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Gig Review: Wireless Festival, 13th July - Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Tinie Tempah, Emeli Sandé & more ✭✭✭✭✭

Wireless Festival 

Saturday 13th July 

With temperatures reaching over 30 degrees it is a scorcher of a weekend and we were back at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the second day of the Yahoo! Wireless Festival. The second day was probably the most anticipated day of the weekend and organisers got the ball rolling by announcing that the special surprise guest on the Pepsi Max Stage; taking the slot before hitmaker Clavin Harris, would be Tinie Tempah.

Hitting the Pepsi Max stage earlier than expected due to Zedd being delayed, Flux Pavilion came to the stage. He gave the crowd a full crazy set, full of singles and remixes he had the crowd going crazy. With the weather being as hot as it was, it is hard to get people jumping around, but Flux Pavilion had no trouble here.  
We didn't watch the full set from Flux Pavilion as we headed over to the main arena to catch Kendrick Lamar. He completely owned the stage the US star was clearly enjoying the sunshine and the applause from the crowd as he performed some of his well-known hits “Ya Bish”, “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”, “Mad City”; which as he says is the song where he finds out which city is the loudest, and also “Swimming Pools”. He really connected with his audience making for a really good set.

Zedd was meant to be taking to the stage at 5:45, but due to a cancelled flight and then a flat tyre he only made it to the last 15 minutes of his set.

Next to take the stage on the Pepsi Max stage was the special guest who had been announced in the morning, Tinie Tempah. I hadn't seen this tent so full the whole weekend, with both the inside and outside packed, it what was hard to even see Tinie Tempah on stage. But his performance was unbelievable so much energy from Tinie, his hype man and the whole audience, it was great to be a part of. Hits included “Drinking from the Bottle”, “Miami 2 Ibiza” and the crowd pleaser “Pass Out”. At one point they decided they wanted to take everything to the next level, so, if you wanted, people were asked to wave their tops in the air. Energetic and exciting performance, Tinie Tempah is definitely someone to watch live.

Injecting some Ibiza party vibes on the Pepsi Max Stage was Calvin Harris. Starting off the set already in full swing was his Florence + The Machine remix. Everyone was feeling good, spirits were high, and the weather was hot, so close to feeling like you were in Ibiza. The general feel of the day was mostly RnB and Hip Hop it was nice to have another act that was a different genre.

Jay–Z was the headline act of the night. And he definitely didn't disappoint. Jay-Z has an unbelievable stage presence it’s hard to describe and you don’t know about it until you have seen him live. Even if you have no knowledge of his songs you will still have a good time. He performed both new and old hits; the new hits were a huge hit with the audience, especially as his new album “Magna Carta Holy Grail” which he said with pride “Number One in 59 countries and most importantly, my first in England”. I think the crowd surprised him a little with knowing most of the lyrics to his newest songs which included “Tom Ford”, “Picasso Baby” and “Beach Is Better”. It would appear there was a change in his set and he chose to perform “Somewhere In America”, as it was what the crowd asked for, maybe purely for the lyric “Somewhere in America, Miley Cyrus is still twerking”. He also performed some classic tracks including “Empire State of Mind”, “03 Bonnie & Clyde” plus his verse on “Crazy In Love” and “Clique”. There were no surprise guest visits from Kanye or Beyonce; however Justin Timberlake repaid the appearance from the previous night and graced the stage to perform the new track “Holy Grail”. 

Great day and another great live headline performance. Seeing both Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake on stage separately and together for brief moments does get you excited for the Sunday night headline performance.

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