“No War”, “Noone’s free until we’re all free”, Free Palestine, read tops and flags worn at Wide Awake 2025. Underlying tension from the court hearing levelled at Mo Chara of headliners Kneecap didn’t stop the party. Nor did the Lambeth council challenge to the use of Brockwell Park. Twenty thousand revellers made it to experience the very opposite of rhubarb and custard verses at a festival that puts community first.
Beyond that performance we were all waiting for, Jeremy Corbyn showed up and so did almost every musician’s open-minded political opinion. From the vague to the explicit, Mannequin Pussy denouncing capitalism, Sextile calling for us all to be free and widespread support for Palestine’s liberation featured on stage and in the crowds. The No War top worn by Ugly’s singer on the mainstage said it all. Brockwell Park’s Wide Awake 2025 had quite a few hurdles to clear, but you wouldn’t have told.
The most engaging performances felt familiar yet unpicked and unravelled at the seams, from Ugly’s Elbow-adjacent mournful deliveries to Mermaid Chunky’s deeply weird folk electronica. Fashion felt more sombre than usual from artists and attendees as news spreads like wildfire that it’s a Lorde basics summer. Sextile in monochromatic get-up is truly ready.
English Teacher riffed off codes of British guitar music in the warm sun. The lyric “Blame the council, not the rain” felt particularly relevant here. There’s a heartwarming inter-generational feel at Wide Awake; this isn’t a teenage festival, it’s young and old. There were no kids though. Another highlight was the Australian band Psychedlic Porn Crumpets whose super fun set saw crowd surfers pop up one after the other.
Kneecap closed the show with a gig for the ages, that some groups wished to censor, “They tried to cancel this,” spoke Mo Chara. In front of the biggest crowd they’ve ever played to, the punk rap trio showed no sign of cracking. In fact, their performance oozed good craic. Outlandish and provocative tracks that put the energy up to a thousand captivated us. In between songs the artists drew a level of comparison between international oppressions by greedy governments, Kneecap are intelligent. Nonetheless frequent jokes on Ketamine use left the set impish rather than preachy. Following push-back after their Coachella set, the artists quipped, “We look like we’re about to take down the fucking Berlin Wall or something” to the throngs of moshers and dancers. It’s all to play for with these guys.
