All Points East - The Maccabees with support from Bombay Bicycle Club & More
at Victoria Park in London, UK
words and photos by Schuyler “Sky” Aldridge

All Points East 2025 was nothing short of an exceptional two weeks for the UK festival scene. With an incredible line-up spanning quite a few genres, Victoria Park was once again filled with brilliantly loud soundscapes. Since having launched in 2018, All Points East has quickly turned itself as one of the most exciting moments for music fans and for someone who prefers single-day events to full-on camping festivals, All Points East is just perfect for myself.

Previous years have brought names like LCD Soundsystem, Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Strokes and Charli XCX. For 2025’s closing day, I was invited down to see The Maccabees headline, finishing off their reunion tour. With support from the incredible likes of CMAT, Sorry and Bombay Bicycle Club, the day was set to be an incredible assortment of live music.

I arrived early, and while I’d heard stories about warnings for high dust levels across the site, it wasn’t too bad at first. On the East Stage, Sorry were already pulling a big crowd under the bright sun. I’d last seen them opening for Fontaines D.C. in November, so it was great to catch them again. They notably played “Waxwing”, one of my favourites of theirs.

Man/Woman/Chainsaw were up shortly after over on the Radio X Stage. They’re a group I’ve been listening to a lot recently, and it was great to finally see them live. They’re a unique band, having done things in the opposite of tradition like having already played more than 100 gigs despite only releasing a few singles and an EP. That live experience really showed with their ecstatic energy and chemistry on stage. I adore their use of a violin which might seem unconventional for their indie sound but adds a dramatic edge and momentum to their sound.

The Murder Capital followed, an Irish post-punk band, having released their third record “Blindness” earlier this year. Opening with “The Fall”, an incredible track which built to an explosive array of instrumentation after the lyric “It’s a matter of pride”, which hit perfectly on the big stage. They continued to play bangers from their newest record such as “Can’t Pretend To Know”, “A Distant Life”, “Love Of Country” and “That Feeling”. Midway through, the band paused to display a message of support for Palestine on the screens behind them, it was an act of solidarity, that I heavily respected and that clearly resonated with many in the audience.

I went to check out the rest of the festival's stalls and experiences and also got some food. There were plenty of options around and lots of fun things to do to keep yourself entertained during the day, although, the dust was notably starting to pick up heavier around the entrance of the festival site.

CMAT, another Irish musician who I adore and have been getting ever so more familiar with this year since seeing her perform at another festival back in May, was just mere minutes away from taking her set on the East Stage. She opened with “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station”, a track from her at the time unreleased record “EURO-COUNTRY”. A track which manages to build up its energy constantly with its repetitive chorus that had the crowd screaming with those up at the front row especially going crazy. She played “I Don’t Really Care for You” next, and I think you’d have to try really hard to get the piano melody of this one stuck in your head. CMAT was walking all around the stages interacting with her many bandmates and all around having a great time playing to such a massive amount of people. I think my favourite part of the set was admittedly the most anticipated moment, “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me”, arguably her current most recognisable track, having gained immense popularity on social media where the song even has its own danced reminiscent of Chappell Roan’s HOT TO GO dance and Charli XCX’s Apple dance.

I then made my way to the CUPPA North Arena, where Black Country, New Road took over a dark, spacious and smoky tent. Their set opened with “Two Horses” from “Forever Howlong”, their most recent record, which highlighted their layered, atmospheric sound built from so many instruments working together in harmony. Hearing “The Big Spin” live was my personal highlight of the set with its slightly heavier edge and punchier feel which lined up with my own tastes exceptionally well.

I had to leave Black Country, New Road’s set early to make what turned out to be my favourite set of the day - Bombay Bicycle Club, the final act, closing off the West Stage. Opening with “Emergency Contraception Blues”, immediately lighting up the crowd with the energy before seamlessly transiting into my personal favourite track of theirs “Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing but You)”. I am obsessed with the guitar nostalgic yet also mellow feeling guitar riff present throughout the track but the most exciting moment came when the instruments dipped and crowd chanted “Nothing but you, eat, sleep, wake” before an explosion of confetti rained down throughout a packed Victoria Park, it was unforgettable. Later in the set, CMAT returned for a surprise appearance during “Rural Radio Predicts the Rapture”, which sent the energy of the set soaring higher as the sun dipped below the horizon.

I only wish now at this point that I had listened to more of Bombay Bicycle Club because they’ve become an absolute favourite for me, and even now, I still can’t get enough of “Eat, Sleep Wake”.

Finally, the headliner that everyone had been waiting for, The Maccabees, played to a sold-out Victoria Park. Looking back over the crowd, the amount of people there was indescribable, the crowd simply faded away into the darkness of the trees. Before the band even took the stage, a montage of their moments throughout the years played across the big screen, fading into their logo which lit up the entire stage and sent a huge roar through the crowd.

They wasted no time, opening with “Latchmere” which fans instantly recognised and erupted in screams as the familiar melody hit before thousands of voices joined together to chant the repeating lyric, “Madness and monsieurs, please return to your cubicle”, building into the chorus.

Midway through the set, The Maccabees surprised the whole audience by bringing out guest Jamie T where together they played through the iconic “Marks to Prove It” and then moved into one of Jamie’s own tracks, “Sticks ‘N’ Stones” which pushed the crowd excitement even higher, having both CMAT and Jamie T as a surprise guest in performances was incredible. The guest appearance was also a callback to history with Jamie having previously joined The Maccabees at their finale show in 2017 at Alexandra Palace and 2 years prior at Glastonbury 2015.

Personally, my highlight was the final song in the set. When the band was about to play “Pelican”, they encouraged everyone to dance and sing along once again, unleashing all of the energy they had left. Somehow, I hadn’t heard this track before, but hearing it live was an experience I’ll never forget and made it an instant addition to my main playlist. Watching from further back, I couldn’t help but think about how special these festival moments are. With All Points East being held at the very end of summer, there was a real sense of closure in the air to 2025’s festival season. It felt like the perfect way to close out both the day and the festival itself.