Sault, Cleo Sol and Chronixx open All Points East with mammoth five-hour set

South Wales Argus

4 hours ago

Sault, whose members' names are kept secret, performed a set of their genre-bending music, which dips into funk, krautrock, dub reggae and experimental sounds.
Sol dipped in and out of the set while Chronixx, whose real name is Jamar McNaughton, performed a full set with his band.
Speaking to the crowd during the performance, Sol, whose real name is Cleopatra Nikolic, said: 'All Points East, come on, we're going to have a good time tonight.
'You look so good, come on, energy.'
The performance took place on two stages, with the main stage decked out like Star Wars' Tatooine, while a second platform was designed like a sci-fi pyramid.
The first 30 minutes was light on music as a story with biblical and sci-fi influence was acted out, before Sault opened with Glory from the 11 album.
The story return at numerous points in the evening, with Sault performing some of their best known tracks including Wildfires and I Just Want To Dance, which began after breakdancers performed.
US rapper Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, joined them for Stop Dem from Black Is, before re-emerging to perform later in the evening.
Representatives from a number of local charities were later brought out to speak about their causes.
The evening finished with a solo performance from Sol, who debuted new music.
It was only the second time the band has performed a conventional gig.
Their first concert was at London's Drumsheds venue in 2023, when the band performed on a number of different stages, and fans walked through an immersive experience before the show began.
The All Points East performance also comes after a pop-up in Soho, central London, at which the group performed to a small number of fans for a few minutes at a time, with reportedly five-hour queues stretching around the block to get in last month.
Since beginning their career in 2019, the band have released 12 albums and two EPs, all produced by Adele and Little Simz producer Inflo, real name Dean Cover, who is the husband of Sol and is thought to be the leader of Sault.
Sol's solo career has seen her release four studio albums and feature on the Little Simz tracks Selfish and Woman. The Ladbroke Grove-born singer also rarely performs live.
All Points East will continue with performances from the likes of Chase And Status on Saturday, Barry Can't Swim on August 22, and Raye, who will be joined by Grammy Award-winning rapper Doechii, on August 23.