A new chapter in the long history of Crystal Palace Park is being made with the South Facing Summer Festival Series. The opening concert for 2025 saw a top notch line up headed by Mogwai descend on South London.
It’s a thankless task being first on the bill for a festival, even more so at 3.20pm on a balmy Thursday afternoon, but that’s the task that falls to Glaswegian stalwarts The Yummy Fur. To their credit, it’s a challenge they rise to with the angular rock of singer/guitarist John McKeown and co seeing an eleven song set drawn from material old and new dispatched with brisk aplomb. As the petri dish for members of Franz Ferdinand (drummer Paul Thomson is back up on stage), their latest reformation is a welcome one. Their set is a just reward for punters who arrived for gates opening but a shame for the band not to get the audience they merited.
After the high energy of the openers, London octet caroline ease the pace down a notch but without letting up on intensity or at times noise. Set up in a semi-circle, the collective of multi-instrumentalists offer a performance of eclectic ambition working their way through a veritable arsenal of instruments to showcase and back up the critical acclaim received for recent LP ‘caroline 2’ which provides four of the six songs in the set. There are moments of discordant beauty from the sun flecked stage, none more so than in set closer ‘Total Euphoria’.
Sun and blue skies are not the natural habitat for The Twilight Sad, but judging by the density of band tees now assembled as they take to the stage, South London looks to have temporarily become a home from home for the Scots. The faithful, after raising a slight eyebrow at the change of line-up (singer James Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane being joined by Alex Mackay (Mogwai) on bass and Nicholas Willes (Victories at Sea) on drums), are duly rewarded with a high-octane set of eight songs split between the new and old. Opener ‘Dealing In The Dark’ sets the tone on it’s live debut, singer James Graham a man possessed with his Scottish brogue entwined around the raw riffs and drums that surround him – if this is a marker for the new material and album rumoured to be on its way then a treat is in store. The natural amphitheatre that makes up the Bowl steadily fills during their cathartic set, the first as a full band for two years, and by the end the bar has definitely been raised a couple of notches.
Lankum should need no introduction, but for the uninitiated the Dublin four piece have honed their contemporary take on Irish folk to perfection duly recognised with their nomination for the Mercury Prize in 2023. There is a brooding intensity to their sound that demands the attention as the musicians deftly switch between the array of instruments each has to hand. With the beauty of Radie Peat’s vocals to the fore amidst often stunning harmonies, they deliver a dark and beguiling set which at time almost descends into industrial territory – the Dublin tourist trap version of folk music this is not. The rendition of ‘The Rocks of Palestine’ draws chats of “Free free Palestine “ to the approval of Ian Lynch, a constantly brooding be-sunglassed and hooded presence on stage right. It is a set pitched to perfection, honed by time on the road, and it is a packed crowd are left somewhat breathless as the final notes of ‘Go Dig My Grave’ ring out. It will take something special to follow.
Thankfully, that something are Mogwai. With the final vestiges of daylight dying behind the trees and the red lights of the nearby TV mast giving otherworldly vibes, it’s the perfect environment for the Scottish post-rockers to do what they do so well. With a set drawing from most recent album, “The Bad Fire”, the opening notes ‘God Gets You Back’ open the doors to a special 90 minutes. Mogwai don’t necessarily do Greatest Hits but after 30 years together and with eleven albums under their belts (including a Number One no less), they have a back catalogue that offers rich pickings and sees the set pitched to perfection. As Masters of their craft, the combination of sound and light saturate the senses as the set ebbs and flows. Particular highlights are the mid-set triplet of ‘Remurdered’, ‘Fanzine Made of Flesh’ and ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ – the start of the latter’s final third making more than a few visibly jump as it kicks in. The sound, as might be expected, is at times punishing – if the original Palace located up the hill had not burnt down in the 1930s one senses the bass being dispensed by Dominic Aitchison may have dislodged more than a few panes – but precise capturing the subtleties of the songs in the quiet moments amidst the frequently unleashed tsunami layers.
It’s the perfect showcase for Mogwai and as the set ends the five thousand punters duly head off into the London night, ears ringing but more than content. The first night of the South Facing Festival Series for 2025 will take some beating, but the other nights of this well organised festival are well worth investigating – just watch out for the moat around the stage….
Words and photos: Geoff Shaw https://www.instagram.com/gsmusicphotos/