As festival season comes to a close the weather gets colder and ravers solemnly pack their fancy dress costumes, disco sticks and glitter away ready for winter. Indeed, the festival blues have officially begun. I, however am not quite ready to give up summer just yet as I will be backpacking around South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand for 6 months, starting this week. I am incredibly excited for the adventures yet to come, but also nervous as to what this next chapter in my life will bring me!
I'm going to try my VERY best to discover some hidden gems (raves, parties and events) as I embark on my travels. And of course, I will write about my experiences.
Taking LOVE to another Dimension with Love Specs <3
In the run-up to Dimensions festival I could barely contain my excitement. As I looked back at last year's shenanigans, I pictured beautiful festival-goers dancing on the beach under the Croatian sun with live music creating rhythmical rainbows. The place is highly addictive (this year being my third time lucky) and it's the perfect place to end a festival-filled summer...
Dimensions festival takes place in Pula, Croatia in a location unlike any other. Set in a 19th century abandoned fort, the festival leads passages to diverse spaces, harmonious mazes and untouched grounds. With it being my third visit to Fort Punto Christo, I was still taken back by the unique location setting open to us revellers.
The days are spent swimming, dancing at the beach parties or simply laying on the beautiful, secluded stretch of beach listening to music from artists such as Jeremy Underground, Romare and Mo Kolours. Every evening the setting sun paints the horizon sky in swirls of red and orange - awe energizing sunsets that moved me everyday...a place of pure paradise. When evening arises, the real music begins; shacking out to bass-heavy music in Mungo's Arena, spending crazy hours at The Void or completely losing myself in The Moat...
The festival starts on the Wednesday with an opening ceremony located at a 2000 year old Roman Amphitheatre in collaboration with Boiler Room. This year's live performances were from two of the UK's most talented producers - Four Tet and Floating Points, as well as dreamy Swedish band, Little Dragon. Seeing both Four Tet and Floating Points with a live band for the first time was pretty breathtaking to say the least. The Colosseum venue added to the dramatic, powerful music and as I looked around, every audience member stood in synchronised amazement.
Stepping onto the main festival site the next day, we were breath taken by the fort itself. The majestic installations against the abandoned walls were an impressive view; as you wind your way up the site, kaleidoscopic lightings lace through the castle whilst banging techno pumps from all directions. The Clearing is the first stage that revellers come across, where we heard live music from the likes of Moodymann and Paranoid London. Paranoid London delivered a crazy start to Friday evening with a vigorous set, mixing their distinctive sound with a vintage acid house punch. Friday night ended seeing Bicep playing their salsa-esque, upbeat edit of Dominica's Gotta Let You Go then ending with their tense, yet emotive track Just that set ravers off into a mesmeric trance. Another memorable set was from the Berlin, techno head DJ Rodhad at the Void. As his set came to a close, Rodhad grinned as he dropped Jaguar by DJ Rolando, a timeless masterpiece dance track that blew me away...and this was only the start of Dimensions.
Saturday consisted of seeing Floating Points at The Void, followed by Hunee back to back with Antal in the legendary Moat. The Moat is my favourite area of the festival. It's located in a shadowy, long, high-walled space where the vibe is incredibly fierce. The mix of the dark, smokey lights makes it intense and you can just about see people's dancing silhouettes. However Hunee B2B with Antal shifted the fiery vibe of the Moat by playing exotic, Disco tracks such as Madan by Martin Solveig vs. Salif Keita. A fun and laid-back way to end our Saturday night!
By the time Sunday rolled around, we were still not ready for the music to stop. We opted to start our last evening in the best way possible...at the Bodytonic boat party! DJ's performed a musical soup of Disco, House, Techno and Electro as the sun gradually set. When we were back on firm ground and feeling rather jolly we headed straight towards The Clearing to see Moodymann, then bopped onto Seven Davis Jr playing a live set at Mungo's Arena. Seven Davis Jr kept things uplifted before it was time to enter The Moat once again for Ben Klock. Picking Ben Klock for the finale set of the whole festival was a no-brainer; Klock span raw Techno tracks till the break of dawn, finishing Dimensions on a massive high. As he dropped the last track (Freak Like Me by DJ Deeon) the crowd exploded into a state of dance mania, as individuals frequently looked across to their pals as if to say "what is this banger!?" Indeed, the song of the summer had finally been established.
Dimensions offers an incredible week of music, with a lovely crowd from across the globe sharing a love of underground sounds. This festival made me feel like I was living in a self-contained bubble, living in a world with beautiful people, settings and sounds. Even though this was my third time attending this fantastic festival, I still feel like I have unfinished business with it. Dimensions, the countdown for next year begins and I will be waiting with open arms for your return!
It's always a pleasure to finally attend a festival that you have been dying to go to for ages. For years I have been begging my friends to join me in attending the crazy world of Boomtown...and this year it finally happened!
Boomtown is an immersive fictional town, full of character, interactivity and imagination. Find yourself having a chin-wag with the pirates of the rum-stained Old Town, saddle your way to the Wild West or even bump into Dstrkt5, where you will be interrogated by their seedy residents. You can easily spend the whole weekend exploring all the mini towns, each as diverse and amusing as the next.
With a gritty reputation, I was pretty anxious to enter this innovative world and submerge myself as one of their mad citizens. But as soon as I stepped in, I immediately fell in love. The festival's care into production, clever sceneries and overall vibrancy is second to none. From the moment you grab your wristband, the energy begins with performers each giving us new revellers passports for the revolutionised city that we were about to be a part of.
Friday's line up brought a vast array of acts from Stephen Marley at the Reggae temple Lion's Den, to Horse Meat Disco in the middle of a forest and a special back to back session with legendary A Guy Called Gerald and LTJ Bukem at the Bang Hai Palace.
For the Funk and Soul lovers, Saturday brought a mass 10 hour set from Mr Scruff back to back with Norman Jay at the mighty cyber Boombox stage. Over at Circo Bassline Kurupt FM rampaged through a lively set performing their hilarious songs such as A Dis One. Noisia shut down Saturday night with an explosive set at the Bang Hai Palace. Unfortunately, the sound system at The Palace was way too low which meant that it was hard to get lost in the music. This was a bit of a let down, especially with The Palace being the most extravagant stage of Boomtown.
Sunday consisted of exploring more of the city and catching Pangea in the forest (who played the best set of the weekend IMO). The finale performance of the weekend was Goldie back to back with Dillinja at the Palace relentlessly pumping out raw, heavy bass, ending the final set of the festival with a bang.
These were great moments of the festival, but it was the overall production and installations of Boomtown that came out on top for me. Throughout the weekend we found ourselves in the most random but fantastic situations - raving to jump up Drum and Bass in a laundry shop, sending letters to our loved ones at the post office and jumping on beds at a hotel with lifts taking us to karaoke rooms. We were even lured into a dingy 4D cinema room in Chinatown, with The Ring playing on a big screen (you can only guess who jumped out towards us horrified audience members). These incredible parts of Boomtown were what made this festival so unique and memorable to me.
The festival organisers state that their main priority of the festival is to give revellers a good time. Perhaps this is a reason for their ever-growing community and supportive attendees. I cannot wait to see what creative productions they have in store for next year - where the revolution of Boomtown finally begins!
Wowzaas, what a weekend! My friends and I embarked on a journey to Amsterdam to enter the haven for quality House and Techno, also known as Dekmantel Festival. Now in its third year, Dekmantel has already established itself as one of the best European music festivals in the world. And I can totally agree! Dekmantel has been one of the most exceptional festivals I have been to. Its fully fledged crowd and stellar line up with the finest House and Techno are just three reasons why.
As we stepped into the grounds of Amsterdamse Bos on the first day of the festival, we immediately shot our way to the frontlines of the main stage where Ricardo Villalobos & Zip took over the decks playing a back to back set. There was no better timing than to walk through the festival for the first time than to hear Villalobos drop one of my favourite Floorplan tunes, Baby Baby. The crowd buzzed with excitement as Baby Baby kick-started the audience in a united fist-pump frenzy. Too soon, the set had finished and we found ourselves weaving around the festival, exploring what else was on offer. We settled for Roy Ayers playing inside The Lab, a space that resembled a green house (a lot like Studio 338). The Jazz legend toned things down for us as he sang his uplifting classics such as Everybody Loves the Sunshine live. A perfect way to spend a Friday afternoon!
That evening I left captivated by the influential and pioneering Floorplan (Robert Hood). Playing at the Boiler Room stage in the midst of a forest, Floorplan worked through a seamless set of House, Techno and of course mixing it with his very own Gospel touch. The stage was brimming with dozens of Hood fans, watching in awe as him and Lyric (his daughter) played tracks such as the epic Never Grow Old, We Magnify His Name and Hallelujah Anyway. The Boiler Room crew even recall this special moment as "Dekmantel's highest of highlights". But enough of me rambling on, you can go ahead and check out the whole set for yourself below:
As Friday ended at a high, we kept the same levels going for the Saturday. Starting off at the main stage was Four Tet where he delivered an experimental set playing his new track Morning and ending with a few Grime instrumentals, including XTC's Functions On The Low - taking us UK Grime fans on a nostalgic trip! The rest of the day continued with us bopping along to Floating Points back to back with Hunee and Antal that consisted of impeccable funk and soul tracks. The night ended at the Boiler Room stage again, where Jeremy Underground tore down the area with hard and heavy tracks, clearly feeding off the enthusiastic crowd. There again, it was the last set of the day that had gripped me into loving Dekmantel just that little bit more.
As the final day of the festival arrived and the heat soared to a scorching 30 degrees, we were more than ready to give it one final blast in support of such an amazing weekend. The day started off with a lot of floating around; I began at the main stage for Midland, then pondered off to The Lab to discover Helena Hauff - a wonderful talent that plays smooth techno with a righteous flair. The Hessle Audio trio (Ben UFO, Pangea and Pearson Sound) then brought the festival to a close with a continuous bass laden oeuvre set. Over at the Selectors stage, I-F played astoundingly - he was easily one of my highlights of the weekend. Dropping Abba (Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie and Lay All Your Love On Me) laced within Techno beats drove the crowd nuts for the final set of the festival - a spontaneous and brilliant move that closed the festival as a memorable and emotional one!
The night wasn't over just yet for us. We decided to attend the after party at Melkweg - one of the most well-known electronic music venues in the town centre of Amsterdam. With Prosumer back to back with Tama Sumo and Paranoid London (Live) headlining, it was not one to be missed. Whilst Dekmantel by day is chilled and mellow, Dekmantel by night is vigorous and intense (we ended up leaving at around 9am). The afters was a fantastically chaotic party with Paranoid London tearing the crowd apart in the main room. As the morning went on, Prosumer took the reins upstairs with an eclectic and diverse set to keep the crowd going. I smile and close my eyes as I hear Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes' The Block Party, a child-hood fave song of mine that took me back years.
Melkweg afters!
It was just all about the music at Dekmantel. A slick, smooth and sophisticated festival that delivers the best contemporary House and Techno around. With it being only in its third year, Dekmantel has already earned its reputation as a triumphal festival that celebrates the most talented and diverse DJs in the electronic music community.
