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Lovebox Festival @ Victoria Park, Hackney // Day 3, 17th June [Live]

Headliners: Chaka Khan & Grace Jones. Big Top tent hosted by Trailer Trash v Gutterslut. All photos by Katja Ogrin.

by Alex Taylor, June 25th, 2012 and has been Read 956 times.
Last Edited by: Alex Taylor June 25th, 2012.

By the time the final day rolled around, the mood less ecstasy fuelled. Rather, it was all about the disco basslines on the main stage, and the mellower sounds of Patrick Wolf and Lana Del Rey appearing on the smaller, yes smaller stages, as the day wore on.

Early risers, Crystal Fighters, took to the stage bringing a slice of European indie electro pop with them, endearingly shouting "ello ‘ackney" upon arrival. Mixing a variety of musical influences into their Hispanic edge, frontman Sebastian Pringle ensured everybody was wide awake. He certainly had to work hard to get the crowd going; ‘Champion Sound’ and ‘Follow’ met with hesitant bemusement rather than distaste. Of course, the group found the answer in the perfectly matched ‘I Love London’. From here on in, ‘Plage’, with its memorable "down, down, down" chorus, was warmly received and the spectacular ‘Xtatic Truth’ got the festival goers dancing manically. Not as insanely as Pringle, mind.

Next, we went back to the future. Nile Rodgers spearheaded his revamped Chic, and, forever stylish, the group dressed in pure white. As you would or would not imagine, depending on your age, the classics flowed seamlessly: ‘Speak Out’, ‘I Want Your Love’ (sadly without Michael Fassbender) and ‘Le Chic’ all wildly danced to. Due to the timeless nature of these songs, some younger people in the crowd had no idea what each song was called; simply knowing that melody or that chorus. Rodgers addressed this by explaining:

"Chic are not a cover band, all that you hearing was written or performed by myself or the band originally. Back in the day these songs were released on physical albums, you actually had to turn them over and read the track titles off the back".

As if to affirm his masterful song writing abilities, Rodgers also played Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’ (which he largely wrote), Duran Duran’s ‘Notorious’ and Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’.

Whilst it would be wrong to claim the current incarnation are anywhere near as good as the Chic collective from their 1970’s heyday (Rodgers couldn’t pronounce the name of the drummer they’d drafted in), nobody could deny that a good time was had by all. Considering the man overcame cancer last year, who would begrudge him looking to claim the recognition he deserves?

Later that evening, Lana Del Rey’s cinematic pop-noir graced the outdoor stage. Hype and intrigue seems to follow her around wherever, and Sunday proved no different. Thankfully, she did not disappoint. Her mournful dose of 1950’s inspired America hitting the mark atmospherically and vocally. ‘Born to Die’, ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Video Games’ were all outstanding, as was her very chic peach dress. Somebody call Don Draper. That Saturday Night Live performance can be consigned to history.

Feminine delicacy was as far away from the main stage as humanly possible, Chaka Khan appearing to remind us 'I'm Every Woman'. Nevertheless, it was left to enigmatic Grace Jones to close the festival. Fashionably late, she left everyone open mouth with her performance. A rainbow selection of costume changes accompanied her now obligatory hula hooping, as she played to an audience that was equally kaleidoscopic. Heck, she even managed to get Boy George along as an average punter:

"Both Chaka Khan & Grace Jones were amazing at Lovebox, I have not stood in a crowd for years! Loved it!"

he tweeted. Still a ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ at 64, she summed up the festival - eccentric, liberating and utterly fantastic. Got your Reading ticket? Hard luck, you’ve already missed 2012’s best summer festival.

And I haven’t even mentioned the after parties!

Read Lovebox part 2 here