Finsbury Park has played host to a sea of stars over the past decade. From Kendrick Lamar to Skepta, the catalogue of headliners at London’s hottest festival remains elite. After sharing the reigns with Crystal Palace, N4 was home ground for everyone in attendance and it was a three-day weekend for the ages. There was a different feel in the air as each day of the festival passed and with three stages distributed around the park, surprises were in store wherever you were located.
The vamps were out way before the nocturnal hours on day one. Playboi Carti has emerged and spearheaded the new generation who paid homage to their G.O.A.T, many styled in punk attire which took the aesthetic forefront for Friday. The main stage was home to the mosh pit crew, and if you’ve never been part of an infamous circle that beams as the beats drops, this was your chance to get a first-hand experience with artists Ken Carson, Lancey Foux and Yeat providing jumpy anthems throughout Friday’s sunny outing.
The summer feels would be felt all the way down to the Casa Bacardi stage where the decks belonged to Jay Knox as the crowd grew in stature hour-by-hour. Whilst J-Hus, Dave, Central Cee, Stormzy and Fredo were not in attendance, the Croydon DJ was spinning a selection of hits that had you feeling like your favourite rapper was there.
An abundance of energy would be felt by the Amazon +44 stage over the three-day tenure. Artists would be able to put on a show to a more intimate crowd who still raised the atmosphere to the raptures and beyond. The females didn’t come to play and none other than Lola Brooke would let it be known, finishing her captivating set with one of 2023’s most noticeable hits “Don’t Play With It’, which London fans automatically rose to. Latto would follow to the stage with immaculate swagger, fashioned head-to-toe in Von Dutch, and whilst the fashion shows have been replaced by festival weekenders, the Ohio rapper was in an eye-catching mood.
As the females stamped their authority on day one, it was only right Ice Spice was called upon the main stage to give her Wireless debut. Spice has been in the game just over a year, but the ability to work the majority of Finsbury Park gives us the notion she will be here for the foreseeable future. Future would then be a part of Metro Boomin’s stellar DJ set and received one of the biggest roars from a crowd who had shown some emotion to the news of Lil Uzi Vert not being able to attend.
Switching back to the +44 stage, Meekz would bring the wave from 0161 and closed out his set by bringing in fans to perform “Fresh Out The Bank”. There was still time for ground-breaking tracks to receive the same amount of support in “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” and “Like Me” raising the decibel to the levels of the main stage.
At the vamps exited into the night, day two was home to the ragers as Wireless welcomed Travis Scott and his impending new sound of Utopia. As you witness the stage, you feel as if you’ve entered another realm, surrounded by smokey mountains before Travis enters through darkness. There were reports of mini earthquakes when Mr. 90210 arrived in Italy, luckily this would not surface in Finsbury Park, but every corner of North London did feel his existence.
Whilst Saturday did begin in typical London fashion with the heavens opening above us and everyone’s favourite trainers down in the mud, NLE Choppa had other ideas to lift spirits. The Memphis superstar had an encore to each and every song on his setlist and paid attention to the crowds energy, leaving the star-studded microphone laid flat for the crowd to give their rendition. At the age of 20, NLE’s presence and aura would have many thinking he’s been tied to the game for decades.
Mariah The Scientist would then take over and had the screams at an all-time high, making sure to have Finsbury Park remembering her beloved Young Thug, with the YSL favourite currently doing time behind bars.
The ever-consistent Clavish followed suit and shut down the Amazon stage which was another reminder the North London artist is here to stay for a long time. With a clear rhyming pattern and confidence on the microphone, many would not put performing on the main stage past him, his time would come sooner than he knew.
With the weather scorching towards 30 degrees, it was befitting that the likes of Popcaan and Dexta Daps turned the heat up as two of Jamaica’s frontrunners set the ambience for a soothing Sunday. Fan favourites “We Caa Done” and “Breaking News” had the main stage in full attendance and was another reminder that DanceHall has 2023 in a chokehold.
Popcaan’s in particular was a standout, scintillating performance and amongst the several phones launched from fans onto the stage for POV content, it was the emergence of the song of the summer which brought the crowd into full effect. After bringing the West Indies culture to the forefront, it was only right for Poppy to call Byron Messiah to close the stage with 2023’s hit song “Talibans”. The single generated a buzz lyric-for-lyric, and it almost felt right that Mr. Messiah was introduced to his first Wireless festival.
An honourable mention must go to Lil Tjay where the rapper turned the main stage into a frenzy. It would be felt to feel like New York as the Bronx turned up in the North side of London. It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for Tjay and you could feel the love for the rapper who returned this by bringing out current YouTube sensation IShowSpeed and fellow New-York rapper Fivio Foreign who had the crowd sturdy. This was also the perfect warm-up for those who were there for another fellow New-York native.
50 Cent would undoubtedly live up to the hype and re-winded the years to have the new generation of listeners feeling like it was 2005 all over again. From “Candy Shop” to “Hate It Or Love It”, 50 had it going down word-for-word and even had time to show love to his “London Girls” as the screams poured onto the mains stage for Fiddy who was celebrating his 48th birthday.
The closing acts would belong to South London who would shut down the ever-entertaining weekender. First up was K-Trap who controlled the +44 stage and had fans wanting another hour added to his set. Two years have passed since “Warm” dropped, but the track is still being received as if it was dropped over the recent weekend. Trapo has the ability to move his listeners and always knows what they want. It was only right he dropped past gems with Blade Brown to then take it to another level.
The main stage would then be opened to DBE World as Young Adz and Dirtbike LB orchestrated a performance fitting of being the last act, moving the crowd effortlessly as they owned each side of the stage. Instant anthem “Pakistan” had noise going through the roof as the mosh pit crew entered their stomping ground once again. Clavish would deservedly get his chance and switched from Amazon to main stage as he entered for the second verse. Nafe Smallz and Krept and Konan would also make an appearance before the fireworks went off into the night.
2023’s Wireless Festival was packed with legends of the game being joined by the new generations rising stars. The next 12 months will see new faces emerge and come July 2024, another memorable weekender will most definitely be on the cards in Finsbury Park.