In partnership with Open’er Festival
Words: Jordan Bassett and Kyann-Sian Williams
Day three at a festival can be a tricky business. You’ve been sapped of the energy of the first couple of days, but the end isn’t quite in sight enough for you to dig deep and push through. The hangovers have piled up on one another, you haven’t slept and your tent is such chaos it looks like Cardiff city centre after an Oasis gig. All it takes is a wobbly line-up and things could go south very quickly indeed.
Luckily, Poland’s Open’er Festival has a few tricks up its sleeve on Friday (July 3). Little Simz spread love and joy and Muse rolled out riffs the size of the aircrafts that land on this airfield when it’s not full of superstars and music fans, before Justice razed the whole thing to the ground with their molten dance tunes. We go again tomorrow – but here’s what rocked our world on day three. (JB)
Little Simz shone bright
There’s something so pure about Little Simz. Even when her sound leans into dark, swelling industrial tones, her voice cuts through like a beam of untainted light. That clean-heartedness radiated on Open’er’s Friday.
She began her set in a cap, huge bomber jacket and blacked-out sunglasses, looking like a secret agent on a mission backed by her special ops: her bassist and keyboardist. She looked guarded, rapping ‘Thief’ and ‘Flood’ from her recent album ‘Lotus’ through gritted teeth, stomping and swinging across the stage as if to shake off the world’s heaviness.
But once she ditched her shades, her eyes burned with joy under the sunset – her warmth glowed in full force as she strolled down the ramp with an infectious smile and cheery “’Ellooooooo!” Her light is untameable.
@koncerty.i.festiwale Znakomita Little Simz! Open’er Festival 2025! 💥 #LittleSimz #OpenerFestival #Opener #Festival #Festiwal #koncert #koncertywpolsce #live
The Polish are always appreciative, but no one seemed more grateful than Simz. Every time the audience clapped, she clasped her hands and bowed, thanking them again and again, pausing to feel the love vibrating throughout. Before ‘Free’, she had a tender moment, reminiscing on days she rapped for 10 people and now marvelled at the sea of fans before her. “Thank you so much. I don’t take any of this for granted,” she said, her London accent exposed.
While showing off her sonic range from jazzy funk to her new industrial-rock-meets-Nigerian-highlife sound, Simz’s set momentarily turned into a collective self-affirmation session during the heart-squeezingly tender ‘Only’. The Islington star guided the Gdynia crowd in a chant of “Only love in my heart” – a manifestation to clean the soul before the boogie that came swiftly after. She wanted us to “imagine” she was our friend from London, who was in Poland for one night, and show her our moves in some “sweaty, underground party”. Then she launched into the enthralling funk of ‘Mood Swings’ and ‘Fever’ from her 2024 ‘Drop 7’ EP. And the audience responded – bodies thrashed around, lost in her glow.
What could have been a pensive set became something healing and communal, like we had the chance to witness her bruised heart turn into a blooming lotus – and we all left freer and fuller for it. (KSW)
Muse brought planet-sized riffs and impressive levels of glam
Every rock star worth their salt needs an ego walk: that bit of the stage that comes out into the audience so they can swagger down, bust their moves and soak up the rapturous applause. Mere minutes into Muse’s main stage set, frontman Matt Bellamy was wheeling along said ego walk, headbanging to his own monsters of rock. You know you’ve got tunes to spare when you can dispatch the planet-sized ‘Hysteria’ just three songs in: the tension ratcheted up with that famous teasing intro, which then gave way to absolute carnage in the pit as Muse unleashed its jumbo-sized riff.
The massive crowd swelled around the viewing platform and sound system opposite the stage as Bellamy squalled out high-pitched notes on his guitar, which fans then sang back to him. It was a bit like Freddie Mercury’s famous call-and-response vocal at Live Aid, but with more devil horns. This was a classic rock show, but it was also – to namecheck the band’s 1990 album – pretty ‘Showbiz’, given Bellamy’s light-up bomber jacket and the glitzy lightboxes that flashed with various colours on stage. By the time multicoloured streamers burst from the stage and over the front rows, you half-expected Simon Cowell to come and give an appraisal.
Can you feel it in your bones? @opener_festival tonight.
🎥 circusxhead pic.twitter.com/nwjttszq00
— muse (@muse) July 4, 2025
Curiously, given the general State of Things and Muse’s obsession with dystopias and evil governments, the frontman made no grand political statements. There was, though, a video that filled with a John F. Kennedy Cold War speech, which was also broadcast over the speakers: “[The Soviet Union’s] preparations are concealed, not published; its mistakes are buried, not headlined; its dissenters are silenced, not praised.” With the people’s help, though, he continued, America could be “free and independent”. Recontextualised in a world riven with political upheaval and violence, perhaps that said it all.
The best of the rest
As Liam and Noel Gallagher took to the stage at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium for the long-awaited Oasis reunion, FKA Twigs and her troupe of uber-cool dancers put on a very different show on Open’er’s Tent Stage. Still, there’s more to link Liam, Noel and Twigs than you might imagine, as all three have received NME’s coveted Godlike Genius Award.
Last night, Twigs showed us how she earned the title. When she and her troupe pulled off immaculate dance moves atop an industrial-looking rig and wowed the huge audience with her unique blend of art-pop and R&B, there was only one word for it: Godlike.
Speaking of art-pop: New York chameleon St. Vincent appeared on the Tent Stage at 11.30pm, following Muse’s main stage set with competitive levels of riffage and theatrics. She pulled off her own killer dance moves, seeming to be blasted back and forth by the sheer volume of the music, as she treated Poland to tracks from 2024’s ‘All Born Screaming’ for the first time. Things even got a bit proggy when she closed with the title track, a multi-epic that encompasses lilting yacht rock, experimental electronica and something close to a Gregorian chant. You could well imagine Matt Bellamy backstage, taking notes. (JB)
Tucked under the Alter stage was a hyperpop fever dream led by the mastermind that is AG Cook. His glitchy, candy-coated synths and warped vocals had the crowd bouncing like they’d mainlined a bag of Skittles. At one point, it fully transformed into a Charli XCX singalong club, thanks to his absolutely brilliantly reimagined flips of their collabs including ‘Everything Is Romantic’ and ‘365’ – the crowd even screamed during the ‘Von Dutch’ bridge with religious fervour. Surrounded by strobing visuals and chaotic drops, AG felt more like a mad scientist than a DJ, turning the late-night tent into a sweaty, rainbow-hued wonderland.
Meanwhile, those disappointed by Trippie Redd’s last-minute cancellation were more than rewarded by local hero Otsochodzi. If you’re curious about the Polish rap scene, start here: he’s perfected a mix of frenetic, computerised melodies and razor-sharp lyrical precision. His modern trap features angsty, brooding synths, which grumble over throat-rupturing bass and invoke chaos galore. Even non-Polish speakers could surely catch onto the infectious flows and mind-melting hooks. Sometimes, a festival surprise ends up being one of the best sets of the day. (KSW)