From SZA to Vince Staples to NERD, Lovebox 2018 Was a Scorcher
All photography by Ashley Verse

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From SZA to Vince Staples to NERD, Lovebox 2018 Was a Scorcher

The London festival moved site across the city, making the most of a heatwave in its new Gunnersbury Park home.

Look, the World Cup’s over so we can now resume regular summer programming. And that means festivals. What that specifically entails depends on you. It could mean nothing, because you’ve avoided all festivals ever since ASOS and PrettyLittleThing started shilling crochet bralet tops and glittery jean shorts by calling them “festival fashion.” It could mean calling your special occasion number and stocking up on a bulk order – not that cheap stuff you give me when you’re rushing around on a Friday, mate. If you’re a festival OG, it may mean enjoying a year off because the only event you care about is Glastonbury, where you lose all your belongings and friends over a five-day period.

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But, chances are, it also means getting your crew together and somehow ending up juggling four separate group chat threads to organise your trip to a city festival. In London, Lovebox has established itself as one of the best, for years. We wouldn’t have a stage there otherwise. We certainly wouldn’t have followed that stage all the way to west London’s Gunnersbury Park, where the festival ran for the first time this year, otherwise. And so, on Friday 13 July and Saturday 14 July, our stage hosted everyone from experimental south Londoner Tirzah and Dave to Mura Masa, Vince Staples, and actual Bonobo while acts like NERD, Kali Uchis, SZA, Skepta, The Internet and an unstoppable Childish Gambino played elsewhere. Yes, it rained on Friday, and yes, SZA's set was sadly cut short, but so much brilliant music poured out of the park over those two days. Scroll through a selection of some of the weekend's highlights, as photographed by Ashley Verse.

SZA and Anderson .Paak meeting backstage

Grace Carter on the Noisey stage

Dave on the Noisey stage

Vince Staples on the Noisey stage

Tirzah on the Noisey stage

Jorja Smith

Mura Masa on the Noisey stage

Anderson .Paak with Little Simz

Bonobo headlining the Noisey stage

You can find Noisey on Twitter and Ashley on Instagram.