Ad feature with South Facing FestivalÂ
Itâs been a long road to seeing The Streets back in their rightful place and headlining UK festivals. There was the cancelled car park tour of summer 2020, followed by a blazing livestreamed set-slash-rowdy performance art piece at EartH in east London. And then there was Mike Skinnerâs DIY anthem âWhoâs Got The Bag (21st June)â, released in March to ramp up excitement for the fabled âFreedom Dayâ â and we all know how that ended.
But now we are here, in a slightly overcast Crystal Palace Park at South Facing Festival, a two-night showcase for one of this centuryâs most joyful sonic innovators. For Skinner, thereâs only one way to celebrate properly, and thatâs with lots and lots â and lots â of champagne. When heâs not jumping up and down on the monitors or explaining why he wonât be jumping into the moat surrounding the stage (which he insists was built by Bob Marley), heâs shaking up endless bottles of bubbly and spraying them over the crowd like Lewis Hamilton on a ginormous victory lap.
On soggy ground, the audience greet Skinnerâs every word with raptures and he delivers nothing but the hits, âFit But You Know Itâ and âDonât Mug Yourselfâ becoming sing-along standards, while the somewhat more downbeat âItâs Too Lateâ and âDry Your Eyesâ donât for one moment hamper the huge grins plastered across everyoneâs faces.
Itâs rare that an artist who is coming up to celebrating 20 years since their debut single â âHas It Come To This?â first dropped back in October 2001 â finds their most recent song the biggest hit of a show, but thatâs just what happens when âWhoâs Got The Bag (21st June)â â a club banger with a sense of humour as well as a spicy political take â is unleashed.
Yet there is a kind of poetry among the partying, too. During a dizzying âBlinded by The Lightsâ Skinner talks of âimmortality via Instagram” and at one point instigates an women-only crowdsurfing rule, bringing a touch of riot grrrl âgirls to the frontâ attitude to the normally laddish pursuit of gliding over a mosh pit assisted only by the hands of strangers.

Despite his majestic control of the stage, this isnât just the Mike Skinner show. He brings Greentea Peng, who performed earlier, on for last yearâs collaboration âI Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Himâ and Rob Harveyâs guitar and soulful vocals provide a meditative bed to Skinnerâs boundless energy. Weâve waited a long time for this celebratory, silly and absolutely heroic show â but my gosh, itâs worth it.
The Streets played
âTurn the Pageâ
âLet’s Push Things Forwardâ
âDon’t Mug Yourselfâ
âHas It Come to This?â
âIt’s Too Lateâ
âStay Positiveâ
âDry Your Eyesâ
â21st June (Who’s got the bag)â
âWeak Become Heroesâ
âBlinded by the Lightsâ
âFit But You Know Itâ
âTake Me as I Amâ
The post The Streets at South Facing Festival: celebratory, silly and absolutely heroic appeared first on NME.