Project Description

FESTIVAL X

@ Sydney Showground

30/11/19

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Ro Llauro

.

.

.

We arrive. “Jesus, bro, look at that freaking line.” 15 minutes later. We are in. Efficient organized mayhem. Bag check line. I knew it. It seemed too easy. I am sure here comes another testament to patience. 5 minutes more minutes. We are in. I stand corrected.

This is Festival X’s debut and it is obvious that the organizers want their guests to feel free, safe, at home, while still avoiding the increasingly authoritarian persecution New South Wales’ festival goers have been suffering the last couple years. Everyone is free to roam the citadel with its street merchants, open-air amphitheatres and gigantic coliseums.

4:46 p.m. Lets head to Helix Stage to check out some House. Kaz James spins at a cozy little dance spot with plenty of grass to accommodate barefoot dancers. The Melbourne DJ does it like the stars do it. Full of Glam. Flamboyant. Extravagant. A camera man gets his best angle as smoke engulfs him and gorgeous blonde babes all around him. Humility doesn’t seem to be much of a thing here.

His set provided a very uplifting and smooth transition into the large dopamine uptake experience that awaits us. It’s early still. It’s reconnaissance time.

.

Photo: Down to Test

.

Right outside the Flux stage we find a little oasis in the middle of the brewing havoc: Down to Test’s station. This government initiative offered free STI testing delivered to your house and rewarded your socially conscious behaviour with a pass to their chill makeshift garden with glitter makeup stations and clean bathrooms stalls with no lines. Something I considered quite a perk for those with expectations above the stalls laid with condoms and bodily fluids just a few meters down.

Check out some of Down to Test‘s photos of the festival at: https://playsafe.health.nsw.gov.au/festival-x/

.

Photo: Down to Test

.

17:48 p.m. Pixel stage. It’s Steve Aoki’s birthday. We are gonna celebrate – they bring Steve cake and he throws it at the audience. What now? Bring Steve infinite cake! The first row seems delighted to be covered in his celebratory baked goods, no wonder, this guy is a true legend. American electro-house musician, record producer, DJ, and music executive, Steve Aoki has collaborated with the likes of will.i.am, Afrojack, LMFAO, Linkin Park, Iggy Azalea, Lil Jon, Laidback Luke, BTS, Louis Tomlinson, Rise Against, Vini Vici and Fall Out Boy while still running the Steve Aoki Charitable Fund aimed at raising money for global humanitarian relief organizations. A bit more altruistic than our next act.

Lil Pump. Lil Pump showed off his energy by jumping and prancing around the stage while reciting short sections of his songs occasionally. Backing tracks do wonders to compensate for memory impairment attributed to habitual purple drank sipping. The crowd loves it.

19:03 p.m. Helix stage. Kalkbrenner. His name is the only one on the list that says “live” next to it. I stop for a minute to indulge in nostalgia and recall a time when concerts and festivals meant an opportunity to praise your favourite artists during meritorious live execution of their talents. Kudos to you Paul. Unlike traditional DJs, Paul Kalkbrenner is considered a live act because he reassembles his sets into new configurations by mixing and sampling live in response to the audience’s demeanour. The visuals are sharp and edgy and he only needs 2 black and white cameras for visuals. One on the consoles and the other on him, going all in. His set was classy yet energetic, and the crowd mature, definitely one of the highlights of the day.

As customary, set times overlap and you can’t be at 3 places at once. We run to catch some Oxygen, a bit of Vini Vici’s Psytrance, and of course, Marlo next. Huge digital data towers and shooting lasers transport us into a clean and polished cyberpunk future. Sparks shoot into the air. We’ve entered a space-time wormhole. Dazed, confused, yet awake, we travel from 2049 back into present time. This kind of time travel allows us to gain some perspective on current times. This is the last year of our decade. A decade marked by a push towards change and fight for freedom from an archaic and traditional oligarchic society.

Photo: Festival X 2019 / OneLove Music Group

The crew and I start to fade a little but we don’t want to miss a thing. Time to check out Calvin Harris at Pixel, the main stage. We sit back to catch our breath and watch. The supreme and all-powerful demigod stands behind a futuristic brutalist structure composed of straight lines and heavy stone pillars. Eastern European Cold-era style buildings are projected in the background. Empty cities. Empty streets. Fast car tunnel POVs. We enter a pulsating heart, traveling through arteries and dodging white blood cells to the beat of “how deep is your love”.

9:40 p.m. Flux stage. We are early. I don’t mind. I am psyched to check out this goddess of sound and stage. Drum and bass, chillwave, future bass, trap, Miss Alice Wonderland does it all. A natural. It’s in her bones. Engulfed by projected skulls, fire circles and dystopian imagery quite appropriate for dubstep she drops the bass. Deep bass. The silhouetted goddess steps up to the plate by performing much of her set live. Two live drummers accompany her by invoking much appreciated organic deep bass drums lines from their drum kits.

Security stops my flow to tell me I can’t smoke indoors. Fair enough Mr. Fire Warden. I don’t know what I was thinking. I immediately put out my cigarette and watch 5 meter tall flames spurt from gigantic flamethrowers on stage.

“Thank you so much for letting me play my music for you.”

She is a complicated character and has been quite open about the depression and anxiety the pressures of her recent success and continuous touring cause. However, Alison’s set is tight, polished, clear, confident. She has nothing to worry about.

22:40 p.m. Pixel. Armin van Buuren. This born perfectionist and host of the iconic “A State of Trance” radio show, does not disappoint. He plays one of his most emotive and recognized tracks feat. Sam Martin “Wild Wild Son” While we follow the clip of a black child learning to shave, learning to ride a bike. Touching moments. Father and son bonding.

A full day. The crowd was a pleasure to be around. Good vibes everywhere and a sense of maturity that is often not found at festival debuts. It was hard to sit still during the ride home. It was hard to sleep. Endorphins run high. Adrenaline is still pumping through my veins, but nothing the dopamine can’t counter-act.

 

Connect with Festival X

Facebook  Instagram  Twitter  Website

.

.

.

.

.

AMNPLIFY_DT