All Points East 2025: Barry Can’t Swim, Orbital & Confidence Man

The festival kicked off for me with a margarita from the Casamigos House (because that’s obviously how all good festivals should start) and then straight into Leon Vynehall on the West Stage, with the Kent-born DJ setting the vibe for the rest of the evening with a high-energy live set. From here it was onto Shygirl who made sure there was no mistaking the fact she was here to throw a massive party underneath the giant disco ball she’d brought along.

This would prove to be the perfect taster for what was to come from Confidence Man. Admittedly an act I’d never previously been wooed by, but they flipped my opinion on its head within about 5 minutes. An absolutely magnetising live act, it was impossible not to have a good time during tracks like ‘All My People’ and ‘C.O.O.L Party’. Best of all was the not-so-surprising surprise appearance from Saturday-performer JADE to guest for their latest single ‘Gossip’, which received an electric reception.

A swift exit from Confidence Man after JADE’s appearance meant a return to the West Stage to catch a couple of electronic music pioneers in Orbital. I have to confess here that they aren’t an artist I’ve ever really paid much mind to but, they were top-notch and the light show was incredibly impressive. I’m going to have to shame myself further by adding that the highlight had to be the mix of ‘Halcyon + On + On’ with Belinda Carlisle’s ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’. 

It was only after Orbital that the dust horror stories coming from the previous nights of 2025’s iteration of the festival became fully realised. A murky haze had descended on the site, and with a backdrop of fairground lights you could have mistaken the scene for something out of a Silent Hill game. In the moment I didn’t fully feel the effects, but a lack of any sort of face covering proved to be a huge rookie error when later that night I started to sound like I’d been smoking 40 a day for the past 60 years. Fortunately, this was the only blemish against the event but it was a significant one. Understandably, they can’t control the dearth of rain we’ve experienced in the last few months, but with plenty of reports of attendees still suffering days later from the effects of the dust, it’s something the organisers will hopefully try to combat moving forward. 

With a headline set from the birthday boy on the horizon, a journey back across the site for Barry Can’t Swim was the final play of the night. I was met by a packed crowd waiting to see whether Barry would sink or swim. As it turned out, they were in for a treat. He let us know in the opening minutes with a barnstorming version of ‘About To Begin’ that there would be no lulls in this one, and it seems like Barry himself is only just getting started at this level. Another early highlight of the set was the introduction of guest singer Låpsley to perform ‘Woman’ from Barry’s debut album, When Will We Land?. 

A pleasant surprise throughout the afternoon and evening was the quality of the sound across the park, and it was no exception for the biggest set of the evening. Barry had brought the band with him, including a full string section and horns, naturally complementing his trademark jazz-infused dance music. As a long-time fan it was a bit of a buzz to hear him get plaudits from some around me who were there just to see what the craic was. His live show is a real spectacle and a few made it clear they actually weren’t expecting to be as impressed as they ended up being, but he’d quickly won them over within the first few minutes. 

Barry himself even seemed awed by the occasion, acknowledging the crowd and how this set was a particularly “special one” for him before launching into ‘Always Get Through To You’.

The set built up throughout before the raucous climax of ‘Sunsleeper’ where the crowd was a sea of hands in the air and people on shoulders. It’s safe to say this was the perfect icing on the cake of the 33-year-old’s headline moment.