MUSIC PREMIERES
As people go feral for either a lick of nostalgic fun with Blink-182 or something more chaotic with The Prodigy, tucked away in the BBC Radio 1 tent is the spell-binding Jorja Smith. With revamped, groovy jazz renditions of her acclaimed ballads, she creates a space of tranquillity at the end of the festival’s first day.
In the beginning, Smith is demure, singing along to her songs coyly and soaking up the adoring energy that’s thick in the air. She doesn’t say much but keeps a massive grin on her face while she thanks the crowd for having her. Instead, she focuses on delivering her slick and emotive tunes with mystique and pure precision.
The songs hit deep for many, holding a sentimental place in much of the audience’s hearts. “If she does ‘Blue Lights’, I’ll go feral!” one girl in the pit says excitedly before an ultramarine glow covers her. Once the chorus hits, she and the rest of the audience pour their hearts out to Smith’s debut single. The choral singing is stirring, heightening the sense of awe and unadulterated emotion. “OK,” she says, “I think you lot are ready to party.”
That’s when the band begins to play ‘Come Over’ – and the island-infused percussion puts a spell on Jorja’s hips, which sway from here on out. Even her backing singers – who have their standout moments throughout – break out from behind their mic stands and shake a leg with her.
The party doesn’t truly start, though, until ‘Ladbroke Grove’. As the chopped-up vocals and skippy drums play, people erupt and immediately get their skank on as when the West Midlands superstar brings out AJ Tracey and duets with him for a great transition into her own slew of bangers.
You could power a town with the electricity in the air in the tent by the end of Jorja’s set. She rolls through her party-friendly hits (with a pinch of angst with ‘Teenage Fantasy’), and the pure adulation the crowd shows her is next to none. The once-flailing arms stretch high, holding up heart-shaped hands, trying to find a way to thank her for pulling off a set that is a magical touch to a blockbuster Friday.
‘Try Me’
‘Blue Lights’
‘Addicted’
‘Where did I Go?’
‘Falling or Flying’
‘GO GO GO’
‘The One’
‘Come Over’
‘High’
‘Ladbroke Grove’ with AJ Tracey
‘Teenage Fantasy’
‘Be Honest’
‘On My Mind (Preditah remix)’
‘Little Things’
MUSIC PREMIERES
The Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey paused one of the band’s annual St. Patrick’s Day shows at MGM Music Hall at Boston’s Fenway Park over the weekend to call out an attendee holding up a MAGA hat.
“If you’re in a room full of people and you want to know who’s in a cult, how do you know who’s in a cult?” Casey asked the crowd on Sunday (March 16), per a video shared to social media. “They’ve been holding up a f—ing hat the whole night to represent a president.”
He then told the Donald Trump-supporting fan, “This is America, there’s no kings here,” before adding, “Anyway, if you mind, sir, we’re gonna play a song about our grandparents and people who fought Nazis in the war and s—. So if you could just shut the f— up for five minutes.”
The “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” band has been open about their contempt for Trump for years. Back in 2022, they performed at the Great Allentown Fair in Pennsylvania and Casey told Rolling Stone, “I felt like we were playing a MAGA flea market. Every other table was selling the MAGA gear and the ‘F— Joe Biden’ gear and all this stuff. I was a little overwhelmed and befuddled. It was like I was dropped into another planet.”
While onstage at the event, Casey told the crowd in a viral moment, “If you’re out there buying these f—ing hats that these swindlers are selling…then you’re part of the problem! Because you’re being duped by the greatest swindler in the history of the world…and a bunch of grifters and billionaires who don’t give a s— about you or your family!”
