Joseph Capriati is to become a resident on the legendary BBC1 Radio throughout November. Across 4 shows, the Italian will dig deep into his influences and inspirations and serve up music from his past, present and future to fans around the world.
Over the last decade-plus, Joseph Capriati has been on a constant mission to push forward as an artist. The Neapolitain’s sound is rooted in techno but is now also about so much more, as his wide-ranging debut album Metamorfosi on his own Redimension label proved. He has played major clubs and festivals all over the world from DC10 to Tomorrowland and proved his skills as a DJ with his seminal entry into the famous Fabric mix series.
This summer he hosted his own exclusive parties at Amnesia in Ibiza and again showcased that his influences range far and wide through many forms of house and techno. He has now made a lasting mark on the global dance music underground as he always builds on the past to take his sound, his sets, and his fans into the unknown.
This new residency shows that Joseph is a global tastemaker and will allow him to share some of the music he loves the most with the world.
After making a huge impact on the Ibizan landscape in its first season, Club Chinois has unveiled a finale of closing parties that will leave the island with lasting musical memories. Final gatherings for season residencies include, Ida Engberg, Themba, Luciano, Satori and Pablo Fierro, followed by one big Closing Party on Sunday 16th October with Luciano, Ida Engberg, Clint Lee and Manu Gonzalez. Make sure you purchase your tickets now as these are sure to be special nights.
It has been a historic debut season for Club Chinois. Inside the venue formerly known as Heart Ibiza, this new nightspot brought high-octane and immersive world class events to a meticulously designed space. It boasts a world class sound system with interiors that blend opulent eastern cultures with the hedonism of Ibiza. Acclaimed resident DJs and superstar headline performers have delivered a wide mix of sounds including house, techno and disco each night of the week this season.
Now it all comes to a close, firstly with Ida Engberg presents UNA on Tuesday 13th September featuring Ida Engberg b2b Archie Hamilton – sure to throw up plenty of forward thinking house and techno sounds, as well as Berlin based dreamy, melodic techno innovator Jan Blomqvist along with Serge Devant, Yulia Niko and Airrica.
Monday 26th September sees the closing of the La Troya with the line up to follow.
On Wednesday 28th September, Afro house pioneer THEMBA hosts one last ‘Colours’ party alongside Nic Fanciulli, DJ Kent and Airrica – expect a cross-section of emotive and spiritual sounds.
Swiss-Chilean minimal kingpin Luciano has one last event on Saturday October 1st with a line up to be announced, and Satori closes his magical season with another immersive spectacular on Thursday 6th October featuring a set from him with SORA, Guy Laliberté and Clint Lee.
Saturday 14th October is the closing of Pablo Fierro’s sublime season with line up news to come.
Then there is one final hurrah on Saturday 16th October with some of the season’s favourite DJs returning for one more party. Luciano and Ida Engberg will bring their A-game and by now, know the club and crowd better than anyone, with house talents Clint Lee and Manu Gonzalez adding their own unique sounds.
It has been a special season at Club Chinois, and now there are only a few chances to experience what has been the most vital new addition to Ibiza in many years.
LINEUP
Tuesday 13th September
IDA ENGBERG CLOSING PARTY Ida Engberg b2b Archie Hamilton Jan Blomqvist Serge Devant Yulia Niko Airrica
Monday 26th September LA TROYA CLOSING PARTY LINE-UP TBA
Wednesday 28th September THEMBA CLOSING PARTY Themba Nic Fanciulli DJ Kent Airrica
Saturday 1st October LUCIANO CLOSING PARTY LINE-UP TBA
Thursday 6th October SATORI CLOSING PARTY Satori SORA Guy Laliberté Clint Lee
Friday 14th October PABLO FIERRO CLOSING PARTY LINE-UP TBA
Sunday 16th October CLUB CHINOIS CLOSING PARTY Luciano Ida Engberg Clint Lee Manu Gonzalez
The Gardens of Babylon is an international event series that originated in Amsterdam in 2016. By connecting music with spirituality, they create meaningful experiences wherever they go. The beautiful community that surrounds this fast growing organisation is what signifies them the most. With their unique formula they have connected so many people in more than 20 countries and 30 cities worldwide.
The Gardens of Babylon will host three shows during ADE at Amsterdam’s WesterUnie on October 22 and 23 under the name The Seekers of Light ADE:
The Seekers of Light ADE Saturday Day on October 22 The Seekers of Light ADE Saturday Night on October 22 The Seekers of Light ADE Sunday Day & Night on October 23
Full lineup:
Audiofly – Bahramji & Medusa Odyssey – Britta Arnold – Chaim & Asaf Samuel – Christian Löffler [live] – Deer Jade – Jan Blomqvist – Jenia Tarsol – MAGA – Mira – Oceanvs Orientals – Oliver Koletzki – Salomé le Chat – Viken Arman [DJ] – YokoO – Yulia Niko – Arabella Memdouh – Bonita – D’Arksy – Diass – Franca – Geju – Glauco di Mambro – H.A.R.A.L.D live – Kotoe Lotus Imane – Loulii & Cox – Mathami (Ecstatic Dance) – Milo Häfliger – Omer Tayar – Rochelle Dietz – Roman Kyn live – Sagan – Seth Schwarz – Sham.m.an & DARNO – Sinai – The Boys Next Door – TOOKER
After an incredible summer and with winter in the offing, it is light that we seek. And light it is that The Gardens of Babylon promises to bring back to its yearly The Seekers of Light ADE showcase in Amsterdam with the likes of Audiofly, Britta Arnold, Christian Löffler, Deer Jade, Jan Blomqvist, Jenia Tarsol MAGA, Oliver Koletzki, YokoO and Yulia Niko to name just a few.
The Gardens of Babylon is set to transform Amsterdam’s WesterUnie into a magical and playful garden decorated into detail by 100 helping hands. At The Seekers of Light ADE, you may lose yourself in the eclectic line up from mesmerising DJ sets to compelling live acts.
But that’s not all, The Gardens of Babylon will also implement an exciting spiritual program with facilitators from all over the world. From one on one sessions such as Couples Connection Therapy, Psychic and Tarot Readings, to Sacred and Ecstatic Dances. The ever-surprising The Gardens of Babylon HQ team is preparing for an ADE show sequence as never before.
After the hugely successful debut, Verve Festival is back with a huge Winter Edition on Saturday December 17th, this time in the Swiss Alpine village of Andermatt. The first wave of headliners include Joris Voorn, Mathame, Clara Cuvé, Juliet Fox, Luke, Massano, Øostil, The Element, DSTRCT 7, Nelle and Sebastian Konrad. For early bird tickets head to the website.
Verve brought something all new to Lucerne back in May, 2022. The much-anticipated first edition transformed the Allmend/Messe 1 arena into a state of the art space with sleek futuristic lighting, dark boxes that became innovative rave spaces and a punchy sound system with standout sets for across the techno spectrum.
Now the team is back with a winter edition that will once again offer a futuristic techno experience. You can expect world class production in an atmospheric venue in Andermatt, a gorgeous village in the Ursern Valley in the Swiss Alps with cable car offers access to the Gemsstock ski area and beautiful narrow streets lined with stunning traditional chalets.
The line-up is a mix of pioneers and new school stars including Dutch titan Joris Voorn, Italian pair Mathame, Live From Earth’s Clara Cuvé, the multi-talented Juliet Fox, minimalist Øostil plus Lyke, Massano, The Element, DSTRCT 7, Nelle and Sebastian Konrad.
Get the date in your diary as more will be revealed soon about this unmissable winter techno gathering.
After an epic summer season, with events taking place 3 weeks in a row from July 31s to August 14th, Family Piknik has stepped up once again as the biggest underground French festival. Bringing up on stage headliners like Charlotte de Witte, Fisher, Richie Hawtin, Whomadewho, Maceo Plex, Danny Tenaglia, Nora en Pure, Kölsch, Joris Voorn and many other top international House & Techno artists, Family Piknik already welcomed more than 20000 party-people over the summer.
The challenge was not easy, though, after Montpellier city hall decided earlier this year to break the convention it had with the festival, brutally ending up with a 10 years partnership and leading Tom Pooks and his team to find new locations to host his 2022 events. Lunel arenas & Frontignan open-air park, both located 20 minutes away from Montpellier, south of France, appeared to be great spots after being totally reshaped by the Family Piknik crew. Some natural grass was set up on the dusted arenas ground to maximise confort, a super pumped flamingo dominated the main stage, crazy performers and secondary « secret » stages created a great atmosphere and experience for all these festival attendees coming from more than 30 countries.
Now that the summer marathon is over, the Family Piknik team focus on the building of its huge Closing party taking place on October 1st. It will take place in Béziers Arenas, the biggest arenas of southern France, with a 12000 overall capacity. After 2021’s great Closing with Boris Brejcha, Family Piknik will have the most renown Techno artist in action, Paul Kalkbrenner. « We’ve been waiting for 3 years before being able to confirm Paul and we are sure we’ll offer him a good experience » comments Family Piknik’s founder Tom Pooks. « It’s always a thrilling moment for us to close a whole season, especially as it’s been the most stressful and intense we’ve ever known in our history, with 3 restless weeks of hard work for our crew on the ground… I’m sure this closing party will be very emotional for all of us. »
For the first time, Berlin super-hero will get to perform for Family Piknik. He was the last big headliner missing on the Family Piknik hall of fame through these 10 past years. He will play a 2 hours live set for what will be the most epic closing session you could dream of. Before this legacy, the Afterlife stamped duo Agents of Time will also share their Live skills with the crowd, while Simina Grigoriu, Tom Pooks b2b Joy Kitikonti and Family Piknik Music talents Abstraal & Pontias will warm thousands of people in the afternoon.
This Closing Event is already meant to be sold-out, check out all details and grab the final last tickets on www.familypiknikfestival.com – tickets available from 35€
After its big move to Pacha, Ibiza Bedouin’s enchanting Saga party has been the most talked about on the island and now it announces a huge closing on October 5th with Swiss-Chilean legend Luciano. Between now and then, the likes of DJ Koze, Audiofly and more are all still to play.
Formed by Rami Abousabe and Tamer Malki, Miami-based duo Bedouin has been bringing their own fresh sound to the scene for years. Their unique mix of spellbinding melodies, fresh rhythms and a mix of their Middle Eastern heritage and Western upbringing has made them into a globally renowned duo.
At the same time, their own Saga party has gone from strength to strength since starting in 2017. For the first time this year, the party arrived at Pacha and scaled-up its ambition with a magical Middle Eastern-inspired experience infused with incense, soft and warm lighting and an enticingly beautiful, dramatically fresh and infectiously blended soundtrack each and every Wednesday.
There have been many highlights already this summer such as an epic Deep Dish reunion that saw house heroes Dubfire and Sharam reunite in style, a magical back-to-back between Bedouin and Crosstownrebels boss Damian Lazarus, a next level live show from Innervisions man Henrik Schwarz and Nathan Daisy appearing as a special guest.
Now, the special Saga series rolls on with many standout parties to come: in September sees Bedouin play an extended set and more from ANDHIM, DJ Koze, Ageless, Audiofly and Serge Devant. The grand finale is on October5th with Cadenzalabel head Luciano bringing his stripped back and Latin tinged minimal sounds next to Hoomance.
Later in the year, the acclaimed pair are also set to unveil their long awaited debut album. It will be a deep dive into their famously rich and musical house sound with all of the worldly influences and cultural references that are now expected from the innovative producers. It shall also be including some widely acclaimed international artists (to be announced very soon)
Amongst the rest of their headline sets for Saga at Pacha, the pair have also had a busy tour diary that has taken them to Mykonos, Egypt, Marseille, Marbella, Düsseldorf, DC-10 and Hï Ibiza amongst many more places between now and the end of summer.
It has been a ground breaking year for Bedouin, but there is still plenty more to come from the influential pair.
Lineup for the rest of the season:
September 7: Bedouin, andhim, The Soul Brothers September 14: Bedouin, DJ Koze, and Ageless September 21: Bedouin, WhoMadeWho, Santiago Garcia September 28: Bedouin, Audiofly, and Serge Devant October 5: Bedouin, Luciano, and Hoomance
To celebrate the end of the season, Club Chinois, the incredible 360° immersive experience with state-of-the-art systems, will present every Monday in September the best polysexual party on the island, La Troya. Resident DJs spin an electrifying mix of electronic sounds that will have you dancing contagiously across the dancefloor at what is already considered to be Ibiza’s most original party.
La Troya originated in the 78s at Ibiza’s KU discotheque and has since become one of the most famous and celebrated LGBT-friendly parties in the world. Created by Brasilio de Oliveira, the island’s longest running, most respected and loved promoter, it has close ties to the island’s gay community, and is notoriously uncontrollable, famous for its flamboyant and unique themed productions to elevate the chosen weekly theme. Brasilio’s flamboyant style is clearly influenced by its country of origin, Brazil, with immense and spectacular decorations reflecting the colours, materials and vibrancy of that wild nation, all directed today by, Eduardo de Oliveira.
5 September LA TROYA OPENING PARTY LINE-UP: Oscar colorado Paul Dary Tower & Friends
12 September THE TROJAN TEMPLE OF LOVE LINE-UP: Oscar colorado Felix da funk Karol Garcia
19 September LA TROYA BABILONIA LINE-UP: Oscar colorado Franco moiraghi Julian fox
26 September LA TROYA THE END LINE-UP: Oscar colorado SPECIAL GUEST
Luciano has been a figurehead in Ibiza’s clubbing culture for over two decades, previously holding residencies at DC10, Pacha, Space to Amnesia, Destino and Ushuaïa. However, in 2022 the Cadenza frontman performed every Saturday at Ibiza’s new marina venue Club Chinois from Saturday 2nd July to Saturday 27th August.
By popular demand, the Vagabundos head honcho will extend his weekend slot from Saturday 3rd September to Saturday 1st October, bringing the best underground talent to the club. Attendees can expect an intimate vibe and high-class sound right up until its finale.
Stating his excitement ‘My team and I are happy to announce that due to the incredible success of our Saturday nights at Club Chinois this Summer, we will continue our residency all the way through September until 1st October. Our Saturdays have made Club Chinois Ibiza’s number one destination for intimate vibes, joyful grooves and of course, our own brand of unique magiK. With the scene demanding more, it was only natural that our partnership with Ibiza’s most talked about new nightclub would continue.’
The series continues on Saturday 3rd September where he is back on the decks together with good friends Manda Moor and Ahales. Following that on Saturday 10th September Louie Vega, Anane will present The Ritual, whilst dear friends of Luciano – Alex Kennon and Reboot will headline on Saturday 17th September. Luciano himself will return on 24th September and will close the season out on 1st October.
Club Chinois will announce the lineups below for the following Saturdays on their social media channels.
03.09 LUCIANO ANTONIO HALES MANDA MOOR
10.09 THE RITUAL WITH ANANÉ & LOUIE VEGA in collaboration with FRIENDS BY LUCIANO ANANÉ & LOUIE VEGA CHRISTIAN MANTINI
17.09 FRIENDS BY LUCIANO Alex Kennon Reboot Francesca Lombardo Michel Cleis
Costa Rica’s original and best electronic music festival is back and supersized from January 6 – 9th, 2023: this most idyllic gathering is a place to be spellbound by majestic sunsets, left in awe by the natural beauty of the jungle and a place to have your soul soothed by dancing around a sun-kissed landscape. This year Ocaso will host the only North American performances of Solomun and Adriatique before March 2023, with the full artist programme set to be announced next month. Secure your place at this dreamlike underground gathering now by getting your early bird tickets from https://ocasofestival.com/.
This year’s event will be the biggest yet, with all new night parties in the jungle as vines hang down and humid and lush green flora and fauna provide the backdrop. There will be sunset parties on the beach with sand between your toes and the ocean stretching out to infinity in front of you and a new purpose-built festival arena in the local town of Tamarindo.
Tamarindo is on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast and is world renowned for its beaches with strong surf, local major nesting sites for huge leatherback turtles and mangrove-lined estuary of Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge which protects animals such as howler monkeys and crocodiles. This means festival-goers can look forward to a week full of performances featuring DJs from across the world as well as some local favourites with many hours of dancing, positive community vibes and plenty of local connections to wonderful wildlife.
Musically, Ocaso strikes gold once more this year with none other than global house icon Solomun headlining and bringing with him his uniquely melodic sound. The Diynamic label head and feature of the GTA game series is now on a level of his own, and will be joined by label mates Adriatique. The full 2023 lineup will be revealed in September.
Ocaso is a “leave no trace” event. Attendees clean up the beach in Tamarindo before and after the festival every year and are constantly looking for ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the festival. While in Costa Rica everyone is mindful of water conservation, wildlife, and the trash they create while visiting. These things are very important to Costa Ricans, and to everyone involved with Ocaso, as is the fact that it is a safe, diverse and welcoming space for all genders, sexualities and races. Ocaso is a place where freedom of expression is embraced as a defining characteristic. Everyone is welcome, and costumes are encouraged.
There is a wealth of vibrant colour and culture to explore away from the music. The many natural wonders of Costa Rica are there to be explored as part of a group outing during the festival making this the most unmissable music-holiday experience of the year.
While we were travelling there, the festival app warned those already there that heavy rain was expected in the night to Friday. By the time we got there, things had dried up a bit and it was fairly warm, but it was still very cloudy, and the threat of rain was ever present.
The rap group Neonschwarz opened the Blue Stage with a mix of hip-hip, rap and pop. The lead trio had great chemistry on stage with a general vibe of leaving behind responsibilities and chilling in the sun. Not saying I felt seen, but I did feel seen.
Juju took to the stage next with her high energy rap set. At one point the mosh pit opening up cleared most of the space in front of the stage and Juju invited anyone who could do the splits to come demonstrate. Later, during Hi Babe she came down into the pit for high fives. Her song Bling Bling featured a sample from Linkin ParksNumband she performed a medley of her songs which normally have features, said features being played from recordings.
Unfortunately, half the sound was missing for Sondaschule at the start of their set on the Green Stage, the only thing we could hear in the front right was the trombone. They kind of fixed it during the first song, but it still cut out occasionally. The band wore matching black polo shirts with the band logo. Considering that crowd surfing is technically banned at the festival there was a lot of non-band-encouraged crowd surfing, possibly the same guy over and over again. It was great ska set, perfect for dancing and singing along.
Austrian band Wanda all came dressed for different events, one with clear 70s vibes in patterned waistcoat, ripped jeans and tinted glasses, one in a blank tank top and trousers and the lead singer in leather jacket, white shirt and jeans. The lead singer had a very chill yet passionate vibe about him; walking to the side of the stage to get his cigarette lit by a roadie at one point then throwing beers into the crowd and jumping in after at another. The last song seemed to include all crowd activities throughout: a mosh pit opened up near the beginning (promptly leading to the demise of some lost sunglasses), then later half the crowd sat down calmly while a circle pit raged over in one corner.
The sun was setting, and it was impossible not to move during Electric Callboy’s electro/metal fusion set. With pyro, lasers and mosh pits all the way to the back it definitely re-energised everyone for the rest of the night.
Bring me the Horizon followed on the Green stage with a fantastic set picking up the energy where Electric Callboy left off. The stage had a several levels made of screens and several songs were accompanied by two dancers in various costumes including hazmat suits for Parasite Eve and cybermen cheerleaders for Happy Song. Lead singer Oli Sykes came on wearing a skin tight long sleeve shirt and what looked like suit trousers and did a fantastic job hyping up the crowd, inviting people to come crowd surf over for a hug, leading to absolute chaos and a little crowd forming in the pit. The set ended 15 min early, which was a shame as the crowd definitely had more to give. The guy next to me caught a drumstick and was celebrated accordingly by the group around him.
In the interval before the Friday headliners, Kraftklub, the securities distributed water into the crowd, refilling bottles and cups that were passed forwards and back. Kraftklub came on in long black coats over their usual white shirts with red braces, as if to challenge the skies. The skies won, it was tipping it down by the end of the set. Not that that deterred anyone in the crowd. The band bought several new songs, but felt the need to play an old song in exchange for every new song because they didn’t know how the new songs would be received. They really did not have anything to worry about, the fans were with them all the way. Later in the set a fan was invited on stage to spin a wheel to decide between an old song, a new song of a three-minute cigarette break, a task that I would find far too stressful. The old song won but after enough crowd vocalising, they played another new song too. While encouraging mosh pits, frontman, Felix, also made sure everyone was ok and back up as well as specifically decrying people using mosh pits as an opportunity to molest people and called for anyone doing so to be reported to the securities.
Saturday
We woke up to the continued patter of rain on the tent and several mysterious wet spots. Was it us flopping soaked into the tent last night? Is the tent leaking? Who is to say. It’s been so long I’d forgotten this part of festivals. Luckily the drizzle was light enough we could still have cereal and make coffee.
Marching band Moop Mama played the Blue Stage dressed all in red. The front mad thanked everyone for being here so early in the morning. It was 13:30. However the vibe was one of drowsy, content dancing in the mud across the field. There was a range of footwear choices on show, we had your classic wellies, trainers and bougie shoe covers. But we also had some who opted for barefoot or complicated contraptions of duct tape and binbags. As everyone woke up a bit more things heated up a bit with a big circle pit in the middle. And a two-man circle pit next to me. It was a great, energising way to start the day.
100 Kilo Herz were playing over on the Green Stage with the ever present “punk with trumpets genre” which we know and love. The first 10 minutes of the set were spent sound checking themselves, taking turns to sing and everyone who could hear them raised their hands. Once everything worked, they were off, playing a great set full off heart. During the show, the lead singer explained that he was invited to go to the last Highfield festival with a friend but was struggling too much with depression and financially to bring himself to buy tickets and go. But he wanted to say something cool, so he said he’ll go when he’s playing there. Luckily that worked out and it fantastic to see them perform together. Considering Giant Rooks cancelled for mental health reasons, I think it’s good that people are talking about these kinds of things and will take time out to look after themselves.
Provinz had a whole recording of a song playing before they came on stage. A simple set up, just the band and a banner with their name as backdrop. They still drew a large, enthusiastic crowd though, singing along to pretty much all choruses. Next to me, two girls banded together to lift a dude onto their shoulders for a song.
Donots were filling in for Bad Religion, funnily enough the same as they were in 2018. When frontman Ingo was orchestrating the biggest circle pit™ from within the crowd he chose a woman to lead it because she was wearing a bad religion shirt and was covered in confetti. Turns out she was also the circle pit leader in 2018. Antilopen Gang joined on the stage while Ingo was making his way back over the crowd. They managed to bring the sun back, even though it took up their whole production budget as they claimed. Huge energy and always welcome to fill in for any band.
Kraftklubs front man performed his last festival gig as his solo project Kummer on the Blue Stage. His previous show had to be cancelled during the 2nd song due to extreme weather so it was a good thing Donots stopped the rain in time. The general lighting for his songs was the blue of the album cover, for the Kraftklub songs he performed the stage changed to red and for Alles Wird Gut the stage was bathed in yellow. Provinz’s frontman came to sing on the latter. It’s a shame the project is over, but I’m very glad to get the chance to see it live after waiting since 2020 to do so.
Annenmaykantereit were the second to last act on the Green Stage, and while very very popular, you could argue that it’s a little low energy for a sub-headliner slot. As the masses moved over from Kummer they could hear the Annenmaykantereit set starting and got frustrated at the speed at which they could leave the crowd, luckily, they vented some of that frustration by singing along. It was a beautiful set that had people swaying together arm in arm with their neighbours. There were tearful hugs and long kisses in the crowd, it was very emotional. At the end, the crowd threw flowers into the crowd, some of which were gifted back to the security guards who stuck them in their hats. Immaculate vibes all round.
I’d seen Deichkind from further back in the crowd at a previous festival, so knew it was worth getting there early for a good spot. I was not disappointed. The absolutely chaotic energy of the show defies description. It started off with the band behind a white sheet, lit from behind as the beat built up gradually and sporadically. Several choreographed dance routines later things descended into (amongst other things too weird to put into words) office chair races, mini trampoline intervals and a giant barrel filled with the band being pushed through the crowd before the front row got a generous amount of alcohol via several tubes. It was a spectacle that I would recommend to anyone if they get the chance. The set also included a new song that had been teased in trailers on the stage screens throughout the intervals of the festival, which was cool, it was more of a lyrics than beat based song, still very good though. A chance to slow down for a bit. There was a kid next to me in the crowd and it was great to see that the securities made sure he and his parents knew how to get their attention if the crowd got a bit rowdier. The securities in general were fantastic during the show, cheering the crowd on and singing along themselves.
The sensible thing would have been to go to bed when we finally got back to the tent after 2am. HOWever. We could hear the Beach Stage playing absolute bangers from our tent. So that was the obvious choice. Also, sand is great for removing mud from shoes, right?
Sunday
Sunday morning was the first time it felt safe to put clothes up to dry and the ground was solid enough to walk on barefoot. We could hear Casper and Broilers sound checking in the distance which only increased the anticipation for the day.
I headed over to Kaffkiez who were filling in for Montreal who were filling in for Turbostaat. The band was one of my recent spotify discoveries and were well worth the effort of heading over a little early. The crowd was a consistent mosh pit and it was a fantastic way to start the day.
Afterwards we headed to the beach for a swim as the sun was clearly trying to make up for something. Vaguely refreshed we headed back to see Montreal who played the last Highfield in 2019. Their set included a few covers, including one from an album they had recorded over lockdown, celebrating bands that don’t exist anymore. Madsen’s drummer joined for one song, while their own drummer went and had the front row’s beer.
For a bit of lighter sunshine dancing, Joris was the perfect choice on the Blue Stage. The singer songwriter was accompanied by a large band and performed a song on only instruments made out of drinking glasses or bottles.
Back to a little more chaos, Die Orsons filled in for You and Me at Six. One of the four at the front had a fish on his belt, which I don’t think was ever explained. They share the stage with an inflatable winged shrimpy-seahorse creature which flailed wildly for some songs. There was wild waving of whatever-you-had-on-you and asking everyone to put on their mobile phone light in broad daylight.
Leoniden were surprisingly rowdy on stage for their music. Kicking over cymbals and wildly swinging guitars, the energy rubbed off on the crowd as the set went on. The percussion stand was taken into the crowd at one point, who made room for the drummer to come in, but he did have to crowd surf back, clasping it between his legs for dear life. The band covered Watershed by Giant Rooks as a tribute since they could not make it due to mental health reasons which was a lovely gesture.
Clueso’s set was stopped after a few songs due to an approaching storm when he last played at Highfield in 2017. This year he thankfully managed to get through the whole set. He was accompanied by a band including a brass trio which gave all the songs a funk spin. Great for dancing. The set span Clueso’s catalogue, with a wonderful rendition of Cello, the intro ironically played on trumpet. There was the usual everyone-sitting-down crowd antics, but this time everyone got up in a wave, back to front. That was a new one to me and genuinely felt link when you’re in the sea and a wave builds up towards you. As one of the mosh pits opened, a girl, having misunderstood the assignment, sat down in the middle to start rowing. Luckily her friend pulled her up just in time for the mosh pit to collide. The group I was standing with managed to reunite a gentleman with his wallet as he dropped it while walking past, so our good deed for the weekend was also ticked off.
Casper followed Clueso on the Blue stage and the crowd stayed pretty full between the acts, normally things did empty out a bit more. Casper appears to have lightened up a little since his last album where the general vibe was barbed wire, angst and nihilism. Instead, the new album has a more flowery, hopeful feel. The stage was covered by a pink curtain before the show and opened to reveal a meadow of flowers across the front. I loved the way the way the spotlight shone through the colourful petals. The set was divided into three acts, each being introduced on the screens with a single word and a dictionary definition. The acts were “doubt”, “rage” and “hope the songs that followed shared those themes. There was a beautiful crowd chorus at the end of Hinterland, with Casper directing the two sides of the crowd, playing them off against each other to see who could be the loudest. Clearly our side won.
Broilers were stepping into the headliner slot for Limp Bizkit who couldn’t make it. The stage was covered with a black banner proclaiming “Nobody left behind” while If the kids are united by Sham 69 was playing. The excitement was building. Then the banner dropped, and we were off. 90 minutes of punk bliss followed. Continuous mosh and circle pits. Crowd surfing. It was fantastic. The crowd etiquette was on point, people protecting anyone when needed to bend down to tie shoes or look for something. Helping each other up before falling over together. It was a wonderful way to end the weekend and definitely a much need catharsis after three years of abstinence.
We started our drive home after the headliners, being directed out onto the road by security guards with glow sticks. It was incredibly smooth and well managed, and we were out in no time. Every rest stop we stopped at for the next 4 hours had a gentle trickle of tired, happy people with Highfield shirts and wristband trickled in for supplies and toilet breaks.
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend at a much-missed festival. The organisation was great, the bands were clearly having a great time being back and the crowds welcomed them with enthusiasm. I can say with, with considerable confidence: Same time next year?
