All Points East: Twenty One Pilots
Victoria Park, London - 30/08/2026
Photo Credit: Bethan Miller-Carey
All Points East 2026 drew to a close last night in the most spectacular fashion, with Twenty One Pilots bringing a capacity crowd of 50,000 Clique members to Victoria Park for what proved to be one of the most extraordinary headline sets the festival has ever seen. It rounded off a year that has already seen Jorja Smith, Tems, Lorde, Tyler the Creator and Deftones grace the East Stage, a run of headliners that has made this one of the finest editions of APE in memory.
For myself and many others, yesterday began on the West Stage with Josie Edwards opening proceedings, hot off the back of her incredible new EP 'Greetings From Bleak St.' This was Josie's first major festival slot, but the effortless way she and her band kicked into set opener 'Chemical Lights', you would have never been able to tell. She immediately had the West Stage crowd in her hands and refused to let go for the next thirty minutes. Josie's live vocals were stunning throughout, the lyricism landing with a real weight that deserves to be heard by as many people as possible. Big hits like 'Good Girls' sat perfectly alongside the new EP material, all of it sounding even better in a live setting than it already does on record. If this set is anything to go by, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Josie Edwards will be rising up these bills very soon.
Shortly after I made my way over to the Rising Stage to catch one of the most exciting punk acts on the circuit right now in The Meffs. Having recently seen the duo support Joan Jett at the ARC, a multi-stage festival felt like a very different challenge, with multiple acts across the site competing for the attention of a crowd with wildly different tastes. That challenge only seemed to spur them on. Vocalist and guitarist Lily Hopkins stormed onto the stage and had the early afternoon crowd locked in from the very first song, while Lewis Copsey anchored everything behind her with hard-hitting drum beats that gave every track the force it deserved. Beyond the music itself, the duo made sure to keep the energy high between songs too, showing a genuine and passionate gratitude for the crowd in front of them that made the whole set feel like something genuinely shared. Their music is not afraid to call out those making the world a worse place, and in a festival setting that message hit exactly as hard as it should.
Another afternoon highlight came from Mouth Culture on the X Stage, who delivered a blistering set that had the crowd captivated from start to finish, bouncing and moving in unison with every song. With every track they seemed to get better, whether pulling from fan favourites or debuting something entirely new. This was the case with the previously unannounced 'Growing Pains', a track the band exclusively revealed after performing it would be released on September 14th. The audience reaction to that news told you everything you needed to know about the impact Mouth Culture had made across that set.
Photo Credit: Bethan Miller-Carey
Whilst those three sets were the real standout moments of my afternoon, the sheer scale of Victoria Park meant there was brilliant music happening at every turn. Wunderhorse closed the West Stage with a powerful run through their catalogue, bbno$ sparked enormous energy in the North Arena, Ren brought his genre-crossing brilliance to the East Stage and Gang of Youths lifted spirits in a set that felt particularly resonant given frontman David Le'aupepe's reflections to the crowd.On a day this stacked, you could have spent the whole afternoon anywhere across the site and never been disappointed.
After a packed day celebrating the very best of current and future music, it was time for the capacity crowd to fill the East Stage for the headliners. The moment felt genuinely monumental, not just for the crowd but clearly for the duo themselves. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun delivered a set stretching well over two hours, half an hour longer than any other festival slot they played this summer, and that extra time was felt across every corner of the night. An opening trio of 'Overcompensate', 'The Contract' and 'Center Mass' kicked things off at a ferocious pace, the crowd responding from the very first note with the kind of volume that could only comes from a fanbase as adoring as theirs. The live debut of 'Robot Voices' stopped the crowd in their tracks, made all the more special by a guest appearance from Emi Grace, who had delivered her own set earlier in the day, joining the duo on stage to perform the track together for the very first time.
As the band made their way to the B-stage, the theatrics and surprises took on an even bigger scale. Stood next to a burning car, a nod to the iconic imagery of the 'Heavydirtysoul' music video that has become embedded in Twenty One Pilots' live lore. They worked through a run of brilliantly chosen surprises including 'Chlorine', 'Pet Cheetah' and 'Message Man', each one drawing enormous reactions from a crowd who seemed to grow louder with every passing song.
After returning to the main stage it was an epic home stretch that spanned their entire career, smoke going off, fire blazing and the crowd singing back every word in unison. The duo are made for headlining nights like these, and with every album that passes they have more to pull from, more lore to add to and more ways to keep a set surprising whilst ensuring every single person in the crowd loves every moment of it.
All Points East 2026 has been nothing short of extraordinary from start to finish, and last night was the perfect way to bring it all to a close. From Josie Edwards opening the West Stage in the afternoon sunshine to Twenty One Pilots closing out Victoria Park under smoke and fire, this was a festival that delivered at every level. Roll on 2027.