All Points East 2023: Rocky start to The Strokes' headline set - but indie stars bounce back from sound issues

Early sound issues on All Points East's east stage may have left some Strokes fans disappointed, but the New York rockers' ability to rally showed why they have remained indie elite for so long.

Friday night (25 August) saw The Strokes headlining the festival's second weekend at Victoria Park, the crowning jewel in a dynamic line-up scattered between Luno Presents All Points East's multiple stages, which included the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Angel Olsen, and girl in red.

But the first third of a strong set drawing from The Strokes' rich catalogue of hits was marred by sound quality issues. From about the midway point in the crowd the lead guitar was barely audible, and muffled mike sounds during the band's performance of The Adults Are Talking left frontman Julian Casablancas sounding more like one of the adults in the Charlie Brown show.

In breaks between songs parts of the crowd booed, descending into chants of 'turn it up', and about half an hour in, large groups appeared to be leaving - while others could be seen taking to social media on their phones. Crowd-pleaser Last Nite, one of the band's signature songs, was also seemingly dropped early.

But the band, oozing with their usual New York style, managed to rally, with Casablancas - sporting aviators and a single, studded glove - getting the audience back on their side.

Wrapping up their main set with Reptilia, dazzling stage lighting painted the excited crowd neon green, while the sound quality issues seemed to have thankfully cleared up in time for their encore of Hard to Explain and This Is It - as the band bade farewell to "foggy old London town".

Performances on the west stage were mercifully spared any sound issues, and Friday featured some thrilling performances.

The Strokes' fellow New Yorkers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, gave a glittering performance which got the crowd absolutely pumping.

A poignant rendition of Maps dedicated to the late Sinéad O'Connor drew cheers, while the energy in the air during Heads Will Roll was near tangible - with vibrations from the exhilarated audience jumping to the rhythm causing the ground to tremble.

Vocalist Karen O's stagecraft effortlessly embodied both awkward charm and indie panache, which - combined with her phenomenal outfit - helped cemented her place as a masterful frontwoman and live performer.

An unexpected crowd favourite hailing from the Antipodes was Aussie pub rock band Amyl and the Sniffers, with vocalist Amy Taylor making the best of a sudden downpour to slide on her stomach across a rain-drenched stage.

The group had plenty of punk-rock attitude (and a liberal attitude towards using the 'c' word), plus some invigorating crowd chants praising the humble chicken dipper.

But Taylor wasn't afraid to shy away from some difficult topics, dedicating a fiery performance of Knifey to her women, non-binary and transgender mates - who just want to live their lives safe from violence - with a passionate promise to go down fighting.