The stars were most certainly aligned at Wireless this year. Fans we were treated to a stacked line-up and even the most fickle of beasts, the infamous British weather provided us Brits with some much needed Vitamin D.
Each day’s festivities were kicked off by two heavyweights from the scene; Steel Banglez held it down over at the Pepsi Max Stage and the Big Dawg Tim Westwood hosted the main stage proceedings. This was a theme that was omnipresent over the course of the three days, as we saw Wireless field one of the strongest UK line-ups in years.
On Friday we were blessed with AJ Tracey, Geko and Big Narstie all gracing the Pepsi Max stage and pulling huge crowds despite sharing set times with the likes of Bryson Tiller and Chance the Rapper. Impromptu mosh pits were breaking out throughout AJ Tracey’s hard set that spanned all of his big releases.
Over on the main stage Bryson Tiller soaked up the 30 degree sun in a cold performance featuring a selection of hits old and new including “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Exchange”.
Rounding off the first day came the colourful world of Chance the Rapper. Taking over the main stage Chance performed the huge hit “No Problem” and his verse on DJ Khaled’s “I’m The One”. The set finished with “Same Drugs” as the sun set over Finsbury Park.
Saturday’s line-up showed just how far the UK music scene has grown over the years, as arguably all the best acts of the day were home-grown talent, with none other than Skepta at the top of the bill. The acts from across the pond recognised this and showed their love too. Young Thug brought out Kojo Funds to perform “Dun Talkin” during his set.
Pepsi Max stage was the place to be for UK fans as Cadet, Big Tobz, MoStack, Yungen and Dave all tore up the stage in what seemed like a UK All-Stars showcase.
Whether it was MoStack bringing out Mist to perform “Fisherman” from Hus’s gold selling debut album Common Sense or Dave making one fan’s year by inviting him on stage to help him perform “Thiago Silva”, the huge array of UK acts gave a great cross section of what the scene has to offer.
Wiley was unable to make his set, citing “travel difficulties”. However man like Lethal Bizzle filled in the 20 minute set after being offered an incredible £80k.
If you were lucky enough to grab yourself a VIP Ticket you would have been welcomed by our very own GRM Taxi Photo booth, complete with props to help you capture yourself in some suitably hilarious poses. With plenty of place to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the sold out arena the GRM VIP Village also kept the vibes going with our DJs making sure the bangers were kept in heavy rotation while you rubbed shoulders with some UK music scene royalty.
Although Saturday is supposed to be the main event, Sunday’s line-up was simply too good to miss with the likes of Kojo Funds, Abra Cadabra, Stefflon Don, Mike Skinner and Bugzy Malone flying the flag for the UK.
The main stage was once again graced by some of the biggest acts from across the globe.
One of the day’s highlights was old school legend Nas. The New Yorker began the set with cuts from his timeless debut Illmatic. After that Nas continued to adeptly navigate his huge discography jumping from “If I Ruled Rhe World”, to “Hate Me Now” and even managing to include an ode to Mobb Deep’s Prodigy by doing a rendition of “Shook Ones Part 2”. The biggest surprise of the set was Damien Marley coming out and performing a few tracks from their joint album Distant Relatives.
The headline set from The Weeknd was the one that everyone was waiting for. The set was filled with crowd pleasing tracks and the crowd lapped up every single note he sang. The Weeknd serenading us deep into the evening of a warm Sunday night was the perfect ending to what had been a weekend of great music.
Check out some photos from GRM Daily’s VIP Village at Wireless right here when you’re done.