Summer’s finest showcase of the best new artists returned to Shoreditch for a clammy, star-spangled Saturday.

For the third year running, the shining star of London’s DIY universe returned in the guise of East London Block Party. Shoreditch’s manic alleys and chaotic main roads made for a sweaty cannonball run this year. But buoyed by pints, cupcakes and the promise of tunes, punters shimmied through hen-do crowds and lads selling NOS balloons to the promised land of ELBP’s premium venues.

The block was thus. Stretching from the basement of Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes, it’s a quick zip under the bridge to the sheen of Hoxton Square’s Colours. Darting southwards on Curtain Road the central point of Strongroom stands firm amidst the day-drinking chaos before a final sprint to the Hard of Hearing homebase at The Old Blue Last brings you to safety. Four venues featuring over twenty acts with just one wristband. If you weren’t there, it’s on you.

Proceedings kicked off to a sweet start in the upstairs room of The Old Blue Last. Boogaloo Radio’s Tilly Bartelt was hosting her Wake & Bake session featuring a series of interviews with some of the day’s most intriguing acts. As well as being a natural and convivial host, broadcaster and trained vet, Tilly is also somewhat of a patissier, providing eager festival goers with a selection of homemade cupcakes to go along with free pints and hard-hitting journalism. Interviewees included Goldheart detailing intricate and maximalist dinner party creations, Enjoyable Listens regaling listeners with tales of cat testicles, and Dreamwave’s absurd meal deal choices. A welcoming and wholesome start to the day.

First out of the musical blocks was Frank Lloyd Wleft opening the Strongroom stage. The free pints had flowed and when combined with the sugar of Tilly’s Guinness cupcakes, a bolt of energy was flowing through the bloodstream for Frank’s janky spritz of alt-Americana. With lap steel on knee and cowbell in hand, Frank’s sweeping trans-Atlantic poetry fired up the crowded dancefloor, evoking the lyrics of Jeffrey Lewis with fitful blasts of Devo to great effect. 

A theme for today’s party is speed. Getting drinks requires speed, seeing friends requires speed, but all of this comes down to the need for speed in getting from one venue to the next. Thankfully this was all to come, as Goldheart were the next must-see group of the day following right after Frank Lloyd Wleft. To see Goldheart is to witness pure psychedelic wonderment. Band leader and cosmic guru Dom Rose holds court as London’s own James Murphy, leaning deep over the monitors into the already pulsing crowd, conducting and coordinating in equal measure. In short, the crowd are eating out of the palm of Goldheart’s bejewelled hand. An utter unit of a group, the band are tight as anything shelling 70s progressive psych pop with a keen LCD bounce. 

And so the running begins. I am wearing boots instead of trainers and this will not be pretty. A quick warmup jog down to our Hard of Hearing home at The Old Blue Last to see Cardboard gets the blood pumping and what a set to open the stage. Thrashy garage-inflected hardcore with a Libertines edge, Cardboard are fierce, deep and open the first mosh of the festival. Growling vocals are paired with battery drumming, think Fugazi but with southern rock vocals. 

The biggest journey was to come now, moving the length of the block all the way to the tip of Kingsland Road for the openers of Dream Bags, Lighthaus. Upon arrival the basement of Dream Bags is already damp and the air is heavy with spilt beer and body odour. Lighthaus are cramped into the corner of the room. There is no crowd separation and the amps are already fizzing – you’ll pray you brought your earplugs. Lighthaus are the pinnacle of power and precision, easily being one of the tightest and creative bands in the London scene at the moment. Post-hardcore power and finesse but with an absolutely feral mathcore bent, Lighthaus are truly incomparable and their placement in the dungeon of Dream Bags couldn’t have been better. If Converge met Slint then you’d only just start to crack the surface of this band. Fiercely mathy and jaunty but watertight in delivery and absolutely deafening with a snare like a whip and a drummer of world class talent. Think Zach Hill if he went to BRIT school. The room is throbbing and condensation is dripping off the ceiling into my pint. Post-rock interludes provide a touch of respite but Lighthaus are in no way a band to do things by half, with their softer moments evoking a splash of Deftones with the space of Lift to Experience. There are levels to this game, and without hesitation, Lighthaus are one of THE best bands in London, and potentially the country.

While it’s all well and good to stand around and be sweaty and shocked at what you’ve just seen, the block party waits for no one and takes no prisoners. Our next stop is Colours, two streets away in the green idyll of Hoxton Square for Jo From School. A welcome respite from the power of Ligthaus, Jo From School is jazzy, crisp singer-songwriting beauty. Wholesome, dreamy, with a slight midwest feel, Jo has big crossover potential for audiences into introspective lyrics and sublime harmonies. 

As with all festivals, the realisation that you can’t see everything is starting to set in as the clashes come thick and fast. Vanity Fairy is playing an early show at The Old Blue to step in for World News, but fear not, we’ll catch her later – we have a schedule to see as much of the festival as possible and this must be kept to. Next stop is a skip and jump across Old Street back into the bosom of Strongroom for one of the party’s most anticipated sets by Enjoyable Listens. ‘There will be NO taking off of the shirt till the 4th or 5th track’ booms Luke Duffett as he looms over the swaying crowd, sweating and slick like a crooning cad of yesteryear. Duffett’s stage presence is one of the performances of the day: electric, hypnagogic and wholly entrancing. Singalongs are almost required on entry for Enjoyable Listens, with country flavours and tales of domestic bliss bolstering the sultry synth pop beneath. A true crowd favourite. 

The necessity to be everywhere all at once combined with a diet of beer has left us tired and in dire need of carbohydrates. Man cannot live on beer and salted peanuts alone, no matter how hard he tries. This aside though, a quick turnaround for Christian Music back at The Old Blue Last is required. Manic, garage-dipped, brassy punks full of spit and whimsy. Loud, lurching and thick, Christian Music are coming through with weight and intensity. Do not miss their next show.

It’s quick turnaround time now. Back up the road to Dream Bags and back in the basement which has only worsened in its dankness. With that, I can’t think of a setting better for dance-punk trio Doom Club. Shouty, messy and infinitely sweaty with dense sludge metal guitars pairing with spanking drum machine gymnastics and JRPG interludes. If the 2003 indie classic ‘We Don’t Play Guitars’ was played on 1.5x speed and transfigured into a band (ironically with guitars) they would sound like Doom Club, and for that we should rejoice.

A quick run back to Strongroom is essential for us to catch the second Vanity Fairy set. We arrive to the music playing but no one onstage. The crowd eye us eagerly as we walk in. I have no idea what’s happening. A door swings open violently and Vanity Fairy bursts out of the toilet adorned like a golden disco ball with Chuck Taylors on before prancing around the dancefloor, climbing in cupboards, wrapping herself in curtains and becoming one with the venue. Her set is pure sparkles and joy with her taking a minute to pelt the crowd with smutty business cards between Kate Bush infused disco belters. Despite the smaller crowd (I’m informed most fans made it to her impromptu early set), Vanity Fairy performs as though she is headlining Glastonbury. For me, she is one recorded live performance away from major mainstream attention and an artist with astronomical levels of potential for stardom. She is the aunt I wish I always had and an artist I’m blessed to see.

And now for the headliners. We stumble out of Strongroom and head towards The Old Blue Last where we will spend the rest of the evening. An emergency banh mi is acquired en route, but we are still under the yoke of father time, so I pop it in my pocket and slip past security in a cloud of pork and pâté. Tough Cookie are headlining the Hard of Hearing stage and the room is heaving for their blend of emotive and introspective indie rock. Big guitars and singalongs from the rising group with the crowd swaying beneath them. Then rounding things off as a late stand-in, Nyssa takes to the stage delivering powerful witchy synth rock with fierce vocals, fluttering flutework and a higher vocal register to stir any last remaining energy you have left.

Finally I call it a night and make my way home. One of the best aspects of the day has been the sheer camaraderie among artists, media, punters, staff and everyone in between. So much joy came from walking down Curtain Road and bumping into a group of mates straight out of another venue, excited to see you and ask where you’re going next. The sense of community heralded by East London Block Party is the unsung hero of the day and a joyful reason to ensure you get a ticket next year. One of the best dates in the summer music calendar and an event that is only moving from strength to strength. My body is broken, my ears are ringing, but my heart is full. See you next year, I’m going to lie down.