All Points East review: London Grammar's Hannah Reid held the crowd in the palm of her hand

You wouldn’t peg London Grammar for an obvious festival headliner. The electronic trio, whose third album Californian Soil soared straight to the top of the UK charts when it was released in April this year, are known for their idiosyncratic sound – call it indie melancholia – and it doesn’t scream mosh pit or can-strewn field filler.

So when, towards the end of Friday set, frontwoman Hannah Reid told the 40,000-strong crowd in Victoria Park to crouch down on the ground, then raised them up in time to the beat drop with an imperious sweep of her arm, it wasn’t just one of those magic moments of mass union that live music occasionally produces. It was a declaration of purpose – here was a band that demands to be seen as well as heard.

All Points East, East London’s youthful and eclectic indie music festival, kicked off in style in woozy late summer sunshine, with a glitter-flecked Friday night crowd fizzing at the prospect of live music.

“I want to talk about sex,” declared 23-year-old British-Jamaican R’n’B sensation Mahalia, swanning around the small West stage in a red denim two-piece and beehive of braids. They were the first words I heard when I arrived – sweating from rush hour on the tube – and they set the tone for her supremely confident, slightly tongue-in-cheek set. Break-up banger Sober and anthem to consent culture No Pressure in particular had the whole crowd dancing well before the first drinks had time to take effect.

Weirdly, over at the main East stage that energy suddenly flatlined: the enormously popular Jorja Smith, whose jazz-infused R’n’B earned her both Best Female Artist at the Brits and Best New Artist at the Grammys in 2019, took so long to find her feet that two of my friends gave up and headed for the nearest burger van. But as the sun retired for the night, Smith woke up and finally began to play her best tracks. By the time she reached the chorus of Be Honest, a slinky afrobeat-infused bop, the whole crowd crooned along as one.

But the night belonged to London Grammar and particularly to Reid. From the dreamy opening chords of Californian Soil, the 31-year-old singer-songwriter – commanding, statuesque, with a voice as icy clear as a vodka tonic – held the crowd in the palm of her elegant hand, as her silhouette, burning red in a heat map, loomed gargantuan on the screens.

She and her bandmates, multi-instrumentalists Dan Rothman and Dominic “Dot” Major, mixed defiant, soaring melodies (Lord, It’s a Feeling) with hypnotically pulsing dance tracks (Lose Your Head, How Does It Feel). The result was a hauntingly atmospheric set, helped along by cleverly timed strip lighting in glassy greens and purples; at times, it felt like the field below the stage was underwater.

“What a way to lose your head, what a way to go to bed” chanted the crowd – and it was.

All Points East runs until Mon Aug 30; allpointseastfestival.com