Event Review: WILD LIFE Festival – Saturday

Back in 2015, two talents – Disclosure and Rudimental joined forces to create WILD LIFE Festival, which is situated in Brighton, on the south-coast of England. The third installment of the festival was as always expected to be a sellout due to it’s consistently diverse lineup full of starts from various genres of music.

Saturday’s lineup featured 6 arenas/stages including the ‘Wild Life Stage’, ‘WHP Presents’ stage, ‘elrow Presents: Sambodromo Do Brasil’ arena, ‘Sounds Of The Near Future’ arena, the ‘Kopparberg Urban Forest’ and ‘Heaven For A Day (VIP Area)’.

This bought together artists including Dizzie Rascal, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Joris voorn, Andy C, Joe Goddard, Mura Masa, Dusky, Maya Jane Coles, Low Steppa, DJ Zinc, Wax Worx, and many more, to create a diverse line-up which caters to all sorts of music fans craving a festival experience over the summer.

One of the unique selling points of WILD LIFE Festival was that elrow had their own arena. I’d also never experienced an elrow event too, and judging from the positive feedback and pictures online, it looks amazing. Upon entry to the elrow arena, first impressions were great, it was aesthetically fantastic. A lot of effort had been put in to creating the theme.

Highlights included giant inflatable palm trees, unicorns, hammers and crayons floating about in the crowd, stilt walkers dressed as cavemen walking about and dancing, giant inflatable mammoths and rhinos patrolling outside, and also banners hanging from the ceiling in UV tribal patterns, cheetah patterns and masks which look like they were from Crash Bandicoot on the tent support posts too.

The lineup for elrow day 2 also featured an array of artists including George Priviatti, Robert James, Mark Maya, Yousef and Joris Voorn, and throughout the day, attendees were treated to a lot of Tech House tunes, which included Cirez D’s ‘On Off’, Waze & Odyssey’s ‘Down With Tha’ and ANOTR X Armand Van Helden’s ‘Funk Phenomena’.

Another big performance, and someone who pulled in a large crowd was big Mike AKA Stormzy, the first grime artists to have an album reach #1 on the UK charts. His performance was full of energy, and he had great stage presence too, as cycled through a series of his hits including ‘Cold’, Bad Boys’, ‘Big For Your Boot’s’ and his breakout hit ‘Shut Up’.

Personally, I’m a pretty big Eric Prydz fan, so I was hyped for his set ,and he delivered an epic set which predominantly embodied a dark, techy vibe throughout. However, the best magical of his set was one of his final tracks, an intro edit of his ‘Generate’ which then evolved into one of his biggest  track ever – ‘Opus’.

The crowd interaction and vibe was incredible, from the slowed BPM build-up, people were clapping as the pace quickened, a sea of light via phones recording the moment too, and when the drop finally kicked in everybody jumped with joy, in harmony. It was certainly a ‘you had to be there moment’ to fully understand how good it really was.

Another thing which made WILD LIFE Festival different was the fact that it allowed people under the age of 18 into the festival, as long as they were with a parent or guardian. This opens opportunities for many younger people to experience something different, as opposed to an indoor concert, a very thoughtful concept from the people who devise the festival and its regulations.

Overall, in conclusion, I would view my first experience of a WILD LIFE Festival as a success, I had high expectations for this event to begin with, and I feel the politeness of staff, the sound quality within the arenas and outdoor stages was on point, which further complimented the world-class talents on the bill, the prices for drinks and food were a lot cheaper when compared to other festivals, and the aesthetic pleasures for the DJ sets were great too, which included strobe lights, lasers and confetti. For all those who have not experienced a WILD Life Festival, I fully recommend attending in 2018!