We asked a fellow media correspondent about Portola a few weeks ago if they were attending the novel alt-electro festival:

“No, but oh my god”. 

It’s still the best way to describe it. Portola instilled a chain reaction of freakouts across the world with friends of friends showing friends this lineup. 

Fred Again. Huge. Though we’re on the tail end of his surge now the Boiler Room set was stashing 100k views per day. A slew of unreleased tracks is only available to see in person. Flume just released his 3^rd album and Jamie XX was dropping a new song the same day of his performance. All this, and more, on James Blake’s birthday. 

Chemical Brothers took it personally. That live set was like nothing else: Cryptic thespians on screen playing with the music and lights simultaneously. A shaman casting spells with lasers burning forth from his hands and into the crowd. They’ve been in the game for three decades now and after jamming a 25-year-old song live that still hits, I mean that’s it right there, we’re done.

Jamie XX’s IDs are in high demand. I can’t fathom his vault of hard drives with the secret sauce. His music is minimal but pervasive and insinuating, he doesn’t need a lot to set the tone. A few chops of Arabic vocal phrases over garage rave kicks is the recipe. “Idontknow” went hard, especially with people now anticipating the switch-up.

Fred played the hits and then some. He’s armed with just as many IDs as Jamie XX but his are the talk of the town. The Future collaboration just dropped and you already know the crowd went stupid I couldn’t get over the absence of his Romy collab. The XX vocalist/guitarist wrote a beautiful song, perhaps one of the more evocative songs in Fred’s repertoire, and her set was just a few hours prior. It did not play, though I have no merit to genuinely complain.

There was a focus on a wide array of artists during the day. Shy Girl, Dawn Richards, L’Emperatrice, Drama, and Sad Night Dynamite, who went on to demur “they need to put us on later, we should be on at midnight. We’re not a daylight kind of band.” Slowthai and Young Franco, who I spoke with here, seemed to be the most favored acts of the openers. 

Over on the ship stage, Arca had no regard for anything beyond cathartic sub-bass death rattle. She is the late Sophie morphed with Death Grips, and this is the part of the fest that most interested me. Some of these artists ventured so far out of conventional songwriting that it’s, like, occasionally incomprehensible. The music is abrasive and quick and sick and violent and annoying, but she found her people.

Oneohtrix, however, did not find his people. He was a last-minute replacement for M.I.A. (though not last min enough) and folks were quite bewildered. They switched him with Yves as well because it’s pretty much agreed upon that the latter has more closing potential. I liked it though. Electronic music doesn’t need a drop to be enticing, though the fervor live can go either way.

Portola is a new festival, but I trusted Goldenvoice after Second Sky last year and expected good things. Four stages: warehouse, ship, crane, and pier looking exactly how you’re expecting. The harbor boasted a solid foundation for a festival. If not too solid, because hot damn that’s a lot of asphalt. If only for a moment, it seemed like we all together disrupted the western shipping trade routes to rave down.

With Flume, it felt like this was the case, his sounds very loosely comprise the human definition of music. In fact, he hawk-style rail grinds the exact moments between rhythm and lunacy ad nauseam. Those tracks were the port lighthouse that evening. Jasper’s Song was a notable recess from this nonsense, but mostly everything off of HTIF was unreal.

The warehouse stage was a social experiment. They funneled the entire crowd into one small back entrance, usable only after a maze of cross-weaving lines, ignoring the literal garage-size entrances layered across the warehouse facade. People preferred to watch PinkPantheress and Charli from outside the zoo. But it’s only mentioned because there’s nothing else to complain about. 

Admittedly, I’ve never been too into Bicep. They exhume the sophisticated frat boy, only active deep into the warehouse rave where they gather and talk draft kings. So the context was there and the music was fine. It was bouncy enough but I was satiated. I prefer their live stuff over their recorded material. Cold take.

Peggy Gou was awesome too. I only knew her from live sessions over the pandemic. Her house music was so refined and smooth – comfy attacks and smooth releases. Her and the Four Tet / Floating Points mix set was the Crane stage summed up.

What Portola sought to do was kind of accomplished before it happened. The music showcases how much there is outside of the term EDM, a heavy term that Portola very lucidly sidesteps. This isn’t Electric Daisy tier, and the senescent grandeur of festival bangers is few and far between here. Portola ships you off into alternative electronic: micro house, glitch, dark ambient, post-dubstep, breakbeat, and hyper pop.  

Mainstream dance festivals have their place, in reality, you can’t run from it. But now there’s balance. A sub-world of glitchy, above-ground weirdness, and to be fair only a little pretentious, on a huge scale. The SF skyline in the background was a nice touch too.

Check out our Portola interviews with Young Franco, and keep an eye out for the Sad Night Dynamite and Palace features upcoming.

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Friday’s set list was packed with artists and was a fairly hip-hop-heavy day, but Aly & AJ kicked off the event with a flash from the past but chose to omit “Potential Break Up Song” from their set which left some fans quite disappointed. Coi Leray gave a fun and energetic performance that got her whole crowd movin’ and groovin’. Her fabulous red bikini fit also rocked everyone’s world.

left: Dev Coi Leray after her set; right: Del Water Gap

It was a rap-filled afternoon after the first few sets and JPEGMAFIA gave a vibrant and entertaining performance. He completely lit up the stage, dancing and interacting with the crowd. This was arguably one of the best performers of the weekend. His cover of “Call Me Maybe” was beautifully haunting and a perfect break in between his more brash and intense numbers. 

Some craziness and complications clearly happened in the day leading up to Friday, because a single time slot was replaced not once, but twice last minute. First MIGOS were replaced with Lil Wayne and then (an hour before) Lil Wayne was replaced by A$AP Ferg [cover image]. A rollercoaster of emotions for hip hop and rap fans, but A$AP Ferg did not disappoint. A$AP Ferg took the stage with confidence and charm, commenting on the situation:  “I was just chillin’, and then I got a call from the festival like, ‘Yo Ferg! We need your ass to come right now!” The whole crowd laughed and A$AP Ferg gave an incredible performance despite being a last-minute addition to the lineup. The ground was shaking during “Plain Jane”.

Jack Harlow gathered what seemed like one of the biggest crowds of the night. The air was filled with excitement for this set, but while Harlow’s looks and vocals were very much on point that set felt deflated, something was missing in his surprisingly subtle stage presence. In parallel to this performance Kid Cudi’s set began and halfway through Harlow’s set a stampede of people headed towards the main stage for Cudi’s performance. Kid Cudi‘s fantastic energy and performance brought day one to an incredible end. there wasn’t a person in the crowd who wasn’t jumping to “Memories” or “Pursuit of Happiness”.

Day two started off a little cloudy and was fairly mellow with the earlier performers. Gus Dapperton and his band gave a calm and emotional set. Things REALLY picked up when Tove Lo took the main stage. Her crowd was enormous, especially for an afternoon time slot. People were thrilled to see Lo and everyone screamed their hearts out to her classic OG hit “Habits (Stay High)” and her brand new single “No One Dies From Love”.

Ashnikko was also a highlight on Saturday, femme fatale in her songs as well as on stage, she brought a crazy fun energy to her performance. Proving she’s not just a TokTok viral star, Ashnikko took the party to the crowd and everyone was vibing during her reimagined cover of Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8ter Boi”.

The night ended with a fantastic performance by Flume which people were talking about well into the next day. Naturally, Halsey stunned the audience with her gorgeous vocals, she even gave all the Stranger Things fans a beautiful cover of “Running Up That Hill”.

Sunday started out with the threat of rain, but luckily it never came. No make-up was ruined and no outfits were soaked. It was actually near-perfect weather for jumping to your favorite tunes in the middle of a sweaty crowd.

100 gecs was another crowd favourite performance. They had a really large crowd despite it being relatively early in the day. Definitely one of the wildest crowds of the weekend! Head banging, moshing, and screaming all naturally took place.

Del Water Gap also gave a stunningly beautiful performance, once on the Bacardi Stage and then again in a more intimate setting at the Bud Light Seltzer Sessions. “Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat” is just one of the most subtly striking tunes you could hear. After the set, we were able to chat with Holden about his performances and his festival experience:

“Big shows are great because you’re just getting all this energy and all this adrenaline. It’s like gasoline! But little shows are great because you can be a human, and it’s intimate, you can talk and take your time. Festivals are great because you get to be around new people, you get to be outside and I just love being around other artists too. I mean especially after the last two years. I made all these friends on Instagram you know, these other musicians, and getting to walk out of my trailer and see a musician I admire and walk up to them and be like hi were here together. It’s just such a gift.”

Another amazing performance was given by Jazmine Sullivan. Her insane vocals reached new levels of perfection and had many fans in tears by the end of the set. She was extremely honest on stage, gave beautiful vocal runs, and was sending love to each and every person in the crowd.

J Cole was the final artist of the festival and ended the night on a high note. J Cole is one of the biggest artists in the rap universe so it was legendary to hear iconic songs like “Wet Dreamz” and “No Role Modelz”.

The atmosphere and ambiance were unique at Governors Ball this year. People were riled up and ready for music festivals again. Some sets bumped, some disappointed. The sun was burning hot all day, but that didn’t stop people from having a great time. Every artist came out with full energy for the fans. What was the best moment of the festival? Kid Cudi’s absolute fire performance of “Pursuit of Happiness?” A$AP Ferg’s heroic save of Friday’s afternoon? Tove Lo flashing a crowd of thousands? Guess that’s up to each attendee’s personal opinion.

photos by Devin Kasparian

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UK’s most awarded festival took over a large area near the Hanlan Point beach on the Toronto Island with five stages and a multitude of play and food areas. The island was transformed into a Bollywood-inspired carnival lacking only a Ferris Wheel but I highly doubt anyone missed it. The amount of decor, attention to detail and overall festivities came has out-staged even the Corona’s Sunset party in 2014, that alone has already made the weekend a memorable one.

The musical line up was broken up into stages by genre similarities with the biggest acts  performing on the Main Stage and the rest thematically divided across the park. The big hit with Toronto was undoubtedly the Big Top tent tucked away at the far end of the grounds.

Shaun Frank was one of the early performers in the Big Top. Though it seemed a little early in the day for fast pace EDM Frank found a way to make the slim crowd dance and even do handstands. Dropping his heavy hitter remixes like Zeds Dead and Twin Shadow “Lost You” and recent originals Frank played an energetic set embellished by his strong showmanship, undoubtedly something he brings from his days in The Envy.

By the time Jamie XX hit the stage small rays of sunshine begun to come through the dark clouds. Jamie Smith, London-based music producer and some would argue the better half of The XX played an hour-and-a-half-long DJ set on vinyl. Situated deep into the Bollywood stage Smith opened up with  “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” which seemed like a great way to get people moving. Continually mixing in some 90s classics like Ol’ Dirty Bastard feat. Kelis “Got Your Money” with other tracks from In Colour  Smith kept on expertly flipping records, there may have even been a remanence of a smile on his face halfway through during “Girl.”

On the other side of the park Robert DeLong was lighting up the Main Stage crowd with “Long Way Down” while Big Top was beginning to fill up to the sounds of Grandtheft. A skilled DJ and turntablist Aaron Waisglass is pretty much a regular at Red Bull Thre3Style. With a wealth of celebrity collaborations behind his belt Grandtheft as always delivered a trap heavy EDM set. The tent was starting to become the warmest place on the island.

A selection of local originals were performing in the Perrier Greenhouse. An area opened only to a portion of attendees the Greenhouse hosted local talent and on Friday we had a chance to see a small crew from The Kount (trumpet and a turntable), who opened for Bonobo a couple weeks ago, and a lively performance by Smalltown DJs. For the day Pete Emes was representing the Smalltown duo. Inspired by old school hip hop beats the duo begun their career on the wavelength similar to Grandtheft and have recently evolved into more dancy area of the genre with tracks like “See Thru” which made Emes a great fit for the chill and well lubricated crowd at the Greenhouse.

After a smooth performance by SBTRKT the crowd begun to divide between the Main stage for Clean Bandit in preparation for Florence and The Machine and Big Top tent for Flosstradamus and Flume.

Flosstradamus delivered a high energy interactive show to a full room, to say it was energetic though would be a large understatement. The tent walls were shaking while J2K and Autobot in matching white outfits with white snow masks and what looked like bulletproof vests were hyping up the crowd with remixes and tracks from Soundclash EP jumping on and off the turntables with a mic.

The highlight of the evening was a highly anticipated Flume set. Born Harley Edward Streten, this Australian DJ has taken the world by storm since the release of his debut self-titled album. This wasn’t Streten’s first visit to Canada so many knew what they were in for first hand. Not many people left after Flosstradamus and even more flooded into the tent for Flume’s hour-long set. He seemed tired, but who wouldn’t with the two years he’s been having. Despite the possible exhaustion Streten delivered a strong live set smoothly transitioning between his solo tracks and some of the more famous remixes like Lorde’s “Tennis Court” and Disclosure’s “You & Me.”

No one was going to leave a Flume set early, not after waiting a year for his return. While the main stage half of the park cleared out after an epic Florence and the Machine set the crowd leaving the Big Top was wondering around looking for an exit. An epic conclusion of that night was a two-plus hour wait for the ferry but we’re working on forgetting that part.

photos by Erik Shaw

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This year Bestival is going to invade Canada’s Hanlan’s Point Beach, Toronto Island on June 12 and 13, 2015. Featuring performers from across the globe the line up announcement undoubtedly made waves across the province and beyond.

The festival has proven to be an “undisputed leader when it comes to off-the-wall production” in the UK and for the Canadian edition the organizers are promising more than just a festival, in their own words this is going to be “a creative wonderland.”  In the introduction Bank said they were beyond excited to take the festival outside of UK: “We’ve spent 12 years working up to this moment and are so proud to be teaming up with Toronto to launch the good ship that is Bestival overseas.”

The headliners are Florence and The Machine and NAS, who are both touring throughout the festival season with their return productions. What we are most excited for here at Quip is the subsequently following leftfield acts: Flume, Caribou, SBTRKT, ZHU, and Jamie XX, just to name a few.

Bestival has a potential of becoming Toronto’s counterparts to major festivals like Osheaga and Lollapalooza. We cannot wait to see what the UK crew has brought for us and to keep the excitement going we are giving away a pair of Bestival passes to one lucky fan. It is easy. It could be you.

You can enter to win a pair of passed to Besitval Toronto using one of the methods listed below:

1. Tell us you want to go to Bestival Toronto by tweeting at @QuipMag using hashtag #WinBestivalTO and following @QuipMag on Twitter.

2. Follow @QuipMag on Instagram and like + comment on our Bestival photo expressing your interest in winning the passes.

3. If you are not on either platform you can simply comment on this post. Make sure to use your real email address as we will use it to contact the winner.

We will pick one random winner from all the submissions and contact them via direct message or email shortly after the contest closes on April 19, 2015.

Other important stuff: Contest starts Monday, April 13th, 2015 at 10am and ends on Sunday, April 19th, 2015 at 10pm EST. Winners will need to be able to show photo ID. One entry per person. The contest is open to all residents of the Canada excluding Quebec. Must be 19 years of age or older at the time of entry. Members of Quip Magazine or it’s affiliates are not eligible.

The post Introducing Bestival Toronto! Here’s your chance to win tickets to the festival appeared first on Quip Magazine.

On their Lockjaw EP, Flume and Chet Faker find a way to update your emotions, bringing creativity to vocals verging on the tearful. Working backwards through the EP because the title of the last song is the eye-catching “This Song Is Not About A Girl”—meaning it most certainly is — think Duck Sauce and the promise of Barbara Streisand before realising nothing else about Duck Sauce sounds like Barbara Streisand. It’s also a creative use of the hi-hat sound, seconds away from a complete loop, that evokes the driving through the street vibe, a consistent ride except when you stop at lights. The cityscape plays a role here like the nonexistent female. The vocals are melancholy —“I’m a ghost open for bidding way” — and the energy is high. There’s a subtextual tension throughout the EP resolved by the disparate elements, the vocals paired with electronica.

“Drop the Game” continues the theme and provides the imagery. The song is break dancing being passed off as ballet; the elements are all break dance, but somehow the audience has been convinced that a recital is taking place in front of them. “Hush, I said there is more to life than rush,” the singer implores, asking that time be spent together, getting to a place of intimacy. When the vocals climax, they’re complemented by throbbing bass and harmonised sing-alongs and whistles.

“What About Us” completes the picture by bringing in the EDM elements of electronic throbbing and adding in the recital piano — “I can see you running out/What about us/I don’t want to catch you now.” The tension escalates, the mood shifts. In three songs, Flume & Chet Faker have given too much to unpack, requiring multiple listens, and shallow gasps for air to catch your breath to take it all in. The more you listen the more the originality sinks in. Yes, there is the comparison to Duck Sauce earlier because of the up-tempo married to the downbeat, and the nod to Matthew Dear, but what this EP does is compel the listener deeper into the hole by reinventing the delivery of emotion, like teaching you a new way to cry. The emotions are the same. “What About Us” is a lament, a cry, a seeking for the missing pieces that caused things to fall apart, but the artist is bringing you into a landscape you have only been able to grasp at, and showing you the complete picture.

The post EP review: Flume & Chet Faker “Lockjaw” appeared first on Quip Magazine.

Opening act – Touch Sensitive ripped the night’s wounds open by drilling a hard set of deep, throbbing beats into the vein of the crowd. Although the term “crowd” is used loosely – the opening act started (surprisingly) within an hour of the posted time online (9 pm), but of course, people did not start filling the venue until 11 pm. Touch Sensitive looked like a hybrid of an Abercrombie model and that teacher you lusted after in high school: good-boy 30-something good looks topped with a blue guitar and a messy side part. It’s safe to say that looks are deceiving for this sandy-haired modelesque type. Touch Sensitive got the crowd bobbing, in a matter of 10 minutes, he had the camo-clad urban people of Toronto swaying with plaid-clad hipsters. In other words, everyone was digging his bass-heavy beats (fist pumping began within the first 5 minutes of his set).

Next up – the sassy and stunning Tokimonsta. To say this youthful Ameri-asian cherub gets a crowd thumping is an understatement – from the moment she graced the stage, Tokimonsta had the entire venue captivated with her red lipstick, bottle-blonde bleach job, and her signature “sway”- as she mixed, flipped, switched and bounced, this Californian angel managed to get the crowd moving, screaming, fist-pumping, and just plain LIVE. This rarity of a DJ (cute, authentically talented, hip-hop influenced, trap-music-loving) has a skill that a lot of female DJ’s do not possess – she can keep your eyes and ears focused on her throughout her entire set. Whether it’s the shy way she flips her hair behind her ears, or how she occasionally looks up to share with the crowd her sly half-smile, this talented lady is not only brimming with talent, she is also dead-set on sharing her physical passion for music with the crowd. The flicks of her wrist, the bobbing of her head, the movement of her shoulders, she feels her music and wants you to feel it just as much. Her 45-minute set was dope from the first minute to the last second. Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Tokimonsta live can attest to her skills in mixing classic hip-hop (Dr.Dre, anyone?) with modern-day (t)rap influence (Versace, Versace, Versace!).

The main course was the aforementioned prodigy hailing from Australia. Flume (aka 21-year-old Harley Streten) dressed in a fitted black top was fashionably accompanied by laser lights and randomly-selected trip-out imagery (blinking eyeballs, floating limbs, and deserted beaches). This talented young blood graced the stage with such confidence that you’d be certain he was twice his age. It’s difficult to say that his stage presence was “unique” or special to this event: he mixed, chopped, and blended his way through his self-titled 2012 EP.

The crowd was dense, bodies swayed, mollies were likely popped in the presence and honour of this talented young man. As he floated between his turntables, meddled with his laptop, and took moments to grin at the crowd, he performed long, drawn-out versions of his 2012 album – something that could have been edited or remixed a bit more. Flume was fantastic regardless of what he was spinning: the crowd moved in rhythm to his ghostly beats and trippy melodies. Although ever-so-slightly remixed versions of his self-titled album was his choice during his just-over-an-hour set, Flume managed to impress his Toronto-based fans thoroughly. Side note- Tokimonsta provided Flume some serious competition by displaying her varied DJ skill set, something Flume did not particularly focus on.

The night was heavy with a viscose love for un-categorised electronic music, and was overall a disgusting amount of fun for a chilly Thursday night. This selection of artists provided Canada’s most heavily populated city with enough entertainment to spread the word. Somehow, Flume, Tokimonsta, and Touch Sensitive have managed to disperse the disease that is underground-electro-obsession throughout Toronto in this one night alone.

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