In partnership with Open’er Pageant
Phrases: Jordan Bassett and Kyann-Sian Williams
Day three at a competition generally is a tough enterprise. You’ve been sapped of the power of the primary couple of days, however the finish isn’t fairly in sight sufficient so that you can dig deep and push by way of. The hangovers have piled up on each other, you haven’t slept and your tent is such chaos it appears like Cardiff metropolis centre after an Oasis gig. All it takes is a wobbly line-up and issues might go south in a short time certainly.
Fortunately, Poland’s Open’er Pageant has just a few tips up its sleeve on Friday (July 3). Little Simz unfold love and pleasure and Muse rolled out riffs the dimensions of the aircrafts that land on this airfield when it’s not stuffed with superstars and music followers, earlier than Justice razed the entire thing to the bottom with their molten dance tunes. We go once more tomorrow – however right here’s what rocked our world on day three.
Muse introduced planet-sized riffs and spectacular ranges of glam
Each rock star value their salt wants an ego stroll: that little bit of the stage that comes out into the viewers to allow them to swagger down, bust their strikes and absorb the rapturous applause. Mere minutes into Muse’s principal stage set, frontman Matt Bellamy was wheeling alongside stated ego stroll, headbanging to his personal monsters of rock. You already know you’ve bought tunes to spare when you may dispatch the planet-sized ‘Hysteria’ simply three songs in: the stress ratcheted up with that well-known teasing intro, which then gave solution to absolute carnage within the pit as Muse unleashed its jumbo-sized riff.
The huge crowd swelled across the viewing platform and sound system reverse the stage as Bellamy squalled out high-pitched notes on his guitar, which followers then sang again to him. It was a bit like Freddie Mercury’s well-known call-and-response vocal at Stay Help, however with extra satan horns. This was a traditional rock present, but it surely was additionally – to namecheck the band’s 1990 album – fairly ‘Showbiz’, given Bellamy’s light-up bomber jacket and the glitzy lightboxes that flashed with numerous colors on stage. By the point multicoloured streamers burst from the stage and over the entrance rows, you half-expected Simon Cowell to return and provides an appraisal.
Can you are feeling it in your bones? @opener_festival tonight.
🎥 circusxhead pic.twitter.com/nwjttszq00
— muse (@muse) July 4, 2025
Curiously, given the overall State of Issues and Muse’s obsession with dystopias and evil governments, the frontman made no grand political statements. There was, although, a video that full of a John F. Kennedy Chilly Battle speech, which was additionally broadcast over the audio system: “[The Soviet Union’s] preparations are hid, not printed; its errors are buried, not headlined; its dissenters are silenced, not praised.” With the folks’s assist, although, he continued, America might be “free and unbiased”. Recontextualised in a world riven with political upheaval and violence, maybe that stated all of it. (JB)
Little Simz shone vivid
There’s one thing so pure about Little Simz. Even when her sound leans into darkish, swelling industrial tones, her voice cuts by way of like a beam of untainted gentle. That clean-heartedness radiated on Open’er’s Friday.
She started her set in a cap, big bomber jacket and blacked-out sun shades, trying like a undercover agent on a mission backed by her particular ops: her bassist and keyboardist. She regarded guarded, rapping ‘Thief’ and ‘Flood’ from her latest album ‘Lotus’ by way of gritted enamel, stomping and swinging throughout the stage as if to shake off the world’s heaviness.
However as soon as she ditched her shades, her eyes burned with pleasure below the sundown – her heat glowed in full power as she strolled down the ramp with an infectious smile and cheery “’Ellooooooo!” Her gentle is untameable.
@koncerty.i.festiwale Znakomita Little Simz! Open’er Pageant 2025! 💥 #LittleSimz #OpenerFestival #Opener #Pageant #Festiwal #koncert #koncertywpolsce #stay
The Polish are at all times appreciative, however nobody appeared extra grateful than Simz. Each time the viewers clapped, she clasped her fingers and bowed, thanking them many times, pausing to really feel the love vibrating all through. Earlier than ‘Free’, she had a young second, reminiscing on days she rapped for 10 folks and now marvelled on the sea of followers earlier than her. “Thanks a lot. I don’t take any of this without any consideration,” she stated, her London accent uncovered.
Whereas exhibiting off her sonic vary from jazzy, funk to her new industrial-rock-meets-Nigerian-highlife sound, Simz’s set momentarily changed into a collective self-affirmation session throughout the heart-squeezingly tender ‘Solely’. The Islington star guided the Gdynia crowd in a chant of “Solely love in my coronary heart” – a manifestation to wash the soul earlier than the boogie that got here swiftly after. She needed us to “think about” she was our buddy from London, who was in Poland for one night time, and present her our strikes in some “sweaty, underground get together”. Then she laun ched into the enthralling funk of ‘Temper Swings’ and ‘Fever’ from her 2024 ‘Drop 7’ EP. And the viewers responded – our bodies thrashed round, misplaced in her glow.
What might have been a pensive set grew to become one thing therapeutic and communal, like we had the prospect to witness her bruised coronary heart flip right into a blooming lotus – and all of us left freer and fuller for it. (KSW)
One of the best of the remainder
As Liam and Noel Gallagher took to the stage at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium for the long-awaited Oasis reunion, FKA Twigs and her troupe of uber-cool dancers placed on a really totally different present on Open’er’s Tent Stage. Nonetheless, there’s extra to hyperlink Liam, Noel and Twigs than you may think, as all three have acquired NME’s coveted Godlike Genius Award.
Final night time, Twigs confirmed us how she earned the title. When she and her troupe pulled off immaculate dance strikes atop an industrial-looking rig and wowed the large viewers together with her distinctive mix of art-pop and R&B, there was just one phrase for it: Godlike.
Talking of art-pop: New York chameleon St. Vincent appeared on the Tent Stage at 11.30pm, following Muse’s principal stage set with aggressive ranges of riffage and theatrics. She pulled off her personal killer dance strikes, seeming to be blasted forwards and backwards by the sheer quantity of the music, as she handled Poland to tracks from 2024’s ‘All Born Screaming’ for the primary time. Issues even bought a bit proggy when she closed with the title monitor, a multi-epic that encompasses lilting yacht rock, experimental electronica and one thing near a Gregorian chant. You could possibly nicely think about Matt Bellamy backstage, taking notes. (JB)
Tucked below the Alter stage was a hyperpop fever dream led by the mastermind that’s AG Prepare dinner. His glitchy, candy-coated synths and warped vocals had the group bouncing like they’d mainlined a bag of Skittles. At one level, it totally remodeled right into a Charli XCX singalong membership, because of his completely brilliantly reimagined flips of their collabs together with ‘Every thing Is Romantic’ and ‘365’ – the group even screamed throughout the ‘Von Dutch’ bridge with spiritual fervour. Surrounded by strobing visuals and chaotic drops, AG felt extra like a mad scientist than a DJ, turning the late-night tent right into a sweaty, rainbow-hued wonderland.
In the meantime, these disillusioned by Trippie Redd’s last-minute cancellation have been greater than rewarded by native hero Otsochodzi. If you happen to’re curious concerning the Polish rap scene, begin right here: he’s perfected a mixture of frenetic, computerised melodies and razor-sharp lyrical precision. His trendy lure options angsty, brooding synths, which grumble over throat-rupturing bass and invoke chaos galore. Even non-Polish audio system might certainly catch onto the infectious flows and mind-melting hooks. Typically, a competition shock finally ends up being the most effective units of the day. (KSW)
