Festival X Rising
28th November 2019
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Richard Myburgh.
Despite a few hiccups along the way – the debut of Festival X Rising in New Zealand last night was an unforgettable show of epic proportions.
Initially scheduled to be held at Western Springs, a change of venue a few weeks ago saw Festival X Rising relocated to Spark Arena; the cancellation of Australian DJ Anna Lunoe who has performed at such esteemed events as Coachella, Lollapalooza and TomorrowWorld on the day of the event only further adding to the initial worry lines. But with a stellar line-up that offered something for everyone, culminating in a headline slot from none other than Calvin Harris himself, a couple of stumbling blocks was certainly not enough to derail celebrations.
A late afternoon start saw New Zealand born DJ and music producer Soraya La Pread take the helm as opener; the daughter of bassist Ronald La Pread of The Commodores she has a long list of both celebrities and brands that she has lent her mixing skills to; Soraya pulling double duties with not only a full set of her own but DJing in between the artists sets.
If you haven’t experienced the dynamic duo that are Rain and China – better known as the Katayanagi Twins, do you even really exist? Not only rather deft hands at the turntables they are also models that swivel heads wherever they go, not to mention some of the humblest artists in town. With an expansive taste in music that includes Deftones to OutKast, Childish Gambino to Trippie Redd, Famous Dex and everything in between; the Katayanagi twins have an innate ability to read their crowds and lay down before them sets guaranteed to please.
From Soulja Boy’s ‘Bird Walk’ to ‘Crank That’ from DJ Kontrol, the duo hyped up the early arrivals, a little ‘Core’ by the formidable RL Grime introducing stimulating visuals, to keep those down in front happy, their arms raised to the ceiling. If the crowd thought they were already seeing double, the Katayanagi twins had a surprise up their sleeve, another set of twins in the form of Muche and Shingi of eleven7four joining the mix. Never afraid to express themselves, the Katayanagi Twins were soon out-front dancing to their own beats.
At just seventeen, American rapper Lil Pump was a name you couldn’t escape from, the track ‘Gucci Gang’ one that infiltrated the airwaves worldwide. With a propensity for trouble – Gazzy Garcia aka Lil Pump was expelled from school for fighting and inciting a riot – and a public image unashamedly honest of his party boy persona, Lil Pump quickly developed an army of fans. Now nineteen, and Lil Pump was getting his first taste of a kiwi audience, his arrival onstage in a fluorescent yellow tracksuit hailed like a conquering hero.
A nod back to his beginnings arrived early in the set; ‘OK’ by Smokepurpp aka Omar Pineiro (an artist that a thirteen-year-old Lil Pump was first introduced to by his cousin Lil Ominous), a song that saw fans quickly flood the front barrier. ‘Drug Addicts’ and ‘D Rose’ continued to ignite the crowd, his DJ teasing the first bar of that infamous song to make the fans salivate, Lil Pump demanding to see mosh pits before he dropped it. Rather expectedly ‘Gucci Gang’ saw the crowd jump as Lil Pump himself bounded across the stage. While attempts at splitting the attendees down the middle – Lil Pump carried into the front rows by security – failed to manifest, followers more intent on capturing precious Insta footage of their boy up close, Lil Pump still managed to incite mass synchronised bouncing as he rolled out ‘Flex like Ouu’; his dedication to the departed Xxxtentacion in the form of Ski Mask The Slump Gods ‘Take A Step Back’ only pushing them harder.
Accompanied by all the expected frills of CO2 cannons, and cartoon style visuals for tracks such ‘Be Like Me’ feat Lil Wayne – carbon copies of Lil Pump sliding along the screen – his set was one that definitely brought the vibes early; ‘Molly’, ‘ESSKEETIT’, ‘Boss’ and the almost compulsory ‘I Love It’ bringing his set to a close. But not before he had the last word, that word being “Esskeetit” howled into a mic that was then slammed in true Lil Pump style.
Barely a year older than the artist before him, Juice Wrld brought with him not only a hype man but a full live band, something that always brings great excitement to the dedicated as it elevates a set far beyond the monotone that Soundcloud rap and generic hip-hop can so easily fall into in the hands of an unskilled artist.
Juice Wrld may not have been on the scene that long – first coming to the attention of the world last year – but those that follow him, knew they were onto a good thing, his music blurring the boundaries and incorporating elements of emo and rock – cue live band – as well as lyrics heavily steeped in the topic of love and having one’s heart ripped out.
Kicking it off with ‘Armed & Dangerous’ from his debut Goodbye & Good Riddance, there was no doubt about whether he had the chops for the job, the mix of both bars and singing intoxicating and lending a real weight to his set, especially during numbers such as ‘All Girls are the Same’ and ‘Hear Me Calling’, his girlfriend Alexia making an appearance on stage as he sang.
Having already released his second album Death Race for Love, a version of the cover on the screen behind him, Juice Wrld had plenty of material to work with; ‘Bandit’ and a remix of Lil Tecca’s ‘Ransom’ once again giving the crowd fuel for the flailing of limbs. Love for Xxxtentacion was flowing hard as ‘SAD!’ was played in recognition; ‘Legends’ dedicated to those declared as legends by Juice Wrld himself, saw fans cheer as images of Nipsey Hussle, Mac Miller and a monochrome video of Xxxtentacion extolling the virtues of never letting people tell you what you can and can’t do graced the screens behind him.
An impeccable set, complete with interludes that gave the crowd a chance to draw breath, it would have been – up until this point – difficult to have picked a highlight, ‘Black & White’ just as sweet as every one before it. But Juice Wrld had a challenge to see who truly was with him from day one, ‘Lean wit Me’ soon sorting them out and easily winning definitive track of the set. ‘Lucid Dreams’ soon followed before Alexia once again joined her man on stage for ‘Robbery’. Relaying that he would have liked to have played longer but was being asked to leave the stage, Juice Wrld fans began to vocally protest, Wrld instead turning it into a more motivational speech about never giving up on your dreams. Not a bad message to convey when your audience base is so very young.
Is he the god of future house? After last night’s set by French DJ Tchami, all would agree that yes, he most certainly is. Already a pioneer of the genre along with Oliver Heldrens and Don Diablo, Tchami swept through Spark Arena delivering a world class set heavily hinged around that which he is known for, a delicious mix of religion and horror; faceless shadows pounding against stained glass windows with their fists and cameras panning down high arched hallways past swinging chandeliers enthralling watchful eyes.
Yes, as a DJ, Tchami pulled out all the stops, the visual aspect of his show one that was completely hypnotic; Tchami understanding that just watching a man behind a desk for over an hour doesn’t quite make the cut. Add in a set that included everything from ‘Groove404’ to ‘Don’t Stop’ from Miss B, Chris Lorenzo’s ‘Stereotypes’ descending into ‘Jungle’ by Martin Hørger along with his own signature remixes (‘You know you Like It’) and compositions (’Missing You’, ‘Siaw’ and ‘Adieu’) and the entire arena was pumping. Cannons that discharged long white streamers not once but several times, flames, CO2 along with double cannons that showered the fans both front and back with confetti adding to the international festival feel that had descended upon the crowd and guaranteeing that Tchami would be welcomed back with opened arms.
Last act of the night and the arena was absolutely heaving under the weight of thousands of bodies crammed onto the floor in anticipation of the Grammy and Brit award winning Calvin Harris, the Scottish king of the EDM worlds team requiring a solid forty minutes to put together his stage set-up. Within seconds of Harris stepping up behind his desk, fans were in agreement it was well worth the wait as a glittering white structure comprising of three parts rose into the air, reflective panels on the floor, bouncing laser beams up into the ceiling as above him the ginormous screen tilted at angles that made the audience scream in delight.
Going a little old school, Harris first spun his ‘Under Control’ collaboration with Alesso, the iconic synth notes revving up the fans as the drop brought with it, earth shattering bass; early use of yet more CO2 and flames (absolute festival set pre-requisites) thrilling all, the lasers catching Tchami’s white streamers that still hung from the ceiling.
Harris has been on the scene for well over a decade now and it shows, his professionalism and ease with which he performs just as satisfying as the set itself. With a vast catalogue of material to choose from, Harris ensured that all would leave sated, his set including ‘C.U.B.A’, ‘Flashback’, the Rihanna flavoured ‘We Found Love’ and Dua Lipa’s ‘One Kiss’. Also making the grade were ‘I Could be the One’, ‘Feel So Close’ and the visceral Florence Welch single ‘Spectrum (Say my Name)’ the dance floor soon sweating, and that was before The White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army’ was spliced in.
Pulling a crowd favourite from his bag of tricks, his cover of Fatboy Slims ‘Eat Sleep Rave Repeat’ once again had the arena bowing at his feet, a little ‘Aciiid’ by Moguai setting the room on fire as those old enough to remember envisioned blood rain falling from the ceiling as per the opening scene from Blade to which the original Moguai track paid tribute to.
Throughout his set, Harris would continue to check in with the crowd, his Scottish accent charmingly complimentary, his overall set one of gold standard quality that even the most cynical of EDM lovers would be hard pressed to dismiss. Twenty-three and a half billion combined audio and video streams entitling Calvin Harris to wear his crown.
If this is the calibre that Festival X Rising is offering, then 2020 can’t come soon enough!
Were you there at Spark Arena for this high energy EDM / Hip Hop Festival? Or have you seen any of the acts perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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