Lorde @ All Points East review: Women of pop take over London
Victoria Park goes pop
All Points East’s second day of 2026 one-day festivals may appear to be all about Lorde from the poster, but it was more of a "state of play" of modern pop.
The line-up was packed with powerhouse women of music — oh, plus that guy from Stranger Things, with Djo.
All Points East’s healthy stage separation, both geographically and with set times, mean there were no big problems with sound leakage. In the trade-off, you do spend what feels like half the time in a dusty river of people trudging from one end of the festival site to the other.
But the only real issue? PinkPantheress’s oversubscribed tent set filled up so fast, fans would have had to cut short their watch of collaborator Zara Larsson to have a chance of getting a look in. No doubt this left many grudgingly watching Djo, waiting for him to play “that song” ahead of Lorde’s headliner slot.
But this day was all about the women of pop. Here are five of our highlights.
Zara Larsson
A brief holiday from the seemingly ever expanding badness of the world, watching Zara Larsson is a bit like that feeling of getting off the plane and Balearic sun hitting your face. She has the songs, the moves, the voice and a festival stage setup more like that of a dedicated tour than a festival slot. Larsson may not have been the official headliner of ATP but it's clear that a good chunk of the audience considered her just that. Her set also gave us what would turn out to be our one chance to see PinkPantheress, who joined the stage for the pair’s collab single Stateside.
Lorde
We got to witness a similar version of Lorde's festival set earlier this year one afternoon at Mad Cool 2026 in Madrid. But it makes a whole lot more sense as a UK headliner spot. With the sun having set, her jacket dotted with lasers firing out into the night and her stark pvc costume hit in a way they just could not in searing Spanish sunlight. Her stage show is concert meets art installation, her face at times smushed against glass and fired up onto the huge display screens. Lorde is a moody, dark and more complex counterpoint to the technicolour of Zara Larsson. And it's a contrast that works.
Rose Gray
Rose Gray has some of the most banging songs of the entire festival. It's not often you get an established act of this quality this early in the day. Her dynamic dance-pop is crowd-moving stuff, and her Madonna inspiration comes out in her live presence and performance more so even than on record. Gray is a local, of course, having grown up down the road in Walthamstow, and her set is laced with sections from her song Hackney Wick — which references Victoria Park directly. It’s a hometown gig, basically. Final track Party People is the perfect end of a set that primes you for a day at a London music festival.
Audrey Hobert
You’ve possibly only encountered Audrey Hobert through nasty social media discourse in recent times — yet more fuel for the argument maybe the internet was a bad idea in the first place. But she provides All Points East with easily digestible slices of guitar-led indie pop, with bouncy and super-catchy songs. It's only some guitar distortion and more aggressive drums away from 2000s pop-punk, and we're here for it.
Sienna Spiro
The latter half of Sienna Spiro’s performance saw a good chunk of the crowd make the festival’s site-long exodus to secure a spot for Zara Larsson. But even a few songs are enough to school you in “what all the fuss is about” surrounding Sienna Spiro. No, she doesn’t have the most subtle or original sound, bearing clear hallmarks of the Amy-Winehouse-slash-Adele successor she’s been hailed as. In the context of a festival set, though, it’s easier than ever not to overthink things, and just enjoy her outsize, earnest and emotional vocal delivery.
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