Outbreak grows up around Deftones but leaves something behind

Human bodies, obscured by balaclavas and bandanas, shuffle their way through thick air that attaches itself to everything in existence. With no end in sight, otherworldly noises aggressively emanate from a large, imposing X-shape.

While this could feasibly be the setting of a dystopian sci-fi blockbuster starring Timothee Chalamet, it is in All Points East and those noises are stemming from producer Blawan.

This particular day is being put on in partnership with Outbreak Festival. And it is a befitting scene for a lineup that coalesces the history and the future of alternative music into one, no matter how hard it may seem, given the expansive chasm between what is and what was.

As Deftones are headlining a lineup that includes Interpol, Amyl and the Sniffers as well as AFI, JPEGMAFIA and EsDeeKid, it’s a bold moment for Outbreak. This is the festival that started in 2011 in the North. Moving between Leeds and Manchester, it solely catered to the hardcore masses, and in previous years has grown its genre focus to include adjacent artists including Action Bronson, Death Grips, and Danny Brown.

They couldn’t have chosen a more fitting year for the alternative freaks and underground geeks to emerge into the daylight, at what is, at first glance, a diverse and rock-heavy lineup without paying lip service to any one generation. As it rises from its rubble surroundings into the bona fide festival space with the help of All Points East, the outset of what they did versus where they’re going becomes significantly clearer.

The familiar machinations of the modern festival are at play: masses moving from stage to stage, lining up for brand activation after brand activation, coughing through the dust of a drought-baked Victoria Park which feels like survival more than enjoyment when trekking across the tundra to the opposing East and West stages. But that’s all forgotten the moment the music starts.

The riot begins with Mannequin Pussy stalking the West stage in the run-up to JPEGMAFIA on the East stage, bedecked in a black suit and white cowboy hat. A wild-card “Call Me Maybe” auto-tuned cover, and circle pits that signal the winding gears of the day are well and truly beyond the tundra they’re stoking up.

Once again out on the West Stage, just beyond the aforementioned X Stage where snarling punk upstart and the brightest future of the genre Ecca Vandal is pulsating through boogie-inducing alt-jams, AFI are the bleeding heart of the elder emo’s present today. The vastly underrated four-piece, including 70s rock chic-toting frontman Davey Havok, do well to shine brighter than the apocalyptic sun blaring down on the stage with little respite in sight. It’s the first time back on UK shores since 2017 for the Californians, and every note of the razorblade-laced emo is joyous.

Amyl and the Sniffers also bring to life their own Aussie twist on the 70s retro rocker look; their time on the East Stage is spent barreling through their feral fight-no-flight tunes, and the reflection of this present, and the past with AFI and the like, becomes clearer.

Looking at the lineup, the impenetrable attitude of Amyl, the alternative view of the world from Interpol (who are aging remarkably coolly), the fluidity and aggression of JPEGMAFIA (and this is on the East stage alone), the alternative sphere that surrounds a band like Deftones is inescapable given they’re a band from the past brought back into the present by the new generations need for sheer volume of emotion.

As for the future Outbreak are catering to today, that’s most prominently held with EsDeeKid. He spends his time prowling around on an inflated castle with an outfit that could quite easily burst the entire thing with one stumble, but that’s saved for the ferocity of bodies slamming against each other. The spirit of hardcore’s physicality still exists, but it’s evolved. The pits have morphed into new variations, some to be frowned upon with needless aggression from a generation raised in lockdowns and no elders to steer them, but here it is, brought to life: bodies fling purposefully to cause damage, not to unleash deep-set frustration.

But, with all of the above, it can never be ignored just how arresting Deftones as a headline act are. The visuals are a lush display of the thematics and dramatics their music entangles. Frontman Chino Moreno is still a formidable force to be reckoned with as he powers about the stage as if it’s 1999. This is the moment that the past, present, and future collide, as the undulating body of faceless alt-life seekers thrash to the sounds of predatory guitars, heavenly-hellish vocals, and rampant rhythms. This is where the idea of Outbreak becoming something larger than its parts comes into play. Deftones are the best they’ve ever been, firing on all cylinders, and it plays beautifully. But a band and a festival are separate beasts.

When all the literal and figurative dust has settled, all that’s left is the realisation that Outbreak has left the nest. All Points East was most likely the best place for it, but, with the social media posts depicting feral pits (negative), endless queues leaving, and a pay-to-view VIP PIT that even VIP Garden holders had to pay extra for, the humble origins that found it rising into a burgeoning titan starkly shows the intimacy being diluted.

That can be considered gatekeeping, or it can be considered refusal to move forward, but the magic of a festival like Outbreak was its intimacy. The steadfast refusal to kowtow to the bloated nature of other festivals and instead offer up for the culture a place that, for the last few years, is what it has done alongside bridging the genre gaps. With its first-ever London edition happening earlier this year, and now this further branching out, the gentrification of an alternative culture staple feels a bit like wandering into the desert and the oasis you were drinking at actually just vanished.