Image: Paul Underhill
After its huge success last year, We Are FSTVL returned to The Airfield Of Dreams and this time it was not only bigger, but better. For two days and two nights a selection of some of the best artists in electronic dance music brought the Airfield to life, in collaboration with some of the world’s chief club brands and record labels.
Being my first festival of the year I was very excited for this one! Saturday may have been awash with rain but that didn’t stop the masses from turning up to shuffle their hearts out to some seriously good music. I must admit I still don’t understand the “shuffling phenomena” but it seemed you couldn’t escape them.
Throughout the day festival goers were treated to a vast array of electronic music to suit almost every dance fan’s needs. Probably the best on the day was the Defected in The House stage. The guys in there tore it up for every hour of the day and for the duration, the tent remained jam-packed. A particular shout out must go to Kenny Dope who absolutely killed it! It seemed no matter what, I always found myself being thrown back into the Defected tent some way or the other.
For those lucky enough to get their hands on VIP tickets, gold wristband holders had access to the MK & Friends tent which saw the likes of Shadow Child, Route 94, Pleasure State (Live) and Mark Kinchen take to the decks. As was to be expected MK was the crowd pleaser of the day, with Emma Louise’s surprise PA of ‘My Head Is A Jungle”, whipping the crown in to a frenzy.
On The main stage all kinds of famous names graced the stage. Disclosure did an early set whilst the sun was still shining and Maya Janes Coles, who was as fantastic as ever, suitably impressed. We Are FSTVL headliner Richie Hawtin closed the stage on a high leaving you with the feeling that you just didn’t want it to end. The day closed with fireworks and an impressive light show and I must say that despite the festival being open from 9am, I could have quite happily kept going past close.
Day two at the festival was much sunnier and once again everyone seemed in high spirits. I must say the day felt a lot quieter than Saturday but it didn’t really matter, and, to be honest, I don’t think anybody really cared.
As the winner of best new festival at the Festival Awards, We Are FSTVL was always going to try and impress crowds even more this year. And so it did, with its impressive line- up that included the likes of Sven Vath, Ricardo Villalobos, Annie Mac, Nina Kraviz, Tensnake and non-other than Fatboy Slim himself all on Sundays bill.
Image: Luke Dyson Photography
I must admit Sunday was probably my favourite of the two days not only because the line-up was, in my opinion, better than the previous day, but also there is nothing more satisfying than spending a Sunday on a field knowing that it was a bank holiday weekend and so there would be a full day to recover.
Being the forward-thinking festival that it is, We Are FSTVL had a whole new set of hosts and stages for Sunday’s event. At the Cocoon stage Ricardo Villalobos and Sven Vath really made the day, with heavy bass tracks and an incredible sound system these two delivered every bit as expected. I must also say the Circo Loco stage in the VIP area was one of my favourites of the day. In particular, David Squillace absolutely killed it for me; his set was spot on from start to finish.
One of my must sees for the weekend was Nina Kraviz who took to the decks in the Kehakuma tent and I must say she was far better than even I expected. With a set packed full of heavy techno beats it’s easy to see why she’s the name on everyone’s lips in the house and techno community at the moment. Her set was certainly one of the ones I will remember.
Before moving to the main stage for Fatboy Slim’s grand finale we stopped by “Luciano and Friends” to see head honcho Luciano himself. All I can say is he didn’t disappoint, he never does disappoint and that tent was alive from start to finish.
Over at the We are FSTVL’s Eat Sleep Rave Repeat stage, it was packed and everybody seemed to be waiting for the man of the hour, Fatboy Slim. Slim took the stage and with the help of some impressive light shows and visuals his set was brought to life in an explosive way. He treated the crowd to classics such as Eat Sleep Rave Repeat, Praise You and Right Here Right Now, in addition to a remix of Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) and many more tracks, which were topped by fireworks.
All in all, congratulations go out to everyone involved for not only an enjoyable weekend, but an extremely well organised and streamlined event. Bring on next year! In the meantime, here’s a little taste of MK’s amazing set…
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