The Scandinavian sensation brought irresistible energy to the Main Stage
After elbowing and shouldering our way through the entry queues for what promised to be this year’s queerest day festival, we were finally inside. Mighty Hoopla’s bright rainbow adornments still glittered despite a grey sky, with the revelling crowd festooned with costumes and sequins ready to get their dance on. As the sun trickled from behind the now parting clouds, mid-afternoon brought with it the rush to secure a spot for one of the festival’s most highly anticipated music sets. Fresh on the back of the release of her latest single ‘Glad He’s Gone’, the stage was set for a sprightly gambol from the Swedish songbird Tove Lo.
Taking to the main stage in a pair of pattern-clashing cycle shorts, it was clear from the outset that it was to be an air-fisting, high energy set and not the choreographed ‘five, six, seven, eight’, turn, and dip set that we saw from her fellow Hoopla performers. From her worn trainers to the simple white-tee, she was not going to rely on a costume to sell her performance, and having seen the Sink The Pink queens backstage it was perhaps for the best not to try and keep up with their ostentatiousness. Opening the set was her electroclash dance-pop hit ‘Disco Tits’ with her dead-pan delivery being offset by her thrusting hips, as the words “Equality Bitch” which bounced on her chest.
The set came to its climax as her hit song ‘Habits’ began issuing from the Main Stage’s speakers, and the crowd erupted in a roar as they knew exactly what was coming. Swaying and jumping, the crowd were basking in the darkly-tinged pop that Tove Lo serves in bucketfuls. Slowly tossing her scrunchied high-pony like a go-go dancer just about to end her shift, she truly embodies those hazy hours of the evening when you’re not sure if you want to stay in the crowd of the leaden club, but you know you don’t want to head home.
Before wrapping up her set she turned up the sunshine with a ‘Talking Body’ remix and welcoming Glyn Fussell in wide-rimmed red stetson and matching heels to the stage alongside ‘Foundations’ singer Kate Nash. Performance over she was free to let her hair down and soak up the crowd’s energy as she jumped to the beat, looking a picture of the quintessential East London party girl. Energised and ready to dance, it was our cue to drag ourselves from the heaving tide of the crowd and grab the next drink, and figure out our next move.
