Cross The Tracks '25

Date Taken: Sunday 25th May

Recipe Used:

My yearly pilgrimage to Brockwell Park – in the heart of Brixton – has been and gone for another year. This year was very close to not happening due to a High Court challenge against the local council the week before but as you can see, the ting went down as did the other festivals that happen in this beautiful weekend of live music.

I started my day a little differently than past years – well, being searched twice was definitely different – but I'm talking about missing the first set of artists once the gates open. None of them were really swaying me, so I went ahead and hit a Jamaican spot where I got Curry Goat, Rice/Peas, Coleslaw, Plantain & two Lamb Patty, all for a decent price of £21!

I held onto the patties for the majority of the visit and ate them when I was peckish in the end so I can't really give them an honest review but the rest was solid. I don't usually do coleslaw but it wasn't terrible when mixed in with the goat.

After a hearty lunch, it was time to lock in, beginning with an artist in Mychelle ("My-Shell") at The Caboose who I only discovered this year after her recent album drop called "Good Day". Highly recommend.

Next, it was off to the Mainline stage for the first of a double bill of musical excellence.

First was Lynda Dawn who I discovered last year off the back of her EP “11th Hour”. She’s such a throwback musically and yes, beautiful as hell.

Charlie of years past would've posted everything on the edited set. It was so hard to be selective with Ms Dawn. 32 I think is more than enough!

After that was Cymande who I saw last year @ All Points East but this time I got a longer lens…

As all this was going on, I was anticipating the arrival of a dear friend and Brixton resident to take in the remainder of the day.

This is Gabrielle.

After some walking and talking – whilst watching Ezra Collective from afar – (Obligatory Ezra Collective watch!) we went to Terminal stage for someone who hasn’t performed in 16 years but after his amazing album “Being Poor Is Expensive”, it was only a matter of time before Bashy would make a return to live performance.

Now the issue about doing festivals with others in tow is that the schedule risks getting thrown out the window.

Gabrielle wanted to eat before we saw our last respective acts in Michael Kiwanuka (me) and Free Nationals. (Her)

But I did get some decent portraits as she waited in line with the Sun in Golden Hour…

She ate, we walked about a little and then parted ways for our headliners.

I’ve been wanting to see Michael Kiwanuka for nearly a decade, ever since “Love and Hate” came out. It’s still to this day one of my favourite albums of all time.

I gradually got more into the crowd who did not value this performance in the way I did and snapped a few pics for prosperity.

And that was Cross The Tracks 2025 done for me! The travel home is well travelled for me at this point and got home without issue.

The weather was intermittent clouds all day – which you may have noticed when it came to the variants of brightness even during sets – but I’m so happy with the day from a Photography POV.

As is custom, I leave you with the best part excluding the music: The People and the surroundings.

Until next year…