The festival, however, did have something to say in response to the understandably upset fans. "Fuck you", they posted on their Instagram story. A cocksure statement for the festival to make, with them clearly sure of their own greatness. So, were they right to be so bold? No! 

 

ALT-LDN unfortunately was a complete, poorly planned failure of a festival that neither its audience, its staff, or its acts enjoyed attending. Horrible live sound mixing, angry and rude staff, and a poorly planned “VIP” (in this case pay to enter) side to the stage, all culminated in added animosity amongst already disappointed festival-goers.  

 

The festival did, however, start off strong. Bob Vylan bought some much-needed hype into the arena full of fans sure they were attending a scam. Loud guitars, drums, and crowd surfing screaming antics were all on the menu from the new political-punk-grime-rappers, and by the time their short but hectic set was complete, Bob had managed to bring some life into the already downtrodden day. 

 

Then before you could say boo to a goose or 'yes my love I’ll have two cans of overpriced Heineken please', a strange masked, cloaked figure took to the stage and collapsed. Heads were sufficiently turned, and as the figure disrobed, the crowd was greeted by a slim girl draped head to toe in BDSM gear, whip and all.  

 

Dana Dentata embodied everything ALT-LDN was aiming for with its line-up: obscure, unafraid, and challenging. Her bravado screamed alternative and resonated across the diverse audience viewing her. Her screams echoed across the common and her outlandish style caught the eyes of all her were in view of her.  

Unfortunately, as the evening progressed, spirits became damped as the acts became progressively more mainstream and mundane with Post Malone's adopted brother from an angrier alternate universe Clever and headliner Playboi Carti’s producer Pi’erre Bourne battling for the day's worst audio mixing.  

 

By the time the first big act Lil Yachty took to the stage, it seemed as if all hope was lost, the festival even spelling the Georgia star's name wrong on the sign that shadowed him throughout the entire set. This might go towards explaining why Yachty looked so furious throughout the whole set. The artist, clearly unimpressed with the turnout for his set, saying: 'Y’all look sleepy'.  

 

Yachty grumped his way through his short set, aided by the help of his newfound love for a resting-bitch-face. However unexcited as Yachty was to be performing, he brought energy and a rapid onslaught of quick-fire tunes, some his and some covers.  

 

The end of the night brought interesting crowd participation from the headline acts. The Kid LAROI lost his sunglasses and then proceeded to bring the 'real one' who found them onto the stage to perform a song he didn’t know. Following that, Architects tried their best to level with the quickly tiring Playboi Carti fans that were booing them throughout their set by saying: 'we don’t think we're king shit up here, we're just playing our songs” and constantly commenting on how poor of a reception they were receiving (a common theme throughout the night).  

 

Playboi Carti was the main event for the whole day. After Ski-Mask, Machine Gun Kelly, Chase Atlantic, Lil Skies, Mario Judah, and Princess Nokia all dropped out, most festival-goers were left with only one artist they knew. However, when he took to the stage, in disbelief of most, the atmosphere changed.  

 

Donning huge furry Ugg boots, gloves and a mask, it was difficult to identify the Whole Lotta Red star. This mixed with his tendency to stay silent throughout most of the set, made his performance extremely underwhelming. The novelty of seeing Playboi Carti on a London stage soon wore off, and his set became tedious. Luckily, however, it ended quickly, with the rapper on the only stage for just over forty-five minutes.  

 

So as the dust settled and the firework display fizzled away, all that was left was an air of disappointment. Could ALT-LDN have been saved by some bigger names, and was the pandemic really to blame for the whole evening? After all, the event organisers took a big risk booking acts from overseas in the current travel climate. However, the poor organisation and horrible response to their customers loomed heavy over Clapham Common that evening. Festival-goers won’t forget the failures of ALT-LDN anytime soon.