Concluding an eclectic mix of music at All Points East this summer, The Mic's James Dawson headed to Victoria Park to catch sets from Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service (amongst others), to wrap up a weekend of anticipation and excitement.
After having the privilege of going to two previous days of the All Points East (APE) festival where I saw some amazing acts including Mitski and Beabadoobee, LCD Soundsystem and Pixies, I was lucky to catch Death Cab For Cutie (Death Cab) and The Postal Service celebrating the 20th anniversary of their albums Transatlantcism and Give Up.
We got to the festival around mid-afternoon and, after picking up some freebies, we saw our first band of the day Teenage Fanclub, a Scottish Indie Pop band. They were popular within the mainstream indie scene in the 1990s, and let’s just say I was probably one of the youngest watching them, which tells you all you need to know, really. Nevertheless, I still really enjoyed the set. I recognised a couple of songs due to my dad playing them when I was younger, who incidentally came with me. He also enjoyed the nice, chill mid-afternoon set. I was particularly happy that they closed with one of the songs I knew, The Concept from their 1991 album Bandwagonesque, so that was great.
After wandering around for a couple of hours catching a few minutes from the sets of Sleater-Kinney and Yo-la Tengo, both of whom I definitely found more enjoyable than my Dad did, we went to watch Everything Everything, a band from Manchester that emerged from the late 2000s indie-dance scene with similar sounds to bands such as Bombay Bicycle Club and Friendly Fires to name a few. I have always been aware of them but had not had the chance to see them live before and they were great too. They played all the songs I knew and there was great audience participation. My favourite song is Distance Pass, which is a fantastic indie dance-pop song, which was well known when it first came out in 2014/15.
Just before Death Cab and The Postal Service’s performance, I had the privilege of seeing Phoenix, the French Indie band who had just played at the Olympic closing ceremony. They did not disappoint, and their energy was awesome; they opened and closed with their two most popular songs, Lisztomania and 1901. We were quite close to the front and the energy from the band fed back into the crowd too, who were loving it as much as we were. Even though I didn’t recognise many of the songs, I still really enjoyed them; it was also funny when my dad kept saying that he recognised the songs even though he does not really listen to the band. I hope he does a little bit more now. The only downside was that we were not at the front for my favourite song 1901 as we had to move to the back so we could get a decent enough spot for Death Cab and The Postal Service. Nevertheless, the song and the rest of the set were still great from the back.
Finally, after making our way from Phoenix, it was time for the headliners: Death Cab and The Postal Service. It was a co-headline show as Death Cab’s frontman Ben Gibbard’s side project is The Postal Service, with the latter only releasing one album, Give Up which they had not performed since 2013. The 10th-anniversary tour of the album therefore made the show pretty special. I was a bit sceptical when Death Cab’s set started with me thinking that maybe the music and vibe did not really suit a festival and would have been better at an indoor venue, which they had been doing for most of the tour. Do not get me wrong I still enjoyed the first couple of songs they played from the album, which I had been listening to quite a bit since they came to Nottingham last year (2023), particularly the title track Transatlantcism and The Sound of Settling. Sadly, I did not see them on that occasion, so was happy to finally be watching them.
As their set continued, the crowd got more into it and I felt that the songs and the album did, after all, suit the festival ‘vibe’ due to the anthemic mood that they bought. This was particularly of Transatlantcism due to its very atmospheric chorus. I particularly enjoyed this song, together with The Sound of Settling, as they were already my two favourite tracks on the album. They normally finish with the former track when they normally tour so it was strange not to hear it last, but that did not take away from the eventual beauty of the set and the great atmosphere and ‘vibe’ it brought for ‘The Postal Service’s set.
The music had such depth and multiple layers; this, blended with the tranquility and beauty of the sound, combined with the band's musicianship, made for a great atmosphere, and overall day, at All Points East.
The end of the day, and All Points East for 2024, finished with The Postal Service performing their one and only album Give Up. We were lucky enough to have a decent spot after being able to move in the 20-minute break during the changeover between bands. It was a fantastic show and set, with the electronic indie music of the album very much working for the festival set-up, just like it had for LCD Soundsystem two days previously. There was great anticipation for the show as they tour rarely so the crowd was very excited to see them perform, and it was a treat being there to witness it. I had listened to the album a couple of times before the show and had been aware of it for many years, particularly the song From Such Great Heights, which is a staple of early 2000s indie music and was the highlight of the set for me so being able to witness that song in person was special. However, I did not fully appreciate the album until I saw them perform it live. The music had such depth and multiple layers; this, blended with the tranquility and beauty of the sound, combined with the band's musicianship, made for a great atmosphere, and overall day, at All Points East.
I really enjoyed the festival and have each time I have been since I first went in 2022, due to its great line-up of alternative music. I would definitely recommend a visit- it’s always a great day out!
James Dawson
Edited By Bethany Coldwell, Images courtesy of All Points East on Facebook
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