The Streets at South Facing Festival: celebratory, silly and absolutely heroic – NME

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Its 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 Skinners DIY anthem Whos Got The Bag (21st June), released in March to ramp up excitement for the fabled Freedom Day 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 centurys most joyful sonic innovators. For Skinner, theres only one way to celebrate properly, and thats with lots and lots and lots of champagne. When hes not jumping up and down on the monitors or explaining why he wont be jumping into the moat surrounding the stage (which he insists was built by Bob Marley), hes 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 Skinners every word with raptures and he delivers nothing but the hits, Fit But You Know It and Dont Mug Yourself becoming sing-along standards, while the somewhat more downbeat Its Too Late and Dry Your Eyes dont for one moment hamper the huge grins plastered across everyones faces.

Its rare that an artist who is coming up to celebrating 20 years since their debut single Has It Come To This? first dropped back in October 2001 finds their most recent song the biggest hit of a show, but thats just what happens when Whos Got The Bag (21st June) a club banger with a sense of humour as well as a spicy political take is unleashed.

Yet there is a kind of poetry among the partying, too. During a dizzying Blinded by The Lights Skinner talks of immortality via Instagram and at one point instigates an women-only crowdsurfing rule, bringing a touch of riot grrrl girls to the front attitude to the normally laddish pursuit of gliding over a mosh pit assisted only by the hands of strangers.

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Despite his majestic control of the stage, this isnt just the Mike Skinner show. He brings Greentea Peng, who performed earlier, on for last years collaboration I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him and Rob Harveys guitar and soulful vocals provide a meditative bed to Skinners boundless energy. Weve waited a long time for this celebratory, silly and absolutely heroic show but my gosh, its worth it.

The Streets played

Turn the Page

Lets Push Things Forward

Dont Mug Yourself

Has It Come to This?

Its Too Late

Stay Positive

Dry Your Eyes

21st June (Whos got the bag)

Weak Become Heroes

Blinded by the Lights

Fit But You Know It

Take Me as I Am

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The Streets at South Facing Festival: celebratory, silly and absolutely heroic - NME