Well over 10,000 festival goers travelled from all over Europe to worship at the altar of bass that is Fort Punta Christo, Croatia for Outlook 2011. The festival covers the whole Bass Music spectrum; from Dubstep to Reggae, DnB to Hip Hop, Grime to Beats. Progressive underground and unknown artists joined world class DJs at the top of their game. Dubstep is snowballing, it gets bigger and more widely recognised every week; at Outlook this felt like an avalanche. With an outstanding and varied lineup, the festival had a lot of expectations to live up to… expectations that were transcended with ease.
The Venue:
Two beach stages ease fragile festival goers into a chilled out sunshine skank each morning as Reggae offbeats and relaxed dub lap gently onto the shores. This vibe gradually gains momentum and energy as the day goes on, making way for heavier evening sounds. As the sun sets below the glistening Mediterranean, the music gets darker and the ravers’ playground that is Fort Punta Chriso opens its gates.
Seven distinct stages shook the foundations of the abandoned fort with generous helpings of sub-bass. You find yourself going to a set just to experience the venue, no matter who’s playing, which (given the quality of music available) says a lot about the fort.
The best two stages were: “The Courtyard”; a small circular pit with high ancient stone walls and a raised DJ platform, fully packed from 8pm opening to close at 6am; one of the best atmospheres in the festival. And “The Moat” was a favorite stage for many. It’s exactly what it says it is and makes for an interesting crowd experience. The unusual shape worked well as a world class soundsystem funneled the music down the long wide trench.
All this is topped off by two huge dock stages whose larger capacities helped accommodate the headline acts in a more familiar festival setting.
The Music:
Pioneers of Dubstep Skream and Benga and DnB sovereign Shy FX as well as Plastician provided some of the best sets of the festival. Benga absolutely killed it, living up to his reputation, as did Skream, both opting to go big and heavy, dispelling any doubts the crowd might have had about softening up after Magnetic Man. The architects of Dub-Pop still now how to please the underground. Other highlights included Kode 9, Pharoahe Monch and Flux Pavillion.
Among the most eagerly anticipated artists was post-dub’s poster-boy Jamie XX. Due to a mixture of over-hype and his music not quite suiting the midnight slot, his set was a bit of a let down. Plenty of hipster points for dropping edgy 90s garage but the fans needed more of a headline set. However this didn’t stop the crowd of thousands going mental each time he dropped a track from We’re New Here.
With so many roots Soundsystem Culture of 50s Jamaica, the festival was surprisingly dominated by Brits both on the stage and in the crowd. With a lot on offer but there was still a slight lean towards the Dubstep end of the spectrum overall. Grime had a significant presence too, with MCs like P Money drawing just as much love from the crowd as the DJs he was hyping. Hip-Hop had a dedicated night on the main stage where Foreign Beggars and Jhest tore it up to an adoring fanbase.
With far too many incredible sets to mention, I’ll leave it at this: if you like Bass Music, there’s something here for you, and it’ll probably be the best something you’ve heard all year.
The Travel:
However difficult getting there is, I would still encourage anyone to struggle through the stress of airport transfers and dubious Croatian bus services at all costs; the rewards outweigh every second of discomfort or expense. Travel is what puts most people off going and lets face it, it’s the only significant problem with the festival. The organisers did try, offering coach travel, plane timetables, and a reasonably comprehensive travel section on the website, but it just wasn’t enough. The infamous 27 hour coach journey is always an option on the ironically named “sunshine bus”. What’s really needed is a large amount of planes running at a convenient time; the demand is there so it’s a surprise that the airlines aren’t queing up to fleece the customers. Whether this is feasible we don’t know, but the point remains: for a punter travel can be difficult but is beyond worth it.
I wouldn’t be a very good journalist if i didn’t mention a few negatives. In the few of days after the festival there was a lot of crime (by locals) in the campsite, while some of the Croatian security appeared to be not above corruption. As for the festival, throwing a few thousand more pounds at the lighting setup would have made a real difference. Other than that, the only problems were not enough toilets or showers; standard festival problems but these conveniences had been marketed as ample and clean (a big disappointment for some of the people I spoke to).
Not wanting to leave on a negative note, I’ll end with a taste of what people thought of the festival. Talking to Jhest’s entourage, Outlook was labeled as having the “Dopest music, [the] craziest locations”. While one mystery croatian DJ called it “the best festival in the world”. Benga summed it up pretty well with “It is not insured!” – gives you an idea of the Croatian approach to health and safety… in a good way. Later a member of the crowd described it as “Better than any Glastonbury I’ve ever been to”… now let’s just let that sink in for a bit.
Sun, sea, sub. Beautiful people, unrivaled artists, thousands of ravers and an abandoned fort.
Prepare to have your your ribcage shattered with bass, this is Outlook 2011.
