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Photo credit garry jones photography
Cross The Tracks is one of the newer entrants to the London festival circuit, delivering the
grooviest curation of artists across soul, funk, and jazz. This delectable selection of silky-smooth
sounds has perfected the chilled, open-arms appeal of the festival, earning its status as the
city’s premier funk and soul gathering.
Headlined by London natives Michael Kiwanuka and Ezra Collective, this year’s edition felt like
a genuine gift back to the community. Known for its curated blend of classic and contemporary
music, often both legendary artists and emerging talent are spotlighted. Alongside an
assemblage of mouth-watering food, workshops, creative markets including a record and art
fair, the festival ensured a luscious day steeped in all the warm feelings that soulful music
evokes. It’s more than just music; it’s also about celebrating culture, heritage, and artistry rooted
in Black and diasporic traditions.
After weeks of uncertainty, pending the outcome of legal campaigns against the Brockwell Park
festivities, we were more than lucky to witness this celebration. Following Wide Awake on Friday
(May 23) and Field Day on Saturday (May 24), Cross The Tracks took a large turn away from
the electro-heavy pulse of the night prior. However, it’s hard to imagine the Cross The Tracks at
the receiving end of those sternly against the Brockwell Park music events.
From your initial steps out of the station stairs, you could already smell the shea butter and
incense wafting through the summer air. Winding through the Herne Hill Sunday market of small
chops and knick-knacks, weaving through baby buggies and quirky book stalls, it was hard to
decipher who came for the festival and who was simply going about their regular Sunday stroll.
This was the energy that Cross The Tracks delivered; a legitimate communal feel, where all
ages and all backgrounds came to intermingle and let their hair down for the close of the
weekend.
With a spread of 6+ stages sprawled across the grassy grounds, you could soak up a little bit of
everything. The overall quality of the stacked lineup made choosing singular stand-outs
incredibly challenging, each bringing their own unique addition to this sonic cook-out. Brixton
local and legend on the rise, Nia Smith, set the tone with a splash, commanding the spotlight at
her jam-packed early afternoon set. With a crowd that spanned meters outside her ‘D-railed’
stage tent, it is without a doubt that this young star is officially carving out the ‘new sound of
soul’. Her connection to the local area gave her set extra resonance, a spectacle of this full
circle moment.
West London rapper Bashy made another triumphant return at his first London festival in 16
years. As one of the leading voices in depicting the realities of Black life in the UK, presented in
his self-produced ‘Being Poor is Expensive’ album, he offered an exquisite blend of authentic
UK rap, carnival energy, and spoken word. Bashy was also the lead judge of Cross The Tracks’
renowned Emerging artists competition collaboration with Lambeth Sounds Music Hub,
supporting local artists and promoting fresh talent within jazz, funk and soul. He continues to
charge a emotionally driven voice for the many that go unheard, consistently driving forward a
message of elevated Black consciousness in his music.
Heading towards the golden-hour sets of the afternoon, Ezra Collective shattered the
mainstage with an undisputedly spellbinding performance. Drummer and lead Femi Koleoso,
proudly adorned in an Arsenal t-shirt, rallied the crowd into what felt like the largest open air
block-party of the season. Ezra Collective has come a long way since their beginnings at
Tomorrow’s Warriors, a London-based youth jazz program, with a Mercury Prize and BRIT
Award to prove it. Fusing elements of afrobeat, calypso, reggae, hip-hop, soul and jazz, they
crafted a beautiful climax of empowerment. In anticipation of their opening song You Can’t Steal
My Joy, Koleoso boldly confessed how “it feels deluded to give into joy with all that’s going on in
the world”. He encouraged the high-spirited crowd before him to muster the courage to be
happy, to protect your “inner temple of joy, irrespective of all we have to witness”; before
conducting the band into the roaring magic and vibrancy that is Ezra Collective.
Finally, the evening’s closer Michael Kiwanuka gifted us with a tear-jerking set, chilling yet
intense. You couldn’t stop but marvel at the amber glow emanating from the illuminated stage
behind him and from the cutting power of his voice. His honeyed tracklist, raw with emotion and
grit felt like the perfect send-off for the day’s events, a warm hug to close the evening. Could
you ask for anything more?
Heading out the grounds, satiated from a full day of divine nibbles and even more savor-worthy
performances, there was an unspoken yet unavoidable sentiment. A sentiment of hope towards
the future of Cross The Tracks, and similar festivals. These spaces are a refuge against the
calamity of daily London living, and for many a celebratory moment of unity against a future that
seems so uncertain. Soul music gives voice to the depth of human emotion: love, heartbreak,
longing, hope, and joy. It invites listeners into heartfelt truths we all struggle to find the words for.
We can only share hope to encourage these brief moments of communion and avidly await
Cross The Tracks’ next day in the sun.
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