Future Music Festival in Sydney

On Saturday, March 9th, Sydney hosted one of the last music festivals of the summer season. Other festivals like Big Day Out and Soundwave made a splash in the city, catering mostly to the rock and pop audience. For electronic music lovers, Future was going to be the favorite. Electronic music has become a mainstream genre in the last ten years. Avicii headlined the festival along side The Prodigy and Bloc Party.

My two friends Ari and Alyssa and I pre-gamed at Pancakes on the Rocks where we devoured one of the house specials each. You have to go and eat the pancakes. I choose Bavarian Apple with a mimosa. We headed to the fest on the bus where we easily made friends with some drunk Aussies.

The temperature was hot but we were blessed with a breeze. After standing in line for about twenty-five minutes we made it in. This was the first music festival of my adult life. As we walked in, recent Grammy award winner FUN was playing on the main stage.  We caught the end of their set which the only worthy part. A little too dramatic for me. I like the bump and grind music. 

Next, we got our first round of drinks and made our way back to the same stage to catch the bold Azealia Banks. After reading an article in The Drum Media, a local music publication I was interested in seeing this outspoken and unapologetic firebomb live. She lived up to my expectations. Her dance moves were spot on. Her DJ  spun good island beats broken in with catchy raps. She was a favorite with the crowd as girls song all her songs. I even met an Aussie mate in the beer line who knew all of her songs and admired her talent. Touche Yung Rapunxel.

Crossing over to the main stage it was Aoki time. Steve Aoki is one of the DJs I wanted to see in 2013. It will have to be properly crossed off at a later time. He was fantastic especially when Lil Jon accompanied him on stage. Steve did what he usually does, sprayed champagne everywhere while riding inflatable rafts across the sea of fans. I kept my distance where I could dance. This was the moment when Ari mentioned the low level of volume coming from the stages. I had to agree they needed to turn it up.

The sound was fine in the tented stage where we exposed ourselves to Zeds Dead. The vibe in the tent was what I had been waiting for. The boys dance as hard as the girls. Your ears ring with your heart as you pound your head up into the air. A dance contest erupted between some Aussies and us. California girls prevailed as we dropped it like it was hot to dub step.

With our bodies all shook up, we exited for a bathroom break. Split up we became, I was little simba lost in the herd of antelope like in The Lion King. No face looked familiar and my cell phone had no service. Then all of a sudden I spotted a familiar face. It was one all the way from Long Beach, Sara Burroughs, former sorority sister. We automatically linked up and headed over to catch 18 year old DJ prodigy Madeon. He killed it with his mixes.

Sunset was approaching and thankfully I had found a partner in crime to spend the rest of the night with. Dizzee Rascal came on next. He electrified the festival with his killer backdrops and fun rhymes. He reminded me of Kid Cudi.

Once he finished we were blasted with beats from DJ Hardwell who brought in the night. A perfect warm-up for my boy Avicii who killed it. Not an ounce close of "Fading into Darkness", Sara and I danced until we were numb.

Avicii spun all his hits as I followed along on the shoulders of a nice Australia gentleman. The view and volume was better above the ocean of people. The big screens projected the crowd and it was happiness throughout. At one point I recognized a face on the screen, it was one of my friends from Flinders motel.

When it was over, Sara and I made our way towards the exit where the crowd seemed to part like the sea as we walked down the middle. <-- Literally! We were surprised when we came across The Prodigy who were still rocking away hard. It was the best ending and my favorite performance. The Prodigy, a band I have never heard before took me back to a mix between Authority Zero and pure electronic chaos. It was heaven for the former punk rocker inside me.  I smashed a couple faces in as the crowd around me climbed the tent.

As we exited the Randwick Racecourse, I renamed it 'homeless person paradise' in my head because you could make a fortune of the plastic bottles everywhere. People were covered in foam, others in neon but most like me in dirt and sweat. Future Music Festival did not claim any lives. It did however claim my music festival virginity and I am so satisfied. :)