This weekend saw the hugely anticipated 20th anniversary of the biggest EDM festival ULTRA.

Taking place in the middle of downtown Miami, the party capital of America, the location couldn’t be any more sought after. Partying against a backdrop of the Miami skyline is definitely an experience not to be forgotten.

To say the line-up was massive is an understatement. With hundreds of the best quality over the course of the weekend spread over 6 stages, I found that I was always spoilt for choice and there was always more than one act that I wanted to see at once. The fact that this festival is in Bayfront park though, meant that all the stages were relatively close together. This was so convenient as I could go back and forth from one stage to another easily. There were no issues of getting lost like there is at bigger festivals. Although there were over 165,000 people in attendance it didn’t feel like overcrowded. In fact, it felt like just enough people to make the atmosphere perfect.

As there were so many massive artists I am just gonna go ahead and tell you about the highlights of the festival and the absolute banging artists that I enjoyed so very much.

When I got to the site of the festival the first thing I noticed were the hoards of familiar strangers. I use this oxymoron because every person dressed wildly in their bright, colourful and sequined attire was an absolute sight for sore eyes. After living the mundane lifestyles that we live all winter, its refreshing and revitalising to see people dressing up in a spectrum of colours, unashamedly proud of the uniqueness of each individual’s trippy ensemble. I loved it!

So the first act that I really got to enjoy at ULTRA was the legend that is Steve Aoki. The Miami born EDM and house DJ and producer is most well known for his ruthlessly entertaining showmanship skills as well as his upbeat and entrancing beats. ULTRA festival is well known for the DJs bringing surprise guests onto the stage, and Aoki was no exception. After performing his most well know remixes and collaborations, mid-way through the set Aoki bought out Latin singer and rapper Daddy Yankee to perform world-famous hits ‘Gasolina’ and the hit of the summer ‘Dura’. They then went on to perform ‘Azukita’ at which point the crowd was going wild, as you know, fans love an unexpected guest to turn up and excite the crown. Following the performance from Daddy Yankee, Aoki went on to play more of his classics hits including ‘Cake Face’ and ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ leaving everyone on an absolute high ready for the next set.

The next act up for playing was Dutch Trance master Armin Van Buuren. He has been known for hosting A State Of Trance radio show which broadcasts to over 37 million listeners weekly. His uplifting and energetic music is nothing less than food for our souls, and it was absolutely incredible to watch such a huge DJ perform a perfectly melodic set amongst the Miami skyline. Buuren also brought out special guests Conrad Sewell to perform their new funky electronic sounding single together called ‘Sex, Love an Water’ as well as bringing out Shapov towards the end of his set to play their tune ‘The Last Dancer’. The atmosphere of the crowd was electric as Buuren played tune after tune of classic trance, each one more uplifting than the last.

Next up was to check out the ultra worldwide stage as this had such an unusual set-up, nothing like I’d ever seen before. The stage was a sort of open-ended dome shape with the main speakers and visuals overhead meaning that the quality of music from inside and the surrounding areas was perfect, however, the music couldn’t be heard from more than a few meters outside of the dome. It was an incredible way of keeping the music confined but still enabling it to sound crystal clear. Because all the stages at ULTRA are so close together, it is an ingenious and quite essential aspect of the stage set-up to be able to get them all playing music at optimum volume and clarity but as not to be heard at the surrounding stages.

What I experienced next on the worldwide stage was a genre that I can quite honestly say I have never heard before. What I have now come to understand as ‘Alien House’. I was absolutely transfixed by this 22 year old DJ who goes by the name of Rezz. Sporting electronic hypnotic glasses she says she wears them to a sign of respect for the art of hypnotism. She is signed to deadmau5’s label mau5trap and had apparently spent the last few years working 14 hours a day on her mixes to perfect a brand new out of this world genre. While I would describe some of the tunes as a harder version of dubstep, sometimes slowed down, it was definitely an eclectic mix of music. Artists who come on stage and mash the genres up tend to be brave and sometimes it doesn’t always work, but this is a woman who has put the time and effort in and has absolutely perfected a brand new genre. Watch this space for the upcoming of Alien House music.

Another artist that I have to mention was Virtual Self on the live stage, an alias of DJ Porter Robinson who has been well known for his wide production range. This was another mash-up of genres and I found my ears had been subjected to the beauty of a genre that I had never heard before. It was almost like the backdrop was soft, melodic jungle mixed into the main sound of a rhythmic focused beat. It was incredible, to say the least. I love hearing new genres and ULTRA festival definitely gave me so much more than I expected. The uplifting trance laid on top of a subtle drum beat was an absolute winner.

Approaching the festival early on Saturday afternoon the first thing that caught my attention apart from the bass blaring out was the emotion on people’s faces. Everyone had a very relaxed, happy and chilled vibe about them and you could tell people were genuinely happy to be there enjoying the music and atmosphere in all its glory. Saturday held a huge line up of mega-artists that played throughout the day including – Freddie Le Grand, Christian Smith b2b B-Traits, Cheat Codes, Brohug, Nastia, Dubfire b2b Nicole Mudaber and Stefano Noferini who all offered incredible sets throughout the day. Listening to beats under the Miami sunshine in a park full of like-minded ravers has got to be one of the best things that I have ever done. But it was the night time shows that really amazed me.

With all the visuals been absolutely out of this world, literally some of the best I have ever seen. The trance-inducing visuals were none stop and every artist seemed to have a theme that fitted around either their stage name or style of music. For example, Marshmello had visuals resembling his namesake, with bouncing cartoon marshmallow characters parading along to his future bass beats on the big screen creating a playful energetic vibe. The American dance music producer and DJ played almost an hour of upbeat house music along with his original remixes of classic songs. He also bought a shitload of celebrity guests on stage including Slushii, Yo Gotti, G-Eazy, Southside, Lil Uzi Vert, and the one and only Will Smith. To perform Will’s song “Miami” Marshmello brought out the legendary rapper, actor and motivational speaker to perform his own song. This was a completely unexpected event in the evening which left the crowd screaming with excitement.

The Chainsmokers were first timers at ULTRA this year and lucky enough for them they got the closing spot for the Saturday show, which in my opinion is a great achievement. To pull this off they had to do something quite amazingly special and to be fair to them they really did. The American DJ Duo hit fame in 2014 with their top 20 hit ‘#SELFIE’ and have since shot to fame. Appearing on the stage in a manner that none of the other acts did, they actually came through the centre of the crowd to join the stage in the middle. This took everyone by surprise and added to the atmosphere even more as they went directly into their first hit of the night ‘Closer’ ‘Something Just Like This’ and ‘Don’t let me Down’ while delivering hit after hit of remixed house classics. They kept the energy on stage completely alive by keeping the hits fresh and new. The tunes were all well mixed and they kept a good flow of conversation and feedback from the crowd. The amount of flags waving from the crowd were uncountable, and it was magical to see so many different nationalities all coming together for the love of music to unite in a synchronistic environment.

Weighing up the decision to leave the end of The Chainsmokers because I wanted to catch the end of Carl Cox performing at the Resistance stage I decided to catch some of his set because as you all know Carl Cox is an absolute legend and his techno beats are the heaviest. By the time I got there the techno was in full swing and had pretty much peaked. The stage was crazy loud with the feeling of the bass coming from all angles, LED-studded rectangles robotically dangled up and down, suspended from the ceiling as the crowd tried to reach to the sky with their hands in time to the music. The bass got louder and heavier as the nitrogen sprayed on the crowd to cool us all down. It was an amazing finale to the Saturday and as I was leaving I saw all the fireworks from the main stage which was a great end to the night.

Sunday saw probably the biggest line-up of the weekend as huge acts lined all 6 stages at various times throughout the day. Eric Prydz, Armin van Buuren, J.E.S.u.S, David Guetta, Nicky Romero, Andy C, Dub Vision, Sub Focus, Jillionaire, The Wailers and Infected Mushroom all had planned spots across the weekend as a surprise reunion from one of the biggest groups in house music history that have not to have played together since 2013.

Modestep were an absolute treat for me as a drum and bass and dubstep fan I relished in the electronic beats that were played at sunset on the live stage. Long-standing psychedelic trance group Infected Mushroom also played an absolute storm of their pioneering and innovative music. This collaborated with the most colourful and intense visuals of the weekend made for an entrancing show with fans from all over the world out to support the often sold out group playing tracks from their albums ‘The Legend of the Black Shawarma’ ‘Army of Mushrooms’ ‘CVII’ and ‘Converting Vegetarians’

On the line-up for ULTRA the closing act for the main stage was blurred out, hence not revealing who was going to perform. This seems like a strange thing to do as to not put a reconciliation of one of the biggest groups on the planet on the line-up, but it was definitely one of the best surprises of the weekend. On ULTRA’s 20th anniversary and the 5th year anniversary since they last played together, Swedish House Mafia, made up of Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso took to the stage to play an awesome set of well-known classics as well as some individual new material. Despite a few start-up issues with the lights and sound, the DJ’s carried on in true professional fashion as the crowd were just incredibly surprised and thrilled by the reunion and ready to hear the songs that they know so well.

Of course, the set started with the classic hit ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’ with a rendition of Axwell Λ Ingrosso ft Kinna – ‘How do you feel right now’ mixed in for good measure. Huge classics such as ‘Greyhound’ were played as well as the amazingly uplifting tune ‘Save the World’ ft Laidback Luke and Deborah Cox. The atmosphere at this point was like nothing that I had ever seen or heard before, with everyone in the crowd on the most euphoric high at what they were witnessing. New hits from Steve Angello’s anticipated album ‘HUMAN’ were played as well as brand new music from Axwell Λ Ingrosso. They even mixed in a Led Zeppelin track ‘Stairway to Heaven’ effortlessly tuned with the Axwell mashup of ‘Don’t you worry child’ and ‘Sweet Disposition’ One of the highlights of the set for me apart from their nostalgic originals was them playing ‘Pendulum-The Island’ as their sound mimics the uplifting euphoria The Swedes always emulate. The ultimate highlight of the evening for me though was the DJ’s playing a mix of 3 renditions of the song ‘One’ in various styles as flames and pyrotechnics galore engulfed the stage. Huge flamethrowers of fire rose up surrounding the entire stage with a burning heat. What an absolute finale to the most amazing EDM and dance festival to exist.

The many highlights of my weekend ranged from seeing some of the biggest DJ’s performing such fantastic sets that I times I couldn’t believe how immense it was…. To hanging out all weekend in an incredible location in the sunshine, to the vast amount of people from different nationalities that I got to meet to the absolutely eclectic mix of music and discovering brand new genres. ULTRA 2018 was definitely something special and I am eternally thankful to the universe that I got to experience it all. If you are thinking about going next year, just book it and I promise that your sweet EDM dreams will be ultimately fulfilled.

The post Reviewed: ULTRA Miami 2018 appeared first on Data Transmission.

Attending the Let it Roll festival was an exciting opportunity for me as it featured almost every current drum and bass artist around. Held in the baking hot sunshine on an abandoned Soviet-era airfield outside the Czech capital, Prague, this festival was not for the faint hearted. It was one of those occasions when hardcore ravers from all over Europe gather together to enjoy their love of Drum and Bass, Neurofunk, Breakbeat, Breakcore, Liquid, Jump Up and everything in between. Truly an experience and brilliant 23rd birthday present for me.

Apart from attending Sunbeatz DnB festival in Ibiza for 3 years running, this was my first festival abroad. This was completely different though as in Ibiza all the nights are held in clubs. So, I guess you could say, that it was my first open air festival. And what a fucking difference it makes. For years I have marveled over videos online of the legendary Defqon.1 festival, wanting more than anything to attend a festival that sells out in a matter of hours simply because of the incredible stages, sound systems and laser light shows. As an avid lover of Drum n Bass, Let it Roll was set to be even better.

Set about half an hour away from the iconic city of Prague, in a quiet little town called Milovice, the festival is surprisingly accessible with plenty of amenities nearby and even a Tesco to stock up on well needed water, food and booze. Although the festival does have loads of food stalls selling everything from pizza, Chinese food to local Czech cuisine, we opted for the money saving option of bringing our own food. The bars were what you’d expect from a normal festival, although pints were a steal at €2 per drink. The money-operating system was slightly confusing, with the festival currency being BOLTS. The exchange rate was about €2 per BOLT, which entailed converting GBP to CZK Koruna, then Koruna to BOLTS. Although this did take a bit of getting used to, everything at the festival with the exception of cigarettes could only be paid for on an electronic wristband that could be topped up before the festival, or on site via credit or debit card. After complaining about the initial hassle of this, I realized that the ease of not carrying cash about was actually a bonus. There was also a really awesome scheme that included a cup exchange, which meant for every cup that was handed in, you could exchange for 1 BOLT, the equivalent of €2, which meant that we felt like we were getting a lot more back for our money.

The atmosphere at Let it Roll was extremely friendly, with a mix of mainly European people, and only around 20% of the tickets were sold to locals. The majority of festival goers we met were from Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Belgium, Britain, The Netherlands and France. The eclectic mix of people meant that there was a diverse range of personalities all coming together over their love of music. I can honestly say that it opened our eyes to the amazing range of culture offered by a diverse crowd of people. Although we can learn so much from our lovely European neighbors, deep down people are people are people, and we are all the same despite our cultural differences. It was so enlightening to meet people from other cultures uniting in their love of music, and I must say that this is one of the main things that going to a festival out of Britain has taught me. And I loved every second of it. During the minutes before we boarded the train to Milovice, we met a lovely Slovakian couple, Frederika and Palov. We instantly clicked when we found out that Frederika had lived on the same road that I grew up on, in Sheffield, England. I guess it’s not such a big world after all. Making friends before even entering the festival was a godsend, as they helped me to negotiate my way around the booze aisle as well as the taxis trying to overprice unsuspecting tourists. It was lovely to bond with people so quickly, and after setting up camp together, we soon realised that everyone at that festival was just as friendly.

Now on to the main reason we had trekked all the way to Prague, the music. Let it Roll had one of the most impressive line-ups that I’ve ever seen, with nine stages and hundreds of acts lined up over the 3 days. There was even a pre-party on the Wednesday night with one of the stages, an old airplane hangar with a huge rig inside, open to all the eager festival goers. This stage was open 24/7 and didn’t shut until 4pm on the Sunday. Whereas our festivals usually go all weekend, Let it roll was a bit different as the main days were on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The first night on Thursday hosted an array of artists, with all stages apart from the main stage open. The highlights for me personally was the hospitality night on the factory stage. Big name artists in liquid DnB featured including S.P.Y, Netsky, London Elektricity, Danny Byrd and Wilkinson.

The Madhouse Stage was absolutely sick, holding thousands of people under a big blue marquee, the feature was a huge Optimus Prime-style robot that looked out onto all the ravers from behind the DJ decks. On Thursday night, Critical Music, an independent record label based in north London owned and run by DJ and producer Kasra took over this stage to provide some awesome DnB artists. All time favorites Ivy Lab were my pick of the night, providing dirty DnB mixed with just the right amount of Neuro. Other acts played on the label that night were Kato, Hybris, Rido and Foreign Concept.

After all the excitement of the previous night, the festival gives people a chance to relax and chill throughout the daytime. By that I mean that they don’t start the main acts until 6pm with some of the smaller stage open from 4pm. There is one small stage open for midday as well as the 24hr Hangar. So people aren’t left without music, but the main shows don’t start until the evening.

I would say Friday, for me, was the highlight, as it featured the best names and the acts that I was most excited to see. In all reality it definitely didn’t disappoint, instead it surpassed all expectations. To be honest I was spoilt for choice and split between the stages, but tried to pack in as much as possible. Friday daytime was so enjoyable because we found a rig called Forbidden Society, which was on the shredder stage, another smaller industrial looking stage with burnt out cars and a makeshift scrapheap metal man. Although I’d never heard of Forbidden Society, then have to get a shout out as the music was some of the phattest, dirtiest Neurofunk that I’ve ever heard. I really enjoyed it and would travel specifically to see that rig.

Starting the nighttime with a bit of Liquid Drum n bass to ease me into it, I headed towards the newly opened main stage. I enjoyed Hybrid Minds’ set for the first half an hour, then went wandering to find something a bit heavier. Discovering new artists is one of my favourite things about festivals, and this one was no exception. Walking around the festival we stumbled upon what sounded like dubstep crossed with Skrillex. It was quite unusual music but definitely had a banging beat. As we walked in to investigate further, the now familiar robot loomed over us again as we danced for duration of the set. The artists I later found out was Italian duo Was A Be who have only burst onto the scene in the last few years on Shogun audios label.

Next up was the legendary RAM Records take over on the factory stage. This was the second biggest stage at the festival. It was a large open air area that consisted of mechanical nuts and bolts, moving in unison with the music. The huge scaffolding framed stage was set out to look like a factory, complete with smoking chimneys, huge pillars and moving steam punk cogs, all colored in industrial yellow. This created an intense and surreal atmosphere that really suited the music genre and enhanced the experience even more. Obviously, Andy C’s independent drum and bass label, RAM Records (est 1992) are a huge name in Drum n Bass so they were bound to feature some wicked artists held on their record label. Sets were featured from artists such as Madface, Bensley, Loadstar b2b DC Breaks, Bad Company, Dimension, Teddy Killerz and Killbox (Ed Rush&Audio).

The opening show for the main stage was held at 10pm Friday night. And damn was it spectacular. The firework displays were second to none, and the lasers were absolutely out of this world. Throughout the night I got to skank my little arse off to high contrast (liquid), Drum n bass legend Andy C, Calyx & Teebee, world famous DJs Hype & Hazard playing all their usual tunes (Ready or not, Mr. Happy, Machete) followed by uplifting DnB from The Upbeats.

Somewhere amongst that time, I snuck off to see the absolute legends that are Black Sun Empire. And as always, they couldn’t have been any better. Performing on Shogun Audio’s night in, again, the Madhouse, they dropped tune after tune of purely awesome and dirty drum n bass. Some of the finest music I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the highlight of their set for me, was probably hearing some new material as they played songs from their new album ‘The white room’ released this year.

Saturday night was set to be big. After a whole day of blazing hot sunshine, thousands of sunburnt party goers set upon the various stages. With Jump-up all stars taking over the factory stage, artists such as original sin and sub zero were the highlights of my night. The main stage was also incredible as the astounding laser shows wowed me once again. The lineup, I’d say was a bit tamer on the main stage tonight and aimed more towards the mainstream music scene. Saying this, I enjoyed it a lot and spent the evening in awe of the lasers and bassist speakers that I have ever come across. That must be said, that the sound systems were second to none. Absolutely top notch sound quality the whole way through. The Europeans definitely know how not to skimp on the bass, unlike some of the mainstream UK festivals.

Featuring on the main stage on the final night was The Prototypes, Camo & Krooked, Sigma and Sub Focus. However, the highlight of the main stage for me were Delta Heavy, playing tunes which were just dirty as hell. They had the whole of the thousands strong crowd skanking their absolute arses off. Another thing about Europeans, they can dance! Never in my life have I seen moves that fancy, with so many people putting their all in and completely losing themselves in the music. It was such a beautiful thing to see. Other attractions on Saturday included an Eatbrain take over, featuring Malux, Coppa live, Synergy, Mob Tactics, State of Mind and Telekinesis. Then on the port stage there was a night hosted by Dispatch Records featuring Panorama, Onset, Safire, Kyrist, Alix Perez and Nymfo.

To be honest I wish I could have split myself into 2, 3 or even 9 so I could have caught and danced to every single act. But I guess it’s just another reason to come back next year. Let it roll is all about the music, it’s absolutely a no frills festival, with minimal amenities on site, hardly any decorations and on a completely flat plane of land, and only a few activities to do in the day. Despite all this, it is literally the most amazing experience that I could have ever wished for my 23rd Birthday. The sound systems are incredible, the line-up is everyone that you could ask for if you like DnB, playing act after act consecutively with no gaps in between leaving you guessing how long until the next set… The people are warm, kind, friendly and hardcore. Everyone is so into the music and it makes for a brilliant atmosphere and all round spectacular festival. It definitely is one to make the effort for if you like DnB, Breakbeat, Neuro, Dubstep or anything dirty with a beat. This year was the 10 year anniversary so it was a special one, but I can see every year in the future been just as good and hope to return next year.

Photo credit: Jakub Dolezal

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Set amongst the idyllic countryside of South Wales, Balter Festival is back for its fourth year of phat beats and killer sets. Get ready for madness as an array of the most wonderful wanderers descend onto the middle of a random welsh racecourse.

Held on the 2nd – 4th June in Chepstow, Wales. This year is set to be a big one with over 140 acts confirmed. You can look forward to act’s such as KOG and the Zongo Brigade, Devilman, Deadbeat, DJ EJ, Dubmatrix & Charlie P, Phatworld, Ed Cox vs E.coli, Gypsies of Bohemia, Bagdaddies, King Prawn, Captian Hotknives, Valdal vs Madidextrous and Songebob Squarewave to name just a few.

I can guarantee that Balter Festival is all about the music. With genres ranging from Drum n Bass, breakbeat, dub, baseline and speed garage to industrial music such as gabber, speed core, Frenchcore and terrorcore. There is also a lot of live music and upbeat genres such as ska, reggae and electro swing. The eclectic range of music means there is something for everyone, catering for even the most hardcore bass heads.

The fact that this festival hosts so many different genres that a lot of festivals overlook, means that it is an absolute godsend for the many of us that enjoy nothing more than stomping it up on a Saturday night in the wilderness somewhere in front of massively powerful rigs.

The whole rave generation nowadays expects something completely different from your standard festival, and this is exactly what Balter does a brilliant job of catering for.

Featuring underground sound systems from all over the UK, Balter Festival is not only a meeting place for like minded ravers, but also an absolute haven for those of us who live for the free parties.

After hearing all the hype about the festival the previous years, I knew that I had to try it out. I’ve never heard about a more talked about music event, and by that I mean that the whole of my city was talking about it, saying that it’s the best thing they’ve ever experienced. In Sheffield the rave scene is HUGE. To us, there is nowt better than meeting all your crew, waiting to get a pre-recorded voicemail on a party line number to a secret destination, usually somewhere picturesque out in the sticks.

Attending a free party can be a surreal experience, but I can honestly say that Balter is like a free party on steroids, it’s a 3 day long rave where you can be yourself, meet amazing people and just had a laugh and a stomp. I loved it.

Not a festival for the faint hearted, we get to party for days on end, with an array of rigs to keep us entertained and music that quite literally couldn’t get any harder or more industrious and that’s exactly how we like it!

The location is smack bang in the middle of a racecourse and in rural Wales. It’s amazing to see this unusual location transformed with artwork and graffiti which creates an array of food for the imagination. The vibes are so friendly and relaxed. Last year I swear that the whole of Sheffield was there, so not only was it amazing to get to party with so many familiar faces, but what I found was that everyone was amazingly friendly and chatty. I also realised that the whole of the UK really does party that hard!

It’s amazing to find so many like-minded individuals that love to party just as much as you. I can safely say that you will leave Balter festival having made friends and memories for life. With some of the most interesting conversations and memories been had on this (hopefully) sunny weekend in early June.

Go on, kick off your summer in the right way and try this amazing, impactful festival.

Don’t miss the fire spinning, shows, jugglers and magicians that also feature alongside the killer line-up, adding to the already enriching experience.

This festival is for the avid music fans amongst us. People who can appreciate the bassiest beats and best sound quality. There will be no turning off the bass at 9pm like some of the bigger festivals, and I promise you will stomp like you have never stomped before! Trust me this one is going to pop off!

Check back here for an exclusive post-festival review of the shenanigans, you definitely don’t want to be reading about what you’ve missed out on, so make sure you grab your tickets directly from www.balterfestival.com/tickets or www.ticketspread.com

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On my return from Boomtown Fair, I can honestly say that it is the most EPIC place I have ever been.

Boomtown Fair is not just a festival, but a gathering of like-minded individuals joined in unity to express, not only their love of music, but a passion for thinking outside the box and overriding any social norms in a brilliant expression of creativity.

The festival is split into 9 different towns or ‘districts’. Each one harvesting an array of mesmerizing décor and zany characters. Downtown hosts places like ‘Distrkt 5’ where robotic sex shows and industrial music are the norm, stages such as ‘The Scrapyard’ play everything from hardcore, frenchcore, gabber and terrorcore. Whereas ‘Barrio Loco’ hosted a lot more live artists. Uptown saw districts such as ‘Wild West’ with makeshift saloons and cowboys walking about everywhere. ‘Mayfair’ is the classier area which hosts a beautiful sky-bar, the perfect place to watch the sunset, as well as brilliant bands all weekend playing everything from electro swing to live jazz. ‘The Old Mine’ stage in the ‘Old Town’ district had a lot of country and folk bands, whereas the ‘Whistlers Green’ healing area was a lot more chilled out and offered loads of workshops and personal crafts as well as a healing fire and the windmill stage that hosted more live music. One of the best places that I went though was the 3 forests that they had, each one a bit bigger and wackier than the next. Over the weekend there were masses amounts of techno and psytrance played and the atmosphere in those wood was magical to say the least.

And since this festival is of such massive proportions, I feel the only way I can start to try and explain the grand scale of activities throughout the weekend would be to highlight the best things I got the privilege of experiencing. However, the festival is that big that there is far too much to see and do in one weekend, I bet you would need a month camping in that place before you could fully appreciate the effort that has gone into creating this astounding wonderland of fun. There really is something for everyone and even if you’re going specifically to see your favourite artists, I guarantee you will leave having discovered and danced to genres you never even knew existed.

Arriving at the festival around mid-day Thursday, the first thing that struck me was the sheer size and the amount of stages. A colourful array of decorations had been placed everywhere, and everywhere I turned I was entranced by the most random attractions, each one a little bit crazier than the next. It was literally a feast for the imagination. Although the finishing touches were being put on the main stages and saved for the Friday night opening performances, a lot of the street venues and some of the smaller stages were open. I chose to go and see Australian-born saxophonist Mr.Woodnote who treated us to a mood lifting set alternating between playing sax and oboe, while Lil Rhys MC’d.

On Friday night, I ventured to the Lion’s Den, which was the place to be if you like reggae, ska, dub, ragga or jungle. The stage is a huge Aztec-style temple complete with water features. The amazing sound system was the perfect place to host dub beats, and Congo Natty smashed it playing all there jump up classics. An array of junglists descended onto the Aztec themed field for a proper knee’s up.

Later in the night was a set I had been really looking forward to, Audio playing at the brand new Sector 6 stage. I had already been to watch the opening of the Sector 6 stage earlier in the day, as Deadbeat UK DJ’d epic bassline and 4×4 garage along with Forca MC.

This set was honestly spectacular and to see that many ravers all skanking to a bit of old skool garage was just incredible. Sector 6 is a huge industrial style stage, that is set further back from the festival. Walking down to it, you can feel the buzz and excitement as the beats slowly creep into your ears.

Audio is Drum and Bass at its finest, as were the following act Calyx & Teebee.

It was a beautiful experience to be able to really let loose and enjoy the phatest beats while immersed in a spectacular light and sound show.

Saturday saw headliners The Levellers followed by Leftfield play in the Town Centre, which is a district set up to resemble a classic town and includes street venues such as the well known Job Centre. However, I was there for the beats, and although I caught a bit of The Levellers on my way back to Sector 6, I was just on a mission to go and lap up some bass.

Ms Dynamite put on a brilliant show full of energy and heavy beats, followed by So Solid Crew performing well-known hits such as ’21 Seconds’. The crowd went absolutely wild at this point as thousands of ravers were all singing and skanking along to the tunes.

The highlight for me on Saturday evening was one of my favourite drum and bass artists, Ivy Lab performing a set with Sam Binga.

This was held in the Chinatown district, where there is a wicked arcade, inspirational graffiti of Chinese dragons, and an assortment of underground clubs and street venues, including Dubtendo which hosted Nicky Blackmarket on the Sunday daytime. The main stage in Chinatown is called Bang-Hai Palace, a spectacular 6 story high stage complete with lights, lasers and fireworks. I can safely say that my few hours skanking to Ivy Lab at Bang-Hai Palace was one of the greatest moments of my life. The beats were absolutely spot on and the heavy DnB was exactly what I came to boomtown to see. The set was an absolute smasher, although due to recently imposed noise restrictions throughout Boomtown, I have to mention that the levels of bass aren’t quite what one comes to a festival to hear. Despite the music being slightly quieter than I would have liked, the atmosphere made up for it and the surroundings left me genuinely awe-struck.

On Sunday, my favourite band to watch was The Parov Stelar Band in the town centre. This live electro swing band always impresses me beyond words and they got the whole crown dancing for the whole hour and a half set. The legend that is Damien Marley also performed that evening in Trenchtown, songs such as ‘Patience’ and ‘As We Enter’ were sung as well and his father’s classics ‘Could you be loved?’ and the fitting ‘Redemption Song’

Sector 6 closing party was one of the highlights of my weekend. Roni Size followed by DJ Hype b2b DJ Hazard and MC GQ the crowd had literally thousands of ravers all ready to skank their hardest and end the weekend with a bang. Revellers were constantly entertained with absolute tunes, and the amazing light show combined with an impressive sound system and an array of pyrotechnics, definitely made for one of the best experiences I have ever seen. Flashes of bright neon lights set the scene to perfectly accompany the dirtiest drops, imaginable. It was definitely a show to remember. One of the most amazing things about Boomtown is there can be so many people in a crowd, yet everyone is so friendly and kind, and people give each other space to dance and enjoy the show without been too cramped up, which is a feeling that you never get when seeing artists that big in clubs.

Overall, Boomtown smashed it beyond any expectations. I don’t quite know what I expected from this festival but it was so incredibly amazing that I could have happily stayed there forever and been completely content with life. I think a mix of the astounding décor, the crazy and beautiful crowd, the complete spectrum of music genres and the ongoing story of Boomtown and the underlying hints to a revolution, made it the best festival I have ever been to. I will definitely be coming back year after year to discover new talents and just immerse myself in the absolute sheer madness of the festival.

Thank you Boomtown, you were astounding!

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