Tag: <span>Lee Burridge</span>

Festival Reviews

Favourite Artists Heard at Lightning in a Bottle

Lightning in a Bottle provided an experience for attendees that was about more than music. However, the musical lineup was one that can not be overlooked. An array of talented musicians played at this year’s LIB, and headliners of the event included Chet Faker, Grimes, Big Gigantic, Cashmere Cat, Jamie XX, Four Tet and Tokimonsta. The festival saw an eclectic mix of electronic music, from dubstep to techno to deep house to tribal house. There was a little bit of something for everyone.

Here are my favourite LIB acts, listed in chronological order.

Mija

Mija, Mija, Mi hija… Maybe it’s because I have been wanting to see this lady perform since I first heard her B2B sunrise set with Skrillex at Bonnaroo in 2014, but Mija did not disappoint with her set at LIB. She threw down an incredible performance, slaying her 80-minutes on the Thunder Stage and proving to us all her prowess as a DJ. She kept the crowd jumping and dancing the whole time, giving the chills to everyone who was there dropping their dirtiest dubstep dance moves. The highlight of her set came at the end though, when she crawled out into the crowd to share a cigarette with her fans. Thank you Mija, for being so good at what you do, and for sharing that moment with us all.

William Close and the Earth Harp Collective

William Close and the Earth Harp Collective was one of the most unique musical experiences of the weekend. This was my first experience with the Earth Harp which was set up stage left, midway to the back, with the shimmery strings of the harp extending to the top of the front of the stage. The best way to experience the show was to set up under the California stars, grab a seat on the ground and cross your legs to feel the reverberations of the harp through the earth. William Close used his Earth Harp to do a powerful cover of Mozart’s Summer Overture, one that literally gave me goosebumps, before closing out his set with a guest appearance by David Satori of Beats Antique.

Autograf

Autograf appeared to be teasing the crowd with a slow, sensual start to their set… Until they announced that the slow start was really just their soundcheck and it was time to get down! The trio revealed their individual talents through a 90-minute set to a crowd who refused to stop dancing despite the sun’s beating rays. Set up on stage with drums, a keyboard and a mixer to perform live covers of classic dubstep hits, classic house hits, and their own hits, their energetic set was happy and eclectic, and they definitely left their autograph on LIB.

Jamie XX

Oh my God… Did Jamie XX ever kill it! Opening with the song Crystallized by his musical group The XX (can you grace us with a new album yet? Please?) before mixing into one of the most melodic sets of the weekend, Jamie XX took us on a house journey unlike any other. Nothing but a shadow on the stage amidst a constant, mysterious cloud of smoke and lights, the talented producer did not look up once from his set, and barely even noticed when a naked man tried to charge his stage. He just continued to do his thing, keeping the crowd moving and grooving until 2:00 a.m.

HÄANA

If you don’t know who HÄANA is, you need to discover her. She was one of the most talented individuals I came across all weekend. Dressed in a black and gold dress, with a gold cage headpiece, HÄANA sings live, mixes live, and plays the violin live. Her nordic inspired tunes, combined with her ethereal voice and the twang of her violin create a uniquely magical sound. The beauty of her music is something that should not be overlooked and is something that everyone needs to experience at least once.

Lee Burridge Mixing Into Four Tet

Lee Burridge and Four Tet are musical geniuses, each in their own rights, so it was with complete joy that I saw on the schedule Lee Burridge playing the three-hour sunset slot at The Woogie Stage as a precursor to Four Tet’s set there. The legends did not play B2B, or with one another, but Lee Burridge transitioned his three-hour techno set perfectly as the sun went down (amidst cheers) and The Woogie came to light, into an introduction for Four Tet. Lee Burridge’s dynamic three-hour mix kept us dancing and shuffling the night away until, unknowingly, we were listening to Four Tet who took us on a two-hour journey through his unique, artistic beats. Sunday was a phenomenal day of techno at the Woogie Stage, with some of the best sets of the weekend.

Chet Faker

Chet Faker’s energy throughout his closing set at the Lightning Stage was infectious. He could be seen running around the stage, with his black coat flying behind him like a cape. At one point he was belting out his tunes from half way up the scaffolding. The talented musician took a completely different route from his DJ set at the Temple Stage, playing with a four-piece band to play songs old and new. He effortlessly weaved old songs like Drop the Game into new songs like The Trouble With Us, into some of his classics like Gold and his cover of No Diggity. To finish the night, Chet Faker left us with one of the most mind-blowing, stunning visuals of the weekend when he climbed up onto a slightly raised platform to play the piano with a white backdrop, creating a dynamic silhouette of a man and his piano.

Festival Reviews

Five Best Things Seen at Further Future

I’ve barely washed off the body paint from my journey beyond Vegas at last weekend’s sophomore year of Further Future, and the reality of being back in the city is almost too much for me to handle. To help cope with this though, I’m reminiscing about the festival with a list of the five best things I saw at Further Future.

1. The Brit and the Yank

You know it’s going to be a good festival when the first two people you meet are your camp neighbours who met at the airport on their way to the festival, and, upon knowing each other for t-minus five minutes, decided to camp with one another. Enter the Brit and the Yankee. The Yank recalls seeing the Brit walking through the airport with nothing but a rucksack, looking a little lost. Upon seeing him, he knew he was heading to Further Future as well and, together, they went on a mission to find the somewhat challenging-to-find shuttle bus to the festival. Along the way, they became fast friends and decided to camp with one another, the Yank referring to the Brit as his brother by the end of the weekend. It was this kind of friendly, welcoming energy that could be felt throughout the entire weekend across the festival grounds. With the grand majority of festival attendees having attended Burning Man at least once (if not five or more times), the same sort of Burner mentality and principles could be seen at Further Future. And for someone who has never experienced energy of this sort in such a colossal way, this is enough reason to head back to the festival next year.

2. Sunrise sets with Lee Burridge


Lee Burridge is a techno king. He is known for his amazing sunrise sets on the Robot Heart bus at Burning Man, as well as for his All Day I Dream parties, and for being a pioneer in the underground club scene. He also is known for playing some of the most incredible, lengthy sets, with his sunrise set at Further Future spanning four hours, from 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. It seemed that, as the sun rose over the desert, casting the large, cage-like heart above the bus in a majestic golden glow, the energy of the crowd picked up and Lee Burridge dove deeper into the sounds of the underground. More people seemed to appear, fervently dancing in front of the bus, while women in sky-high moon boots continued to dance atop the bus. And the best part of it all wasn’t Lee Burridge’s unique sounds resonating across the Valley of Fire, but the huge grin that remained plastered upon the artist’s face throughout his entire set. Discover Lee Burridge, but definitely discover him while he is performing because the man appears to be at home, in his happy spot, and his joy while he is performing is just as infectious as his beats that will make you dance until the sun has long since risen.

3. Apocalyptic rain storms

Normally, an attendee’s experience at a music festival is very dependant on the weather during that festival. Unfortunately the weather – extreme heat, extreme cold, crazy rain – is completely out of organizers’ hands. The Valley of Fire gets an annual average rainfall of four inches – so not much. Leading into the festival, there were four days of rain. During the festival, there was rain Friday night, and once again Saturday night. While Friday night wasn’t too damaging to the experience, Saturday’s intense rainstorm, filled with thunder and lightning, rivers and lakes in the campgrounds, and washed out roads, had the potential to ruin the weekend for festival-goers and organizers. Instead, the intense weather, that caused evacuations and attendees to take cover wherever they could, encouraged a sort of bonding between attendees. It was a storm one only really witnesses in the desert and it was a storm that was survived together, in the desert. Batten down the tents, take refuge under neighbours canopies or in their cars, and then, celebrate with fireworks. Mother Nature won that day, but she couldn’t put out the fire that burns brightly inside Further Future attendees.

4. Girl power with Amanda Kahlow

Further Future proved that a festival can explore so much more than just music and art. With an astounding Visionary Speakers lineup that saw the likes of Eric Schmidt of Alphabet Inc. and Bob Pittman of iHeartMedia Inc. giving intelligent talks to attendees, Further Future allowed festival-goers to expand their minds by diving into talks about the future of technology, education, food, cannabis, and so much more. Amanda Kahlow of 6sense delivered one of the most empowering talks of the weekend. Exploring the challenges of running her own business, while also being unapologetic of having to be what people sometimes consider a “bitch,” Kahlow reminded us that girl power can be the best power, to never give up on your hopes and dreams, and yes, women can be just as successful as men.

5. Sunset sets with Easy Star All-Stars

Closing the festival was reggae cover band Easy Star All-Stars, followed by HVOB. Seemed like an odd addition to a lineup that was stacked with electronic and techno artists but it worked. And it was fantastic! From trombones and saxophones, to drums and guitars, the band jammed the night away, covering old songs and new songs and demonstrating the fluidity and joy of music. With the barefoot lead singer, Kirsty Rock, who kept dancing and feeling the music throughout the entire set, Easy Star All-Stars helped close down the official festival with a fun, energetic set that embodied the good vibes of the festival and kept the crowd grooving all the way through long past the final sunset.