Mansur Brown, Che Lingo, IAMDDB & more shine bright at the final day of The Ends Festival!
IAMDDB performing at The Ends Festival on Sunday | Photography by Chloe Newman
A resounding end to a hugely successful debut year for ‘The Ends Festival.’ The event was a result of two painstaking years of hard work by its organisers and promoters. The graft and grind showcased within putting the festival together, bore the great fruits of a wonderful celebration of ‘the ends.’ It was a showcase, in the ends and for the ends.
The third and final day went perfectly; the murmurings and rumblings of bad weather were quickly dispelled by the (almost) overbearing sunshine and any worries of a ‘crowd hangover’ from the previous day were also unfounded. It was also my first time entering the Neverland that is Croydon, which made this festival that bit extra special to me. The setup of the festival was wonderful, with artwork flooded around each corner of the park, featuring the likes of the late great Nipsey Hussle, Wizkid, Nas among other artists who lit up this weekend with great performances.
The first act I managed to see on the day was the multi-talented Mansur Brown, who lit up the main stage with an unbelievable set of pure guitar artistry; I had never heard a guitar used with so much skill and finesse during a live performance. If you didn’t know him before now, Mansur Brown is a diamond destined to shine through. Mansur’s performance set a great tone for the rest of the day; performances which didn’t purely showcase talent but also, a level of stage presence and aura that is almost infectious. None probably more so than who I saw next, Che Lingo.
Che Lingo is regularly touted as one of the most talented artists we have in our scene right now and if somebody asked for evidence as to why this statement is true, all they had to do was witness his set on Sunday. Passion, humility and pure talent. Hearing ‘Black Girl Magic’ performed live? Thank you very much. On a day that was chock full of superstars, UK and international, Che Lingo’s performance was probably the one that stood out the most to me, alongside IAMDDB. A term that has been floated around extensively in the last six months is ‘stallion,’ IAMDDB is the UK’s stallion, if we ever needed one. This was my first time ever seeing her perform live and beyond anything, her performance showcased to me that we have a real superstar on our hands here. The novelty of being an artist from outside London remains strong and true within our scene. With IAMDDB, we truly have an eclectic star, for who the sky is the limit. A great performance.
And how could I forget? DJ Spinall somehow mixed Afrobeats into the ‘Game of Thrones’ theme tune. If that isn’t greatness, I don’t know what it is.
Other standout performers of the day were Burna Boy, NAO & Masego, who had flocks of fans flooding to their respective stages, especially the former, who even brought out Dave as a special guest. The show was rounded off by the evergreen Damian Marley, who was in fine form, enjoying probably the loudest cheers of the night.
Remember when I said this was a festival in the ends, for the ends? This statement wasn’t just to do with music. You wish. Free shoe shines (yes for real!), trainer giveaways and an array of food that would make any person salivate. What more can you really ask for? They really set a high bar this year for the festival and I personally, cannot wait for what they have in store for the future.
Image sourced via London In Stereo