Still relatively new on the festival scene, Wide Awake has been orchestrated from Hackney’s MOTH Club—affectionately dubbed "The Moffice"—since its establishment in 2021. It shares its creative atmosphere with the iconic promotions company, Bad Vibrations, which continues to deliver memorable gigs.
The lineup features the party-starters Warmduscher, who energize the audience with their captivating mix of industrial-infused dance. The lead singer’s vocal style echoes that of the Beastie Boys, resonating with a lively crowd eager to let loose.
The spirited all-female group Mannequin Pussy ignites the audience with their feminist messages, proclaiming, “Boys, men you’re going to pay for the sins of your brothers and boys. It feels so much more alive for women when we are given a seat at the table to speak of, you know what I mean!” between songs. Their lead singer also criticizes the government, prowling the stage and assertively declaring, “These are modern times now why should we be held to the Conservatives?”
Irish artist CMAT delivers an upbeat performance, engaging the crowd with, “Are you bitches into country music? Yeah?! That’s good, coz we are purveyors of it!” Taking a moment to sip her sparkling water, CMAT humorously remarks, “What is this? No offense to your graphic design team but it could quite possibly be piss!” eliciting laughter from the packed audience. Her new single ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’ stands out, delivering a cheeky response to the controversy surrounding her appearance last year, with the opening line, “ever since I was a young girl / I wanted to be sexy” as she confidently strikes a pose for the crowd.
Headlining a buzzing Brockwell Park, Kneecap is unafraid to confront significant issues, establishing themselves as the band of the moment. They kick off their set by playing a video featuring news clips of their recent controversies involving Sharon Osborne and Piers Morgan, which is met with massive boos and culminates with “Kneecap, who the fuck is Kneecap?”, igniting their festival spirit.
Launching their performance with ‘3CAG’, a folk-inflected homage to MDMA, the band swiftly runs through their debut album 'Fine Art'. It isn’t long before frontman Mo Chara addresses the terror charge he faces, cheekily asking, “Has anyone watched the news?” He warns, “it would be a long night for his lawyers,” admitting their performance would give them nightmares. Calling the allegations a silencing tactic against them at Glastonbury, he encourages the crowd to “Watch out for undercover cops beside you… they’re waiting for a headline!” while “Free Palestine!” chants erupt throughout the set.
This marks Kneecap’s largest performance to date, and they remind the crowd that “You have no idea how close we were to being pulled off the show,” as 20,000 festival-goers enjoy this sizzling Friday, just before the Bank Holiday weekend. Their set is filled with tongue-in-cheek humor, and the sign language interpreter matches the band’s energy, demonstrating how to sign the words “C*nt” and “Ketamine,” to which the band jokingly states, “Sign language is the only language you can speak underwater.”
Their debut song ‘C.E.A.R.T.A’ carries a more relaxed tone and receives an enthusiastic response from the audience as they hoist each other onto their shoulders. Featured in the band’s critically acclaimed film, they encourage attendees to stream it instead of giving money to Jeff Bezos. In a playful introduction, they note, “If you’ve been dragged by your partner and are wondering why you can’t understand what we’re saying it’s because the majority is in Irish and you won’t understand it as it wasn’t your government’s foreign policy.” The band also premiered their new track ‘The Recap’ during the performance, which had just been shared on their WhatsApp channel hours before and begins with a news clip about the counter-terrorism investigation, mocking the Conservatives' attempts to block their arts funding with the biting remark, “Kemi Badenoch you might wanna sit down for this one, if you’ve any seats left.”
Their set concludes with ‘Get your Brits Out’ and ‘H.O.O.D’, which elicit the loudest reactions, as lasers dance over the frenzied crowd, pushing the park into pure excitement. With their unwavering refusal to remain silent and their commitment to the causes they passionately advocate, Kneecap possesses both musical and lyrical brilliance, making them a deserving headliner for this independent and free-spirited festival.
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Words: Brendan Sharp
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Relatively new to the festival circuit, Wide Awake has been orchestrated from the MOTH Club's office in Hackney since its launch in 2021, with a sense of affection.