Arriving at Finsbury Park for the first day of Wireless we noticed that there was a certain buzz around that wasn’t present last year, partly because the sun was beating down at 25*c at midday but more-so because Wireless was the first major festival of 2017 & they weren’t holding back this year with the all-star line up including Aj Tracey, Big Narstie, Post Malone & headlining, Bryson Tiller & Chance The Rapper. After settling in, we headed out into the arena to talk to festival goers and soak in the festival vibes and to taste some of the extravagant food on sale such as the nicest, most succulent ostrich burger we’ve ever tried.
Walking around we noticed that the festival area was a little smaller with only two stages, Main Stage & the Pepsi-Max Stage which had been moved outside as oppose to the marquee tent they had at last years event. We spent time speaking to fans whilst on the main stage, DJ Tim Westwood & on the Pepsi Max Stage DJ Steel Bangelz, was spinning the latest tracks, the majority of people we spoke to were looking forward to seeing AJ Tracey & Chance the Rapper. As we headed over to the Pepsi-Max Stage, Flatbush Zombies brought their edgy east coast Hip-Hop vibes with songs such as “Glorious Things” & “Red-Eye To Paris” which had the crowd hurtling themselves from side to side. They were soon followed by MTP’s AJ Tracey who rolled through shelling “Spirits “Sprit Bomb”, “Leave Me Alone” & the fans favourite “Pasta” before bringing on New York’s Swoosh God for their collab on “LA4AWeek” which tells the tale of the pair getting drunk in LA.
Before we knew it, we heard a massive roar over at the main stage with the familiar beat of Bryson Tiller’s “Trapsoul” album blowing the speakers. This was one of the performances we had been looking forward to all week. Bryson effortlessly serenaded the crowd with his latest hits from his ‘True to Self” Album such as “Set It Off” & “Run Me Dry” before rolling back the times and having a sing-a-long of his no 1 hits “Don’t” & “Exchange” which definitely gave the crowd a warm feeling, setting us up for the next headline act, Chance The Rapper. The Chicago rapper bought a new level of energy like no other & had the fans arms swinging from side to side, singing from the top of their lungs in no time. Accompanied by a live band and producer Francis and the Lights, the pair had a dance off to “May I have”, “Blessings”, “All Night” & “I’m The One” which left us in high spirits looking forward to the weekend ahead.
On Saturday, Travis Scott stood and delivered with his hyperactive actions, rapping and a massive eagle behind him on stage. This was the tell tale sign that we were officially entering the rodeo and were in for a treat. Travis didn’t fail. With his bae Kylie Jenner watching from the VIP platform, Travis owned the stage, controlled the crowd with enthusiastic hand gestures and jumps, started countless mosh pits & gave his t-shirt to a lucky fan after a bar for bar sing-a-long. In between acts we were running back and forth to the VIP section trying to secure interviews with some artists. Luckily for us, we managed to secure interviews with Lil Yachty, Young T & Bugsey and Desiigner.
BBK’s Skepta closed the day bringing out his Boy Better Know family to the stage with tracks from his album “Konnichiwa” as well as BBK classics such as “Too Many Man” and JME’s “96 Fuckeries” & “Blam”, definitely had the nostalgic feel. To set fire to the rain, Lethal Bizzle & Novelist also joined him, bringing the second day to a close followed by a massive fireworks display. The only thing that was missing from the main stage was Drizzy Drake who is the latest member of BBK. Were we wishing for too much? C’mon Skepta came out for Drake’s set in 2015.
Sunday saw WizKid bring the fans favourite, Afropop to the main stage, with Tinie-Tempah making a cameo for their duet of “Mamacita” & a quick bar of “Pass Out”. Elsewhere, on the Pepsi-Max Stage, Stefflon Don, pardon the pun, donned the stage with her raps making the crowd go wild, inviting 30 girls onto the stage for her final song & hella twerking going on in the crowd. We could feel the Stefflon summer vibe coming through. Nas effortlessly graced the stage opening with his “Illmatic” album followed by a tribute to Mobb Deep’s Prodigy with a cover of “Shook Ones”. Once again the vibe switched up with Nas bringing the Jamaican roots vibes with a special appearance from the man himself, Zion’s Damien Marley spreading nothing but peace and love. They had us skanking with our neighbours. Before we knew it, the day was drawing to a close, with the last act of Wireless 2o17, XO’s The Weeknd took to the stage with his live band and R&B serenades that had the whole crowd singing in unison with hits such as ‘Can’t Feel My Face’, ‘Some Way’, ‘Wicked Games’, ‘The Zone’ and closing with ‘Starboy’ with star-shaped fireworks to match the song which was a fitting ending to the amazing 2017 Wireless Festival.
We thoroughly enjoyed Wireless Festival 2017. We look forward to covering next years festival. Let’s see if Wireless can take it up another notch as this year proved that they’re becoming a force to be reckoned with on the festival calendar.
Images: ( Trapped ) Nicholas Sandzi – @nicholas_sandzi, ( Wireless ) Ashley Verse, Lauren Maccabe, James Bridle, Sam Neil & Jordan Hughes.
