South Facing Festival: The Streets Review

With an array of acts and performances at South Facing Festival in the Crystal Palace Bowl, the return of The Streets, supported by South London’s neo-soulstress Greentea Peng, was definitely set to be the highlight of the whole festival, and it was nothing short of amazing.

Earlier in the day, the heavens opened, and the rain came down heavily on festival-goers, but fortunately had cleared up by the time Greentea Peng came to the stage. Since the release of her debut album, Man-Made, each performance of theirs has been integral in introducing fans, old and new, to her psychedelic R'n'B masterpieces.

She immediately won the crowd over with her unique style and charm, and whilst she covered a lot of her new tunes, Greentea Peng also played classics such as Downers, Mr Sun and Spells. The warmth and energy of her sound had the crowd bopping and swinging, especially when she performed Dingaling. The Seng Seng Family (GTP’s band) were sensational, and the whole experience paved the way for the long-anticipated performance of The Streets.

After a near two-year hiatus from playing his music to a live audience, Mike Skinner emerged onto the stage, a bottle of champagne gripped tightly in one hand. He stood tall on his monitor as he greeted eager fans and chugged champagne, Turn the Page was the first song he graced the audience with, an eternal crowd-pleaser, which popped off tremendously.

Skinner performed other classics such as Dry Your Eyes Mate, Let's Push Things Forward, Don't Mug Yourself and Never Went to Church. For what seemed like a relaxed atmosphere in the first half of the show, Skinner came about with a lairy encore of Fit But You Know It, and one of the most highly anticipated tunes, Who's Got The Bag, which sent the crowd into a massive uproar.

Skinner seemed thrilled to be performing at the Crystal Palace Bowl, discussing how Bob Marley had once performed at the same venue and even performed an amazing version of Dry Your Eyes Mate. A particular highlight was when Greentea Peng joined Skinner on stage for the song I Wish You Love You As Much As You Love Him.

Words by Harvey Williams-Fairey @mr.Harvey.wallbanger 

Photos by Lorendana Hrinciuc @lorendana.hrinciuc