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Nando's Gignics: London Review

Nando's Gignics: London Review

The infamous restaurant Nando's has treated the UK to their take on mixing a traditional picnic with live music for a few years now. A perfect blend of love music, Nando's chicken and fun & games is hard for many to resist. This year, 2,000 people headed down to London's very own Haggerton Park in Hackney to see a range of urban artists on bill such as StooShe, Clement Marfo & The Frontline, Cover Drive and of course Rizzle Kicks which was all hosted by the stunning Jameela Jamil.

The first thing you would notice when arriving was how small the space was. We had the stage, a bar, a Nando's stall, the toilets and the games corner, that's it. This was a good step in making the most of the space available and creating a great atmosphere near the headline act (Cover drive) hit the stage but for the beginning of the day, most parts of the GigNics space seemed a bit bare. The one place where people were streaming to wasn't an issue was the Nando's kiosk. With everyone wanting to claim their free Nando's card they received on entry, most people had to wait over an hour cueing up to eat. That was the only criticism of the day as another Nando's stall would have been most appreciated.

Now the highlights, upon entry, you were introduced to the line-up for the day. We had Rizzle Kicks early on in the afternoon and StooShe, Clement Marfo & The Frontline and Cover Drive in the last few hours. But we had another act on the line up called Ted at 3. Who is Ted I hear you. Well he was the day’s very special guest and it came in the form of the BRIT Award winner Ed Sheeran. What a welcome surprise! He came all the way from Rockness in Inverness the day before and played a short set before he shot to the Capital FM Summertime Ball down the road. For his last song, 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You', the next act Rizzle Kicks stormed the stage to highjack a bit of the limelight. Rizzle Kicks then continued to live up to their hype and wowed the audience with their cheeky personalities.

Though the focus was on the music, people didn't have to come just for what was on show. As the title GigNics suggests, you could easily just come down with a few friends and have a picnic. There's a lot of freedom at a GigNics event which you don't get through most places. For instance, with the introduction of the games corner, you could play a spot of footie, build a Jenga tower of wipe the floor with someone at a game of Connect 4. If that all fails, you could just relax in the sun and have a picnic. Luckily the weather was perfect so this could be achieved.

If you did come for the music though, you were treated to some exceptional performances. Not only through the artists on the bill and Ed Sheeran, we also were treated to X Factor winners Little Mix and the astounding JLS. With two more GigNics events this year in Leeds this Saturday and next week in Glasgow, more people will be treated to a relaxed, fun day out provided by one of our favourite food chains, Nando's.

Find out more information on GigNics through their website www.nandos.co.uk/gignics

Words for MOBO by Dean Woodhouse