the food area that was very well stocked with wonderful street food stands, ranging from jerk chicken to Indian street foods to lovely fire oven pizza. The quality was top level and made the prices, of around £7, seem very reasonable.

So, we ventured to get some more liquid on board. Unfortunately, the queues by this point where the biggest I’d ever seen at a festival, we endured and it actually went down relatively quickly.

Other acts of note on Friday included Tinnie Tempah, who played to a raucous home crowd that felt like somewhat of a homecoming show, while the always amazing Basement Jaxx were… amazing.

Photo: Rachael Wright

Kanye West, headlined the evening with no rival sets the main arena was rammed. The sound and minimal lighting were absolutely spot on, while the set was as brilliant as you could hope for. Even accounting for the well documented “rant”, that although was tedious was clearly scripted and well-rehearsed and extended an already 9 minute song to 20 minutes. The set was absolutely brilliant before and after the rant, culminating in a brilliant rendition of ‘Blood On The Leaves’, with particular highlights including ‘All Of The Lights’ and a cover of Chief Keith’s ‘Don’t Like’

Photo: Richard Johnson

The journey home was amazingly well organised, with the full volume of people exiting and heading to the tube, we were shepherded through to Finsbury park where we managed to get on the tube easily and efficiently.

Saturday

Much like the Friday, Saturday offered a brilliant plethora of talent with Schoolboy Q, Odd Future’s Earl Sweatshirt, Labrinth, Chance The Rapper, Rudimental and Kanye West replacing Drake, who had to pull out due to illness.

On arrival, there was a noticeable increase in attendance. This lead to a narkier feel in the crowd’s atmosphere. This made it more apparent that there was a distinct lack of anything other than music to keep the crowd entertained.

What also became more noticeable with the increased attendance was this awful area in front of the stage. This enabled those who paid an inflated “VIP” fee to access the front of the stage area, a similar tactic adopted by British Summer Time in Hyde Park, something we felt discriminated against the real music fans who couldn’t afford the inflated price.

Onsite signage could have also been improved, with people queuing for ages for toilets near the back of the arena. While the mass toilet system to the right of the main stage always seemed relatively empty.

Photos: Andrew Whitton

These negatives aside, the music was again top notch with Earl Sweatshirt, performing on the Pepsi Max Stage to the most raucous crowd of the weekend, being a personal highlight.

It was then time or “Kanye Day 2”; we were wanting to see if the crowd that predominantly to those that purchased tickets to see the Canadian rapper would be in to their star replacement. He easily went down just as well, if not better than the previous night. Although Kanye played a very similar set to the previous night, the addition of a montage of 3 Drake songs that seemed to be offered as a gesture to the crowd where lapped up to great applause. Even the rant was better received, with those who had been the previous day going off for a well time beverage just before the bars closed and returning in time for the rendition of hits.

Photo: Danny North

Leaving the site was again very well organised, just being slightly slower than the previous day.

All in all, Wireless isn’t quite the finished article and may seem a little commercial at times. Those expecting a boutique festival experience must have gone with the wrong idea of what a festival in the middle of London with acts that all feature on 1Xtras A Playlist would be like. Solely down to the line-up it comfortably sits at the top of the tree as the UK’s best urban music festival, imagine how good it could be with some small improvements.

Review: Matt Harrap