Just as the festival season begins, Faith Hussain takes you through a day at Cross the Tracks...
We fuelled up on a spoons full English, unlimited coffee and got the most manic 68 bus where so many cyclists were almost hit and pedestrians screamed at, to Brockwell Park, where Cross The Tracks was held. To our surprise there was no queue getting in; the experience compared to weekend festivals was a breeze and we were welcomed by the sun which came as a sigh of relief due to the forecasted torrential rain.
Two pints deep, we made our way to Yazmine Lacey’s DJ set first to start off the day. The stage was so unique in appearance and resembled a greenhouse. She completely amped up the crowd for the headliners got all dancing to her gentle remixes. I got to see one of my favourite songs by her ‘From another to a lover’ remixed too! I would say I would have loved a few more DJ sets later on in the day, they seemed to be all very much at the start of the day which were great for energising the crowd prior to the main sets, but I would have loved to have ended the day in a sweaty crowd dancing to a jazzy set.
We left her set early to run across the grass to Madlib's set, feeling so ecstatic in such a massive crowd, but then awful news struck. Through a mutual connection working the festival we suddenly got the text “Erykah’s walked off”. We assumed it was a prank at first, but during the long anticipated wait for Madlib to commence his set we all got the notification of a set time update due to Badu falling ill, with En Vogue now closing the day instead. To say we weren't disappointed or angry would be a lie, as most people I knew going to the festival had booked tickets partly to see Erykah perform. We knew going into this festival that Badu has a track record of cancelling of showing up late to her shows, however we still felt very let down, especially after her insensitive Instagram post the following day.
Madlib did manage to bring the crowd back to life after the awful news however, his set was cathartic and incredibly groovy under the piercing sun and left us revitalised. It was incredible to hear his skill of production behind the decks which appeared effortless in intertwining beats to keep his rather sad crowd uplifted. We left Madlib’s set slightly early for another pint to lift our spirits before heading over to one of the best DJ sets I’ve ever been in.
I’ve stumbled across Channel One’s Soundsystem before but hearing him live actually changed my life. Channel One’s Soundsystem is operated by a number of selectors mixing reggae and dub tracks after Mikey Dread and Jah T (two of the selectors that operate) took over their fathers Soundsystem in 1979. His crowd was incredibly hyper, and we had such a good boogie to an amazingly uplifting reggae/dub fuelled sounds. It was so incredible to hear an original dub selector live after learning about the roots and impact of Windrush music (including reggae and dub etc) for a year through my degree and seeing Channel One’s audience give them the recognition they deserve for their impact to the UK dub scene.
After Channel One’s set we separated, grabbed dinner, and rejoined for another pint before heading over to Eve’s set as early as we could to get a good spot. Despite the sound quality being horrendous for Eve, she put on an incredible performance blasting classics like Let Me Blow Ya Mind and Tambourine which made the crowd go wild. She excelled in involving the audience in her set as we repeatedly chanted “who’s that girl” rhythmically waving our hands in the air to her incredibly backup dancers rocking all black leather.
"His lyrics completely heartbreaking brought on the feelings of lost love, but the future hope for love as an endless possibility which was completely unforgettable and cathartic in the best possible way"
After Eve’s set, we took another break and listened to BADBADNOTGOOD under a tree with pints in hand after being hit with a intense wave of rain for a few minutes, but the skies cleared up and we were able to listen to glowing jazz grooves blended with hip hop beats. They brought us back to earth after the exhilarating performance from Eve leaving us hypnotically swaying to their percussion under the tree we were sat by. Apparently for this whole festival we were awful at time keeping, so again had to run off to see Thee Sacred Souls who recast the grey skies, turning the clouds back to shining blues with their warm flawless vocals. Sacred Souls involved the audience incredibly, encouraging us to sing along and the lead singer Josh Lane entered the audience; we were so lucky to be within an arms reach of him and it felt as if he was lovingly singing to us directly. Their lyrics so intimate, the performance was polished and created an atmosphere of tenderness in the crowd which is normally so hectic at any festival. They played some of my favourite tracks Running Away and Will I See You Again, after ending on Can I Call You Rose. Josh Lane poured his heart into the last song. His lyrics completely heartbreaking brought on the feelings of lost love, but the future hope for love as an endless possibility which was completely unforgettable and cathartic in the best possible way.
As the sun set, we made our way over to the final performance of the night- the long awaited En Vogue who took over the set space from Erykah Badu. En Vogue put on the second best live performance I had ever seen, with Grace Jones (who I saw last year) only fractionally claiming number one. The En vogue ladies smashed this set; I think these days so many artists are successful at singing, but En Vogue manage to perform too. It was a magical experience as the skies turned black and their stage lit up the festival. They played classics like My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna get It) and Whatta Man as the screen behind them projected selected lyrics and old snapshots of their performances in a savvy way before delving into something I’d never experienced for a festival headline set. They began what can only be described as a nonstop mishmash of Black female soul/R&B musicians with tracks from, just to name a few, Cheryl Lynn and The Emotions combined with groovy hypnotic visuals. I felt like I was floating on another planet. To top the experience off we were met with a gentle shower of rain that felt as cleansing as the set we were witnessing. En Vogue filled Erykah’s shoes with ease dare I say.
For the first day festival I’ve attended, Cross the Tracks was incredibly friendly and atmospherically loving. The crowds were one of the nicest I’ve been in, and people genuinely seemed to care about the music more than their outfits. Biggest props to the other artists whose sets were rearranged last minute, managed to keep the crowd’s mood elevated and who demonstrated their steadfast commitment to their fans. An experience I’ll be forever grateful for.
Faith Hussain
Edited by Alice Beard
Images courtesy of Faith Hussain
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