How the Lambrini Girls Evolved from Chaos to Call-to-Action
12 December 2025
The bad weather was on and off throughout the day unfortunately, as it was the year before. But unlike other festivals, RALLY benefits from being a small, one day affair meaning the mud never became too treacherous – and luckily rain jackets and hoods are staples of the gorp-core fashion most of the crowd adopted: here you were more likely to see Arc’teryx and neutral tones than glitter eyeshadow and crochet bralettes.
Debby Friday completely packed out the Millhouse tent, a smaller stage towards the back curated by RALLY’s sister festival GALA. Friday gave a high energy, electric performance dancing around her adoring crowd, even twirling some enthusiastic fans. She managed to keep her vocals strong despite her moves and there was a constant smile on her face. She proved herself as a brilliant performer and I feel lucky that we could see her in such an intimate setting rather than on the large stage she will likely soon be on.
The day before, we’d actually seen Fabiana Palladino as part of Jai Paul’s band at All Points East but today she was given her own solo time on the main stage. I wish there’d been more of a focus on visuals for her set; RALLY had organised films to play in-between sets on the main stage but as they were tending to run late, sometimes the films ran into the artists sets which, in my opinion, worked a lot better than just having their name behind them. The focus on local artists was brilliant – maybe next year that could be extended into getting local artists to do visuals? Palladino’s smooth eighties pop inspired style would benefit from some related visuals, something that would attract the crowd her voice deserves.
Bar Italia were late on due to technical difficulties which you could tell frustrated the band. The crowd swarmed the Agnes stage, we were packed in like sardines near the front as everyone waited pretty patiently for them to start. Nevertheless, they gave a pretty flawless performance, covering all their most popular songs. Part way through the set we felt ourselves being shoved aggressively further forwards and turned around to see a mosh pit had formed behind us. The energy here was different to how some of the bands previous London shows had been (their Village Underground show last year was much more relaxed), and so were they. They’ve recently made it clear they aren’t fond of the “mysterious” label they’ve been given and they definitely had personality in this performance. Nina’s voice is truly captivating and as they went on they become more and more playful – Nina and Jezmi in particular starting dancing and spinning around, grinning at each other.
(Note – we actually sat next to the band in the smoking area at the Avalon Cafe afterparty and gave them some tobacco. It’s crazy how without Nina present and despite being potentially the stars of the festival, they sat quietly on the curb going almost completely undetected.)
We missed the end of their set as we had to run across to see Sorry on the main stage which was a puzzling choice by the organisers as there’s a large amount of crossover in those fanbases. Luckily due to the festival’s smaller size, it was just a quick couple minute walk so definitely not a large issue.
It’s a known fact that Sorry like to improvise with their pre-existing material when playing live, adding intros, samples, and distortions to all of their fan favourites. You probably wouldn’t expect to hear Megan Thee Stallion’s voice calling out “real hot girl shit” during their indie rock/pop/alternative (what genre even are they?) set but if you’ve been following them for a while you’ll know they wear their hop-hop influence on their sleeve. They gave an energetic performance of ‘Screaming in the Rain’ although ironically they marked the turn in weather for this previously soggy day. They’re undeniably one of the best bands going at the moment, constantly managing to feel fresh and interesting.
Nilüfer Yanya took to the main stage as darkness set out over the park. It fit her set beautifully, allowing all attention to both her and her band. She’s incredibly expressive when she sings, her face fully a part of her storytelling. With the release of her new album soon approaching it seems inevitable that she’s about to truly blow up.
Overall, RALLY is a festival that is truly finding its feet – in a good way. Great art takes time and by looking at GALA, it’s clear to see hypothetically where RALLY could be in a few years. I personally hope it gets there, its focus on supporting local artists, musicians, and venues is something that other festivals should definitely take note of. If anything, next year I hope they experiment even more, have even more unknown local artists playing and you can guarantee we’ll be there to support it.
