Live Review: Future Music Festival

11 March 2013 | 2:09 pm | Lucia Osborne CrowleyHelen Lear

Future Music Festival really did offer something for every type of music lover, but there were major issues with a lack of organisation, poor sound and overcrowding.

As ever, the Royal Randwick Racecourse was teeming with excited, scantily-clad twentysomethings under the burning midday Sydney sun as Future Music Festival kicked off on Saturday. Belgian brothers Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike were obviously very good at exciting the early afternoon crowd, as the DJs played a mix of heavy dance tracks with some classic party tunes thrown in the mix, such as Avicii's You'll Never Be Alone Again and Coldplay's Paradise. The set definitely created a very exciting vibe, particularly considering it appeared so early in the day.

The Prodigy's Warrior's Dance Arena was full of enthusiastic dancers very early in the piece for Vengeance and the DJ pleased the crowd with a series of dubby, bass-heavy tracks. Followed by Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe, a particularly engaging performer; he opened with some of his heavy dance tunes and moved into some fun hip hop beats, among them Pharoahe Monch's Simon Says.

Back on the Future Music stage, while glamorous UK pop songstress Rita Ora certainly looked the part, her set was more than a little bit disappointing. With vocal mics seemingly not equipped to fill the large space as well as the singer's lazy vocal tone, the performance overall was not particularly engaging. The catchy beats of all her hits, such as How We Do (Party) and RIP, did certainly seem to please the crowd, however.

Rudimental's live set also suffered slightly from poor sound quality at the Future Music stage, but the performance itself was still very enjoyable, as the accompanying enigmatic guest singer Ella Eyre delivered an impressive vocal performance over catchy beats and heavy drums.

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Hotly anticipated South Korean YouTube sensation PSY opened his set with fast, catchy electro beats that were complimented by an entourage of incredibly entertaining and remarkably talented dancers dressed head to toe in white. Almost half of PSY's short, 25-minute set was, of course, taken up by his performance of the smash hit, Gangnam Style. The entire space was filled immediately with punters all simultaneously doing the Gangnam Style-dance, which was quite a sight.

Aussie DJ TyDi took to the Wake Your Mind stage, which boasted by far the best sound quality of the festival. The space was remarkably packed and the crowd seemed to be hugely enjoying the energetic set. One of the most exciting sets of the day, TyDi certainly knows how to engage a crowd.

US DJ/producer Steve Aoki got everyone dancing to fast, bass-heavy tracks and the whole vibe of the festival intensified as the sun started to go down. Again, the sound quality at the Future Music stage was less than impressive, which was particularly noticeable during this set as the bass lines did not carry successfully to the back of the space. The crowd enjoyed the set regardless and the DJ wound up the performance with some exciting, fast, dubstep beats.

Young French house producer Madeon had an incredible energy that was totally contagious. His set combined fast, fun house music with slower, atmospheric techno beats. While Madeon did not attract as a big a crowd as some of his peers, it was certainly one of the most technically impressive sets of the day.

Across the arena in the Warrior's Dance tent, a live Boys Noize also performed a hugely exciting set to an overflowing crowd. A lot of variety in the set made it particularly engaging, moving seamlessly from fast techno beats to slower, bass-heavy tracks.

Back at the Wake Your Mind stage, W + W performed consistently fast, heavy beats in front of an impressive AV display and a huge crowd. German duo Cosmic Gate performed a set of fast trance tracks, which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed. The set also featured a huge amount of confetti and general excitement.

The atmosphere of the festival intensified exponentially as Dizzee Rascal took to the main stage. As ever, he performed an incredibly energetic hip hop show. The rapper used his charismatic stage presence to engage the packed-out space. He pleased the crowd by playing a set full of favourites such as Fix Up, Look Sharp and Dance Wiv Me and closed the set with an exciting rendition of Bonkers.

The Warrior's Dance arena hosted Israeli DJ Borgore, who played an eclectic mix of heavy dubstep and fast house music. One of the crowd's favourites was his performance of Decisions, which got the entire tent dancing excitedly. The DJ also played an extended, dubstep remix of the Macarena, which the crowd was also very pleased by.

The crowd was spilling out of the tent at all sides for the electronic superstars The Prodigy and their apparent anticipation was increased by heavy smoke machines and fancy audio-visuals as the group entered the space. As expected, the Festival headliners performed the best set of the day, filled with their signature fast beats, heavy drums and dirty bass lines. The highlights of the set were their opening performance of Voodoo People and their performance of Bring The Noise, which got every single person in the tent dancing and was a fantastic way to close another very successful day at Future Music festival.

Lucia Osborne-Crowley

Streams of festivalgoers in short shorts and singlets, muscled up to the hilt, scrummed into the entry of the Future Music Festival on an unseasonably hot autumn afternoon. Much to the disappointment of many in the crowd, some queued for up to 90 minutes just to get in through the front gates.

The main area of the festival emerged with three stages that were unfortunately so close together that the sound throughout the day really suffered. The music on each stage was too quiet to really get into unless you were in the front row and their close proximity to each other meant often overhearing what was happening in the neighbouring stage, which really dampened the mood.

Indie poppers Gypsy & The Cat offered up a welcome relief from the stress of entry with some fun and light-hearted tunes including hit, Jona Vark, to start things off on the Mariachi stage. UK darling Ellie Goulding followed, drawing in a solid crowd for hits Figure 8, Only You and Anything Could Happen. She looked strong on stage, but her delicate voice could have done with more amplification to reach over the crowd.

After a short changeover, New York indie rock group Fun. bounced on stage, something of an odd choice for this particular crowd, but proving popular nonetheless. Their eccentricity continued with singer Nate Ruess flaunting a gold microphone whilst guitarist Jack Antonoff swigged from a bottle of Moet as they performed tracks Carry On, Some Nights and hit, We Are Young.

A battered-looking tin shed was home to the Jack Daniel's Barrel House. Inside the venue was like a sleek little club with great sound, a cosy vibe and air-conditioning. Heaven on a hot sunny day! The huge queue outside was well worth the wait to hear Bloc Party's Kele Okereke spin some outstanding tracks, ranging from heavy, bass-filled dub to classic house and r'n'b from the likes of R. Kelly's Bump N' Grind, Flo Rida's Good Feeling and Robin S' Show Me Love, before allowing himself a guilty pleasure and finishing off with his solo track, Tenderoni. DJ Mike Who jumped on next while Gypsy & The Cat got themselves ready for another live set, this time on a much smaller stage.

Back to the Mariachi stage and Aussie favourites The Temper Trap offered up some solid tracks from both albums. Cool as a cucumber singer Dougy Mandagi looked really comfortable singing numbers Love Lost, Fader and Trembling Hands. Favourite, Sweet Disposition, seemed timed to perfection, finishing just as the sun began to set over the festival, creating a euphoric moment of musical bliss.

In contrast over at the Future Music stage, the crowd packed in like sardines to see hip hop rude boy Dizzee Rascal pump out some serious bass and slick lyrics, strutting around the stage like he owned it.

As if from nowhere, older festivalgoers began to emerge at the Mariachi stage, many having waited all day amongst the young crowd just to see Manchester indie rock legends The Stone Roses. A much older and slightly dishevelled looking Ian Brown and band took to the stage. Diehard fans squealed to hear classics I Wanna Be Adored, Fools Gold, Love Spreads and I Am The Resurrection, that were played with frenetic energy, with the only downside being Brown's wavering vocal ability.

Considering that they were one of the headliners, Bloc Party opened to one of the smallest crowds of the night, which could have threatened to dampen the vibe, but singer Kele Okereke was determined to get this crowd going, asking, “What do I need to do here guys… take my shirt off?!” Cheers followed and they got straight into tracks Positive Tension, Hunting For Witches, Banquet and One More Chance. New track, Ratchet, got one of its first outings and a solid reception. Hit, Helicopter, finished off the set, which was one of the most enigmatic performances this band has given for a while.

All in all, Future Music Festival really did offer something for every type of music lover, but there were major issues with a lack of organisation, poor sound and overcrowding.