Photo: Justine Trickett
The sun made an appearance for the final day of the London festival which would close with an over-the-top/what-you-come-to-expect performance from the formidable and eccentric Grace Jones.
Following the dance day, Friday, and the (moderately) indie day, Saturday, Sunday was defiantly the gay day, from the acts to the hosts and stages, it brought an upbeat friendly vibe to Victoria Park where festival goers partied in wacky outfits and a sense of fun. It resembled parts of Glasto with the free spirited sensibility, Monday morning felt a world away and it all kicked off with the energetic Sam Sparro on the main stage who got the sun blushed crowd moving before New York's original party rockers The Rapture, bringing indie-disco back to the festival. The pre-nu-ravers played a set mostly consisting of material from their debut including the classic, 'House Of Jealous Lovers'.
Over at Jodie Harsh's Circus stage Mika drew a large crowd despite arriving late but that didn't stop his camp pop reeling in the sunshine before the charismatic Patrick Wolf performed a hit laden set on the second stage.
The London-born multi-instrumentalist took a couple of songs to get back into performance mode having shyed away from the stage this year but once he got going there was no stopping Patrick as he played material from his last three records, spending a large amount of time amongst the crowd and teasing the security. It was a great return for the pop star who enjoyed himself just as much as the crowd as they sang the likes of 'The Magic Position' and 'The City' back to him like the anthems they have become.
Following on from Wolf came the hottest star of 2012, Lana Del Rey. The American singer performed a short set to a massive crowd who hung on to every word the starlet sang. Since shooting to fame last autumn Lana has kept her live performances to a minimum but she didn't disappoint and seemed humbled by the adoration from the crowd as she sang seven songs from her debut LP, Born To Die and one newie, which veered off to the grungy sound. Dressed in pastel and backed by a band that included a four-piece string section her vocals were strong, fuelled with emotion and sincerity, 'Without You' was idyllic whilst 'Summer Sadness' felt raw. The super smash hit 'Video Games' had the charm that it did the first time you heard it and the set climaxed with 'National Anthem', seeing Del Rey come and hug those in the front row, very brave for the doll-like singer. Once she had left the stage the crowds chanted 'Lana' but that was it, leaving them pining for more.
It was a very different performance for the headliner, Grace Jones. Fresh from her Jubilee Concert appearance, the slightly bonkers singer entertained the Sunday night crowd with material from her lengthy career whilst sporting wacky outfits and pulling some eye-catching moves, a fitting end to a day of over-the-top everything. Sadly, what she gave in drama she lacked in tunes, it became tedious very quickly and quite a challenge to keep watching.
See you next year for more fun in the sun!
Below: Lovebox 2012 - the best onstage action
