26/08/2025
Following our capers at Wide Awake and Field Day, we were back for day 3 of Brockwell Park’s festival extravaganza weekend – Cross The Tracks.
Cross The Tracks has become a staple in our festival calendar, a packed line-up across 7 stages featuring some of the best artists, new and old, in Jazz, Funk & Soul – a real love letter to those genres.
Morning weather check completed, festival fit sorted and ‘just in case’ rain jackets packed, and we were off to Brockwell Park. The park was glowing this year as we were blessed with another day of sunshine which perfectly matched the velvety warm beats we were about to consume.
As always, the line-up was stacked, with many fantastic artists like Bashy, Jordan Rakei, the legendary Bilal, The Free Nationals, Sinéad Harnett, Michael Kiwanuka and Ezra Collective meaning that clashes were inevitable, and we had to plan our time meticulously (thank you for releasing set times well in advance!). We can’t complain though, this truly is first world problems!
It was great to see one of our favourite new collectives ‘The Blues Project’ have a stage with their SENSES special and it was there that we caught Rubii, who brought some real smooth jazzy vibes to proceedings with her sax player joining.
Seeing one of our absolute favourite DJs, Mr Thing, on the bill meant we had to stop by and see him go b2b with Sarah Love for a sick set before heading over to see Jordan Rakei and Bashy, in his first London festival set in forever. Bashy brought a really powerful performance of his equally powerful album ‘Being Poor is Expensive’, shining a light on the Black British experience as an 80s baby and touching on many themes and experiences that continue to prevail across underprivileged communities and clearly resonated with a great deal of us in the audience.
Next, we split our time between Ezra Collective and Bilal, which offered opposite vibes – a fun switch up. Bilal put on a masterful performance, as always, serenading us with his unmistakable voice, running us through some of my all-time favourites like ‘Soul Sista’ and ‘Sometimes’, while Ezra Collective spoke on politics and brought their usual high energy, frenetic set to which we danced until we were dizzy!
The headliners were stacked too, with Sinéad Harnett, Michael Kiwanuka and the Free Nationals all vying for our attention. Our eventual choice was the Free Nationals, a band from L. A, best known for their frequent collaborations with the indomitable Anderson .Paak. The group who basked in the sunset glow, transporting us to their hometown of Los Angeles with warm funky grooves and ending our night in the most perfect way.
Cross The Tracks isn’t just about what happens on stage. The food trucks were on point, smoky jerk chicken, vegan curries that packed flavour, and churros so good they had people queuing through entire sets and the crowd reflected a bit more of London’s diversity than the previous days’ offerings.
I must say though, the VIP section was not as good as previous years where they had a separate stage and food vendors, although you could catch a glimpse of the Morley’s food truck in the artist area! This only lead to FOMO from many of the VIP revellers, whispering questions of how we could get access to the area and pining for Morley’s to be a fixture at festivals, but don’t worry we’ve had a word with Morley’s about future festival plans and all we can say is…watch this space!
As always Cross The Tracks delivered on its promises, sunshine, immaculate vibes, gorgeous food, music that enriches the soul and not a hint of trouble!
It would be remiss of me to not mention the existential crises that this weekend’s Brockwell Park festivals have faced, and major kudos must go out to all of those involved in ensuring that the festivals were able to go forward. We really hope that long term resolutions can be found to keep this important part of London culture alive.
Music festivals aren’t just about the line-ups or the food, they’re about community. Places like Brockwell Park become living rooms for the city, a place where strangers dance together, different cultures meet, and people discover new artists and revel in old favourites who shaped their lives. To lose these festivals would be to lose part of London’s soul — that collective heartbeat that only happens when thousands gather for music under the open sky.
We will do anything in our power to help save festivals like this and implore you all to do so too, together we can make a difference.
