Wireless organisers have announced the lineup for their online festival, Wireless Connect. The ground-breaking event will take place between the 3rd and the 5th of July, in place of the original festival that was cancelled last month.
The lineup includes British urban powerhouses, such as Skepta, Bugzy Malone and Not3s. A host of performers from across the Atlantic, most notably Tyga, Rae Sremmurd and Rich the Kid, makeup the rest of the seventy-act-strong lineup. Wireless Connect will be streamed through the organiser’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. It is also to be shown through the Melody VR app which, through the use of a headset, converts live music into a 360 degree interactive virtual reality experience. The use of VR is a progressive step into the new normal for the festival, as many other mass-gatherings struggle with cancellation following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The event’s coordinators believe the virtual festival will be special. The official announcement, published on the Wireless website, bemoaned that they did not get a chance ‘to vibe’ this summer, and that this ‘didn’t sit right’ with festival organisers. Therefore they have ‘stacked‘ the weekend with ‘unseen performances, exclusive footage and much more‘. ‘Get hyped‘, the announcement signed off, ‘for a banging show from some of the hottest US and UK talent‘.
Wireless Festival has always provided fans with the opportunity to experience the very best acts in Grime, Hip Hop and R ‘n’ B. It was founded in 2005 and initially was considered a Pop Rock Festival. The London-based event, under the ownership of global entertainment company Live Nation, has since asserted itself as a pilgrimage for fans of Urban music. Jay-Z, Kanye West, Stormzy and Drake have all headlined the festival since 2010. Wireless Connect appears as a heartening gesture, from the organisers at Live Nation to the festival’s die-hard fans that have propelled its popularity since the turn of the last decade. Whilst their yearly hullabaloo of urban music has been postponed, they thought it only right that Wireless should adapt to the circumstances. Wireless Connect may not be the mud-coated, mosh-filled, cider-soaked festival experience the British public yearn for. However, it ensures fans that Wireless will continue to entertain, no matter the circumstance.
