All Points East 2025: Chase and Status

A summer beset by dry heat in London led to an extra layer of dust at Victoria Park, as we walked into Chase & Status’ headline day with that classic festival anticipation. 

As is commonplace with day festivals of this kind, there are an array of food stalls, drink stands with corporate sponsorship (coca cola / red bull), American Express freebies, and queue jumps. A couple of rides were also present for downtime and non-music related thrill. We did find some surprise fun in the non-musical activities. Notably, the ‘Jongga’ stand, Korea’s number one kimchi brand, had a game where participants had to catch as many pieces of paper as possible in a machine (similar to the final round of The Crystal Maze) to potentially win a t-shirt or tote bag.

All Points East’s musical output is mainly split over  two main stages, which the majority of fans find themselves walking back and forth between. The East Stage, and the West Stage, the two of which were home to the UK’s hottest acts of the moment, featured Jyoty, Hamdi, Dimension, Joy Orbison, Overmono and Chase & Status to name but a few. We begin our festival shenanigans and venture to our first musical foray - Jyoty’s b2b with Ahadadream. Jyoty is known as a DJ who plays close attention to the crowd she is playing to, and indeed this was the case here with a well-tailored mid-afternoon set with more conventional mainstream tracks, including a fresh mix incorporating viral Pink Panthress tik-tok hit ‘Illegal’.

Following this, Hamdi’s dubstep and UKG influences came at the perfect time and further elevated the crowd energy, which peaked with several mixes of seminal track ‘Push’, with Skrillex. Psychedelic layered visuals encapsulated the layered track’s impact. Excited and extremely energised by this set, we are blessed with Joy Orbison entering the stage, however counteracting this were SP:MC contributions that no-one asked for, no one wants and only takes away from the impact. Despite this, several teases toward the already classic ‘Flight FM’, and steady crescendo of aggressiveness as the set progressed helped to keep the crowd engaged.

Best set of the day was Overmono, following an excellent summer run for the duo, notably their well-received West Holts headline set at Glastonbury they bring an extra magic dust with them to the day, which the audience gets to euphorically inhale. As per usual, ‘I Have A Love’ performs with a near unrivalled passion, ‘Blow Out’ has hands in the air, and a High Contrast remix adds a glorious note of nostalgia. Following this set we explore the festival site for a needed break, play some pinball over at Red Bull stand, and discover the as of yet relatively unknown DJ Jon Yna; a member of industry academy East London Arts & Music, and, we hope, with a burgeoning career ahead of him.

Finally, with darkness descending, festival dust increasing, and all other stages closed down for the evening, crowds flock to witness Chase and Status’ headline show. An intense and frenetic lighting setup was well designed for the DJ set, with the crowd energetic and fully locked in. Colour transitions framed the feeling of the songs appropriately, particularly for those with synaesthesia among us. Musical highlights included ‘Machine Gun’ featuring bass pushing and constantly ascending Pusha T, their no. 1 hit ‘Backbone’, as well as a surprise guest, Tom Grennan appearing  for the 2016 hit ‘All Goes Wrong’ with fireworks framing the final moments.

I am struck by the fact the festival feels like a day out with friends, where music happens to be playing in the background – this of course is not the fault of the festival, but it does have an effect on how one absorbs the music of the day. This effect is exacerbated by the festival’s yearly occurring sound issues, of which it is plagued once again. At times the yapping of attendees can be heard at equal volume to that of the music, despite for instance settling in a spot close to the front barrier of one of the main stages. Despite the snags of yearly recurring organisational issues the lineup bookings of the day were so strong it could only be enjoyed, however, it could have been made far more memorable with more acute attention to detail by organisers.