Atlas Electronic 2016 | Festival Review

With a hunger to socialize and discover what the alternative scene was all about in Morocco, we set on our journey to Marrakesh to cover 4 days of futuristic décors, intense bpm and ratchet people partying in a mud-built villa in the middle of the desert, overlooking the stunning Atlas Mountains. Read on to see how we experienced the first edition of Atlas Electronic, a brand new festival with a promising future.

We first heard about Atlas Electronic through social media, with the promise of “…eclectic mix of forward thinking electronic music, stunning art, visuals and traditional local music, culture and food.” As the lineup started to emerge a few days prior to the event, we got a better idea of what the organizers were up to: James Holden & Maalem Houssam Gania, Acid Arab, Roman Fluegel, BAMBOUNOU and SecretSundaze were some of the known names, though this festival was all about discovering new ones.

With shuttle buses scheduled to pick up and drop off partygoers from Marrakesh train station every half hour (at least in paper), we headed out to Villa Janna for the opening night, which turned out to be a cosy session in comparison to what was ahead of us. After grabbing a few drinks and marvelling at the promised stunning art (def a high point!), we found ourselves partying in a manmade Roman amphitheater equipped with a massive sound system, letting Jugurtha and BeatuniQue take us on a journey, one led by the awesome visuals from Swiss guys SUPERMAFIAVJ’s and the million stars above us.

With an early night in, we headed down next day to check out the day / pool vibes, which kicked off at noon every day and stayed open until closing hours (3ish am). With warm weather but cloudy skies, it seemed that many people preferred to do a bit of touristic stuff during the day instead of heading to the festival, with most of the crowd getting in from 8pm onwards or so. The last stage was positioned on the rooftop of the main entrance and it was hosted by the guys from Amsterdam's Red Light Radio, an online radio station operating since 2010 and showcasing a big range of DJ’s, playing more chilled out tunes and even hosting Acid Arab to close down Friday night playing a selection of their favorite songs.

This stage quickly became our favorite chill out area, with plenty of space to sit back and take a break, and a cosy dance floor overlooking the entire site. Here, we met random people, admired and wonder the meaning of all the art around us (including live artists creating work from scratch and a digital graffiti projection) and discovered incredible talented musicians such as Philou Louzolo and local hero Polyswitch. The other highlight of the night was seeing up and coming Karnel Kovacs killing on the decks, with such an energy that unfortunately didn’t match the amount of people watching him (a recurrent but understandable fact given Atlas’ first edition).

Although the food options were plenty and tasty, provided by the reliable Nomad Marrakesh, the prices were set with a European wallet in mind; building an appetite while waiting for the shuttle bus to arrive, we relied on a late night Marrakesh legend, La Nostalgie to refuel us for the next day. We noticed the weekend crowd arriving on Saturday, with Molly, Bambounou and Gerd & Serge scheduled to play one after each other, making the pool stage go wild with people going for refreshing dips in the middle of the night and the partying going on well after scheduled time.

We noticed that a few people, mostly coming from Europe, were already on their way back home on Sunday, though that didn’t stop the rest of us to make the most of a promising lineup. Fred P played some really funky sounds at the amphitheater and Steven Pieters & Khalil closing out in style as the few hundreds who managed to stay were sure to remember the festival for time to come.

So our advice is: if you’re really into the techno and electronic scene, you’d probably love it, your favorite artists playing at an exotic location with great sunsets and warm weather it should definitely be considered in your calendar. Check out their page for next year’s event and let us know what you think, hosting 4 big international festivals this year alone, Morocco is growing into a fun, cheap and alternative place to have fun, eat good food and experience the blend of North African roots with European influences.

Written by: Marco Meier & Nabeel El-Dughailib

Facebook 2017 event: https://www.facebook.com/events/298330607201379/

All photo credits go to Abstract Minded Photography and Atlas Electronic Press.

Soundwave 2015 | Festival Review

In August 2015, following a heavy weekend with stellar gigs by Fantan Mojah, JAMALSKI and The Wanton Bishops, The 264 Cru escaped to the beautiful Adriatic coast of Croatia to attend the Soundwave Festival - a boutique festival, where incidentally the Cru’s own DJ MoCity was also billed to play at, is known for its unique setting, laidback vibes and exceptional bookings.

Now entering its 8th year and rising in popularity, one of Europe's most friendly and intimate festivals promised to showcase a mix of mature electronic acts and alternative live performances that has something for everyone. In addition, the warm sun could be enjoyed sailing the Argonaut, Soundwave’s party ship where you could expect to hear anything from broken beat, reggae, afro to acid jazz, hip-hop, soul, funk and drum & bass by visiting DJ’s and performers. Nestled in a small fishing village of Tisno, the festival certainly lived up to our expectations, and was one of few festivals that had great food offerings (in and around the festival) that definitely added to a wholesome festival experience.

Read on for our take on the experience and start planning! Tickets for the 2016 edition are going on sale now!

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How to get there?

The closest international airport servicing Dubai nonstop is Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. There are a few options on how to get there, so it really all depends on your budget and how much time you want to spend travelling. Currently, the only direct flight is with flydubai. Once there, you will have to get a connecting flight or make your way down to the festival by train or bus (more on that below). If you prefer to fly into Zadar or Split (the closest airports to Tisno) you can do so with Austrian Airlines (via Vienna), Lufthansa (via Munich or Frankfurt) or Smart Wings (via Prague) for a higher fee.  

If you do choose Zagreb, you can take a bus directly towards Tisno (~4.5 hours) or, if you prefer a break in between, you can even catch the pre-party in Zadar (~3 hours) and then take a local bus to the village of Tisno the next day. If you land in Split, there are official festival transfers (they sell out quickly!) and local buses that make the hour journey into Tisno (check bus schedules here). The other option is to rent a car in wherever you land - makes sense if you are a group of 4 or more, although returning the car is a bit of a mission (as none of the major rent-a-car companies have offices in the village itself). For more information on transfers and cheap flights within other cities in Europe, check the festival site at http://www.soundwavecroatia.com/travel/.

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“TIP: especially if you are travelling solo or with one other person, check the festival Facebook page regularly as many people travelling by car offer rides from Zagreb, Zadar and Split to the festival. An additional ride-sharing option is blablacar, which allows people travelling between cities and towns to take people for a set fee. These options are a cheap and easy way to get there while allowing you to meet fellow festival goers, so use them wisely!”

Location & Accommodation

With Croatia is becoming a major European hub hosting over 20 plus quality festivals a year (Outlook, Dimensions, Exit, Hideout amongst  others), it seems hard to find a location that maintains the small town charm while providing excellent facilities and great value. However, Tisno does that just perfectly; The Garden Tisno camping area is a year-round facility that can host roughly 2,000 people, ensuring the friendly and chilled vibes of a camp site remain day in and day out.

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(Photo credit: @tonick_moss)

The Garden Resort Accommodation (on site)

We definitely recommend staying on site, as anything else will require you to have a car or to learn the limited and unreliable local bus schedules! In addition, most of the best options sell out quickly, so be ready to pay for the deposit and avoid the hassle of trying to a place off site. Depending on your budget, you can go from the cheapest options of DIY Camping (bring your own tent) and Indian Shiker tents to retro airstream trailers with air conditioning, apartments for 2 to 4 people or steeze out and book yourself the Yacht Gulet Babac, the only one moored in the Garden Bay (fits 10 people).

“TIP: It got HOT last year during the day, and the temperature reached some 50 degrees celcius around noon inside the tents (as measured by one of the guys running the camping area). So, choose your accommodation wisely.”

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(photo credit: Dana Mirkovic)

“TIP: If you book the airstream, keep in mind that you will have to book it for 7 nights, regardless of how many nights you actually stay there. Considering it is a bit pricy, it would be a good idea to spend an extra day or two in the camping area. If you do, make sure you follow suit and rent a small boat to sail around the nearby islands (the smallest engine requires no captain, though it ain’t that fast). You can’t go wrong with the endless amount of beautiful scenery and you can even discover secret beaches and enjoy Croatia in all its glory, and hopefully sober (ish).”

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Private villas and apartments (off site - Tisno)

Besides airbnb, you can also find space on some local websites where you will have to deal with the owner and the process yourself. Good external resources are Croatia Bay and Love Music Travel. Again, keep in mind how far away the festival is from the apartments, and may require either a tazi ride, a bus ride or a relatively long walk.

“TIP: BIA (book in advance). Seriously. While we know it is hard sometimes to decide on which festival to attend and when to book, if you are down for Soundwave, the choice of accommodation will have a direct relation to how much you enjoy the festival :)”

Munchies & Booze

If you love food, you’re going to have a field day with some of the munch that is on offer. From smoked ribs to 18-inch Italian paninis, the food was well above the standards of other festivals we’ve been to, which we also acknowledge might have a direct correlation to its price. The only restaurant serving proper hangover recovery breakfast, as well as fully prepared lunch and dinner, operates all year round, so you know their ingredients are fresh and the cooking is of high quality. In addition, there are over 10 food stalls strategically placed around the Garden serving smoked ribs, deli sandwiches and shawarmas, juices and tasty desserts.

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“TIP: if you feel like taking a walk and exploring the coast, head north towards the village and walk along for 15 minutes, where you will come across a place called Carmen. The restaurant not only serves some of the most delicious seafood and pasta dishes but also features an outdoor patio built on the water so you can jump in the ocean and refresh before you dig in (highly recommended).”

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(Photo credit: @tonick_moss)

As far as alcoholic beverages go, the prices in the festival were definitely higher than if you bought booze outside. We brought our stack of duty free goodies and that lasted us the duration of the festival, so definitely try and stock up if you can. Bars were spread out throughout the festival site and payment was only in cash.

“TIP: Bring your own booze if you’re staying on-site. Whilst apartments have their own fridges for storage and ice, airstreams also have smaller fridges that allow you to store enough for those occasional pre-game sessions and mid-evening snacks. Also, going for a dip in the refreshing water (which is literally a 2 minute walk from the campsite), with a nice cold beer listening to the day-time sets, is definitely a good hangover cure and should be done on a daily basis.”

Festival Experience

In general, the festival is quite well organized, safe and it feels like a big party among friends. With that being said, it also attracts a rather young crowd that come in large groups - at times it felt a bit young and cliquey. The festival is spread over five days, with three festival stages, the Argonaughty party sail boat and the open air after-party spot, Barbarella. Here is our two cents on each and what not to miss out on.

Pre-parties

There were a few impromptu pre-parties that seemed to be planned a bit last minute and without much advertisement - one in Zagreb and one in Zadar. The pre-party in Zagreb took place at the Swanky Monkey Garden, a cool rooftop bar where we got the opportunity to meet local Zagrebians and down some nice local Ožujsko beer.  We didn’t make it to the second pre-party, but we assume it would have also been a relatively intimate affair.

Boat Parties

There were a total of 13 boat parties spread over five days, leaving the pier at 1pm, 4:30pm and 8pm, with each trip lasting 3 hours. These were definitely one of the highlights of the festival … the vibe, the music and the fun that ensued led to a great way to spend the day before the main acts got underway on land.

“TIP: Time your boats! A big part of having an awesome experience at Soundwave is to hit a few boat parties; the wooden sailing boat with beautiful scenery and pumping sound system will give you 3 hours to remember. We recommend you attend day boat parties, preferably the afternoon ones since that guarantees you won’t be missing out on any action at the ground stages. They also give you the chance to enjoy the sunshine AND sunset aboard the Argonauthy.”

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(Photo credit: @tonick_moss)

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Main Festival

The festival had 3 stages; a beach stage right on the water, a mid-sized marquee style tent and finally the large ‘main stage’ in the middle of the festival grounds. Moving in between stages was easy and seamless, with each of them being within 3-5 minutes walk of each other and never being suffocatingly packed - enough space to dance, chill or socialize. This also meant losing your friends was almost impossible and the campsite was a stones throw away - something rare you probably won’t get at larger festivals.

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(Photo credit: @tonick_moss)

The sound systems were impressive, even at the smaller beach stage, where you could be lounging or swimming in the water while clearly listening to the sounds of the DJ on decks. The larger stage had the perfect sound to complement all styles of music, may it have been Channel One, Mr. Scruff & Alex Nut, Andreya Triana or dubstep don Mala.

One thing that really stood out, which we’ve mentioned before, is the ‘family vibe’ of the entire festival. Where most festivals have security guards looming everywhere, with friendly volunteers few and far in between, Soundwave felt like there was no security (in a good way), leaving you at ease to enjoy in whatever way you wanted. We also hung out with the festival directors (a cool middle-aged couple) several times, as they would just walk around and strike up conversations with festival go-ers and ensure everyone was having a grand time - that was definitely special.

Apart from music, the festival grounds also served as a kind of canvas, with several artists from all over Europe turning the walls of across the festival site into living, evolving pieces of art. This was a nice touch to complement the greenery around the festival area and a way to explore some of the local artists.

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"Flying roots" Collaboration by Artez / Lunar / Cazer / Mosk / Smack / Teoson (Photo Credit: Slaven Lunar Kosanovic)

The After Parties

The after parties were held at a big outdoor club called Barbarellas. Although getting there (especially after a full day of partying) was a bit of a mission, it would be well worth it to catch some sick acts early into the morning hours. The club is located 30 minutes away, which required you to board the festival provided buses to get there. The party would kick off at 2am and last until 5am (ish), with transfer and club tickets costing extra to the normal festival ticket. It was always fun to be on a bus with a bunch of ‘excited’ festival go-ers, as a lot of unexpected stuff would go down. For instance, this one time, our homie Ratish (for some unknown reason) started singing the Lion King theme song, and before you knew it, the entire bus broke out into a Lion King musical for 30 mins.

“TIP: If you know yourself, and you know that you’re not going to go home at 1am, get your after party tickets in advance and don’t wait till the last bus to get there!”

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(Photo Credit: Christopher Werrett)

“TIP: If you’re still feeling energetic after the official after party, there is another unofficial after party at a club down the road from the entrance of the festival. It’s not fully supported by the festival, but they’re ‘cool’ with it.”

Favorite Acts & Moments

While most festivals try to bombard you with a 1001 acts, Soundwave kept it simple, with key quality acts, balanced with younger and more upcoming artists, which had enough variety for even the seasoned festival goer. As we’ve done before, in no particular order, we wanted to list our favorite moments. Although many of the bookings were great, these are the ones that left a lasting impression on us:

DJ Mocity - One of my favorite moments, other than performing there, would have to be stumbling back to the beach stage from a boat party and hearing Aurora De Raynes voice over Touchy Subject’s productions. I love having a list of acts I’m going to check out for sure but the idea of hearing something I’ve never heard and falling in love with their sound is one of my main missions in attending festivals across the world. At Soundwave 2015, that magic moment was definitely Aurora De Raye & Touchy Subject’s beach set. Like the character from Greek Mythology, Jason (apt because the boat was called The Argonauthy), the siren call of Aurora’s voice beckoned me off the boat and towards the stage. The bed of 160 bpm beats provided by Touchy Subject kept me afloat while Aurora eased me back out of the waviness that was induced from previously mentioned boat party. If you’ve managed to make it this far in the article, congratulations, you’re a seriously loyal fan of The 264 Cru, now pass me the Dokha, I’m fiending.

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(Photo credit: @tonick_moss)

C.O.B - Though I have seen him play before and arguably on a bigger setup, this set by Mala was truly special. The visuals and sound were top shelf, and there was enough space in the ‘sweet spot’ allowing me to ape out without elbowing anyone. I still remember when he dropped his track Changes, but the James Blake Harmonimix version (which I hadn’t heard before), and with the overwhelming visuals, it all just blew my mind. Another memorable moment was steppin with the true rastas, the preachers armed with only a mic and dubplates, Channel One Soundsystem - 5 hours of straight roots and power dub that is something you rarely get to experience in Dubai, so I went all in.

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essarai - Definitely the standout gig for me was Mr. Scruff b2b Alexander Nut (with guest appearances by Fatima and Chunky on mic duties, what a killer combination eh?) Watching the chemistry between the two DJs unravel before us as they also took steps back to laugh and joke around and probably discussing the tracks they were playing… it was really special.

Also great to see Mr. Scruff after his Dubai gig and catch up with him, he’s a super rad, down to earth dude and of course after that just recently we had Alexander Nut here in Dubai completing the circle (you’ll recall I warmed up for Fatima at the Lemon Jam, and of course Chunky MCing at Karak and DJing at Future Sailors 001).

I’d would point out however that it’s a good idea to go with a crew because at least for me, the crowd at the festival was a bit young (OK I'm old but, it felt a tiny bit cliquey). I joined the festival plan late, so went with no expectations and didn’t look at the lineup once. I let my faith in the guys guide me and it paid off big time, it’s become almost too commonplace to drool over lineups and gigs that you start to base your plans on all of it and I for one don’t enjoy that aspect of running around and sorting out my time based on stage clashes etc…

Soundwave had great music all the time and apt for the time of day as well. The manageable size of the site also means you can simply change location if you’re not feeling it and not fear of never finding your friends again. It was also a great way to check out lots of acts I’d not heard of before and just get lost in the beauty of it all, the music, the smiles, and beautiful Croatia.

(Photo Credit: Soundwave Croatia)

Closing Statement

As more and more festivals come up every year, especially in Croatia, it is good to see that boutique events can hold their own and give you a unique festival experience. This is also a festival you could treat as a ‘holiday’, particularly thanks to the intimate setting and laid back vibe, and not like other festivals that tend to be quite hectic, where eventually end up running between stages a mile apart, being pushed around by thousands of people.

We would definitely recommend Soundwave to anyone looking to mix a getaway with some good music and partying. Not to mention, great grub to make sure you come back with that holiday belly! We definitely enjoyed ourselves to the max while meeting some cool cats and kicking it with a bunch of the artists that hung around for the majority of the festival. This in turn gave us the opportunity to host a few of the bigger names at our Karak Beats parties (Chunky, Mala, Alexander Nut).

In short, be sure to follow our tips and we guarantee a good time.

Big ups,

The 264 Cru

Written by: Marco Meier (Nullum), Mohammed Abood (DJ MoCity), Rishabh Chadha (C.O.B) & Danilo Venegas (essarai) Extra photography: Jaro Moravek (tonick_moss)

Magnetic Fields 2015 | Festival Review

In December 2015, The 264 Cru were invited to play at Magnetic Fields Festival in India and we were thrilled to be the opening act on Day 1 at the Heineken Desert Disco stage. The festival promised to be 3 days of music, art, food and magical connections in a 17th century palace in Shekhawati, Rajasthan.

We had a sick 3 days there, and needless to say this was an adventure and a shit load of fun! With some of us having attended the previous Magnetic Fields editions and some of us being newbies, we hope to give you different perspectives to make it easier for you to make a decision about Magnetic Fields 2016. Keep reading for some of our top tips, favourite moments and overall experience.

Transport/time from airport

We flew into Delhi so our transport perspective in this article will be from there. But for details around getting to the festival that is covered in depth HERE. From our experience, the drive will take a little longer than you might think, so allow plenty of time to get to the festival from the airport or major city you leave from. Indian roads are a little crazy, so definitely don’t base your timing on assumptions. The distance might not be that far on google maps, but Google can’t see all the cars, tuk tuk’s, trucks, taxi’s, wandering cows and random transport devices (think horse and cart) that are sharing the roads.

“TIP: Grab a sim card from one of the local telco providers Vodafone or Airtel and load up on a bunch of data. 3G is pretty good even out at the festival. You know you want to be connected. It’s super cheap and pretty straightforward to get setup, you can do this right in the arrivals lounge at the Airport. Don’t leave the arrivals lounge till you are totally sorted (including a bathroom stop before you hit the road) as you will not be able to go back inside the airport, no exceptions.”

LOCATION & ACCOMMODATION

The first thing that hits you when you arrive at the Alsisar Mahal (the 17th Century Palace) is that the festival site is right in the heart of the local village, like we mean it’s right in the middle! Unlike most festivals you may have been to that are out in the middle of nowhere, on a beach or in a field, far from the public, at Magnetic Fields you are smack bang in the middle of a small village and its people. This makes for a special and unique experience as you get to interact with the locals, eat great food and get a taste for small town India. We can only imagine what they think of 2,000 party people descending on their usually quiet village and partying at all hours for 3 days!

The festival accommodation is broken into 2 main zones. The main area is the Mahal itself where the stages are set up and also some of the accommodation (for the ballers). If your budget permits, getting a room in the Mahal is definitely a good move and makes for a comfy stay, but you are closer to the big stages (think morning/afternoon sound checks - they can make for quite a rude awakening). 

For the more budget festival goer, the other accommodation options are in the Bedouin tent village which has the pre set up ‘luxury’ tents, with electricity, running water and even a bathroom attached! Other than that, there is also an area where you can bring your own tent and make your own space. Prices vary for each accommodation option, see HERE for more details.

Food and beverages

The tent village was separated from the main festival site by a small street/alley that lead through the back part of the village. This area was a public space so a lot was going on there. The festival had worked with locals to have them set up small stalls selling everything from epic egg omelettes, curries, water bottles, chai and cigarettes. So this was a super cheap way to get some decent supplies and food and also directly benefit the local people. Aside from this, the festival had a good offering of food and beverages within the palace; wood fire pizza, waffles, tasty curries, wraps, roti etc. They even had an authentic ‘chai wala’ near the entrance of the palace and fresh coconut water and ice cream vendors at the desert stage! All these were all priced reasonably well (especially for non-Indian incomes) and were a good option for those hungover 4pm lunches.

As far as alcoholic beverages go, the prices in the festival were definitely higher than if you bought booze outside. So perhaps bring a few of your own supplies and “top up” back at your tent or room, but don’t tell anyone we told you that ;) Also as far as other party favors go, we advise extreme discretion in public spaces with any of your synthetic or herbal remedies, as there was a strong presence of local law enforcement.

“TIP: All items within the festival site (apart from merchandise/clothing) had to be bought via ‘festival money’. This is non-refundable, so we suggest you buy them on a day-to-day basis to avoid being stuck with unnecessary monopoly money at the end of the festival!

TIP: Go exploring around the village and meet the locals. Aside from the street full of treats, some of the local houses had opened themselves up to buy goods and food! We stopped into a small family place and had the most amazing lunch right in their shared space (for super cheap) - tasty homemade Rajasthani food right from mum’s kitchen, YUM!”

“TIP: make sure to bring a good supply of rupees in smaller denominations, don’t be trying to drop 1000 rupee notes on the locals, they won’t have change and will give you the death stare!”

Festival Experience

The festival was broken into 3 main performance areas: The Heineken Desert Disco stage (located in the Bedouin Village), The South Stage and the Red Bull Music Academy North Stage, both of which were located in the palace.

The programming was simple, yet effective: 2-6pm acts would be at the Desert Disco stage for people to enjoy the sunshine tunes in the desert, followed by the bands and majority of the live acts on the largest South Stage, followed by the more dance oriented acts at the RBMA North Stage.

One really cool aspect of the programming was that they only ran one stage at a time. For some, this might seem weird and not offer more options if you are not feeling the current act, but we thought this was a great way to program the festival for several reasons; firstly, it meant that you didn’t feel like you were missing out on any acts. Secondly, it also meant that you avoided that schizophrenic running about the festival trying to see everything, and lastly, it guaranteed that each act had an audience to play to! This also kept the crowd together, giving you the opportunity to get to know each other, reinforcing the intimate feeling of the festival.  

There must have been around 2,000 people max, which made for an intimate experience with some of the best people on earth. You had a sense that if you were there, you knew what was up! Smiles all around, good vibes, good people. This also made the event special, because at no point did you feel it was over packed or crazy busy, but you still had a big crowd getting into the music and keeping up the vibes HARD till wee hours of the morning.

“TIP: Each night, there is a secret pop up after party at undisclosed locations in the palace. So once the last main stage finishes up around 3-4am, hold tight, cause shit is about to pop off somewhere else in the palace!”

As far as production goes, we were super impressed with the level and quality of production they had at all zones. From the DJ gear to the sound, lighting and visuals, you could have been at any festival in Europe or North America, which is pretty impressive based on the location and constraints of the site! Check the photos HERE to get a vibe for the set up. We were totally stoked on the epic scale of projection video mapping of the palace above the North Stage and the massive LED visuals screens at the South stage - the content, as well as the size, left us with that otherworldly feeling at the end of every set. Well done mixtape team! (http://www.mixtapelive.in)

Apart from being joyfully overwhelmed by sound and visuals, you had freedom to roam around the palace and explore its history and architecture, involve yourself in activities like the treasure hunt, yoga sessions and star gazing, or peruse the different vendor stalls that were set up in the ‘bazaar’ - from merchandise, to tattooing & henna, to organic immune boosting juices!

Favorite international acts

We thought the music programming this year was A-grade (big up MF team), and so in no particular order, we wanted to list our favorite international acts. Although all the bookings were great, these are the ones that left a lasting impression on us:

Hunee & Antal

The headliners on the first night at the RBMA stage, Hunee & Antal came packed with an arsenal of disco & house bangers. From the moment they came on to the time they dropped their last tune, you could just see people moving non-stop, with massive grins all around. A great mix of disco, latin, house edits and feel good music to close out the North Stage on first night of the festival in a spectacular fashion.

Shigeto

A favorite of many at The 264 Cru, Shigeto was a highlight of the festival and we’re pretty sure most festival goers would agree with us. Sitting on stage between his drumkit and live equipment, strategically nestled in the center of the massive LED visuals, Shigeto transported us to other realms with his meticulous jazz-like drumming flawlessly mixed in with his use of live electronics. It left us in awe of his astounding ability to create such a rich sonic and percussive landscape, right in front of us.

Mumdance

Mumdance stepped up, smashed the dance floor and left us all reeling - straight bass bin machine gunna style. This grime veteran, who is infamous for incorporating beatless grime atmospheres into his mixes and productions, served up a deadly dose of hard-hitting UK grime, dutty dance floor riddims and signature Mumdance edits and soundscapes to make the crowd move so hard, one would have thought it was the last dance of Zion.

Objekt

No one can construct a set like Objekt, and we witnessed that first hand. Seamlessly mixing everything from electro, to different forms of techno and even IDM, his set was like a journey through the galaxies of electronica. If that wasn’t enough, the visual projection mapping on the palace walls above were exceptionally psychedelic during his set - it felt like you were flying through space. Private space agencies, take note - this man should be in your control room providing the soundtrack for your private space voyages.

Garden City Movement

Upbeat, energetic and melodic, the Tel Aviv based Garden City Movement were one of the most exciting bands we witnessed at the festival. The 4 man live band played a repertoire of indie soaked electronica, with dreamy harmonies layered with driving yet subtle 2-step electronic beats. As they gain more and more recognition worldwide, this is a band to watch in 2016. We also enjoyed breaking bread with them and dominating them at table tennis in the artist lounge :p

Hope to see you guys soon -  respect!

Kutmah

Last but in no sense the least, the homie Justin aka KUTMAH is one you can trust to get people stomping even after they have raged non-stop for 2 straight days. Any other DJ may have had a hard time in playing the closing set of the festival, but KUTMAH’s selection of banging hip-hop and uptempo beat music sprinkled with other leftfield tunes from his digital crates, took us from groggy head nodding to full on rage mode within minutes. The perfect 90 minutes you could have asked for to catapult you into the rest of the night.

“TIP: Bring warm clothes! Shit gets super cold at night, like 5°C! It’s nice and toasty warm during the day but temperature drops really quick once the sun goes down. Don’t get caught out cause this could really ruin your whole party. This also extends to sleeping, bring an extra blanket or sweaters if you can. Stay fresh, but at the same time, stay cozy!”

Favorite Moments

DJ MoCity

Not sleeping, not spending time alone, being with my India family and my extended international family from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur representing with The 264 Cru! Making new friends, having the freedom not to look at my work emails and ultimately just a few good days of pure ratchetness with amazing music!! Each and every after party had a special unique experience and feeling that it generated. The music was also diverse at every party, trap to footwork on the opening night by the Rudoh and _RHL, to Resident Advisor's Dungeon Party with Soul Clap’s Bamboozle and finally ending it with New Delhi’s audio visual collective BLOT with their amazing visual installations in the garden.

C.O.B

Stumbling out of my tent on Sunday afternoon, wrecked as balls, to be greeted by the sweet sounds of roots and dub thanks to India’s very own reggae kingpin, Delhi Sultanate. I personally cannot go more than a few days without my dose of roots reggae, so this is EXACTLY what I needed. A strictly 45s set of classics and deep cuts, Delhi Sultanate was the perfect antidote to my poison ridden body. Moreover, he was promoting his Bass Foundation Roots Sound System initiative, which was extremely inspiring and stays true to the ethos of Jamaican soundsystem culture; no sponsors, no venues, no corporate BS - all you need is a soundsystem and selectas, and the skankers and vibes will follow.

Shortly after his sundowner set, I went to contribute to the cause and returned with a DOPE Bass Foundation Roots hoodie - I sported that for the rest of the day/night.

Much love and respect. Jah!

Kev Fresh

Kev has been missing since the festival - we think he’s still in Alsisar looking for that post-party. Not sure he got the memo, but we know he had many memorable moments that are safely locked up deep in his subconscious.

Closing Statement

Overall, we want to thank Magnetic Fields for inviting us to come and play - we had a great time, the hospitality was on point and the festival offerings were right up our alley. With some of us having attended previous MF editions, we think the management has done a great job of managing the growth of the festival from 700 people to 2000 people in just 3 years, while keeping up the vibe and continuously adding to and improving the festival in all aspects.

Only thing we’d request the team to incorporate for next year is a third wave coffee vendor - we’re big on our coffee, so that would be icing on the cake!

Much love to the Magnetic Fields team and well done! Hope to see you again in 2016 with the Dubai massive.

Peace,

The 264 Cru

Written by: Kevin Mckernon (Kev Fresh), Rishabh Chadha (C.O.B) & Mohammed Abood (DJ MoCity)

Photography by: artfoto studios, Neville Sukhiav, & Kevin Mckernon