Bestival Sought to ‘Increase the Peace’, Mission Accomplished

This past weekend (June 12 and 13) Bestival held its first international event, taking place on Toronto Island. With an eclectic mix of impressive acts, the knowledge from past events in the UK and the drive to create a festival experience that goes beyond the music, Bestival Toronto brought the fun back to the festival experience and truly lived up to its name. What made it stand out? Simply put, everything. From the music to the atmosphere, the people and even the food vendors and drink selection. Below we’ve highlighted what made Bestival so unforgettable.

The Music

Easily the most important aspect of at any music festival is, you guessed it, the music. The city has never seen a festival that packs such a diverse and impressive line-up in its history. From Florence and the Machine and Nas serving as headliners, to ZHU’s Canadian debut and Canadian legends like Grandtheft and Keys N Krates, it was impossible to leave unsatisfied. We’ve highlighted a few of the most notable performances below.

Grandtheft

One of Canada’s finest producer/DJs, Grandtheft never disappoints and Friday evening was no different. His high energy performance jumped across genres with ease moving from Sam Smith to RL Grime, Kendrick Lamar into LOUDPVCK, hard hitting Valentino Khan anthems and a ton of his own reworks including his ‘0 to 100’ remix and the fittingly massive Florence featured ‘Sweet Nothing’ rework. Grandtheft “Kept it 100” from start to finish.

Flosstradamus

On Friday night the HDYBYZ took the Big Top deep into the trap. With a ton of their own works including ‘TTU’, ‘Prison Riot’, ‘SoundClash’, the duo had the tent ready to explode. In addition to their own works they effortlessly blended big rap tunes (‘Flicka Da Wrist, ‘Know Yourself’, ‘Collard Greens’ and even ‘Rough Riders Anthem’) into hard hitting trap drops. They even delved into a little bit of future bass dropping their ‘God’s Whisper’ remix and a couple of high energy hardstyle hits to get the crowd jumping. As always they did an incredible job getting the crowd hyped with J2K spending a good portion of the set on the table getting the crowd PLURNT. Bringing things to a close, they prepared to get crazy one last time as they unleashed ‘Mosh Pit’.

Hoxton Afterparty

To cap off the wild day on the Island we headed over to the Hoxton for the official after party. With no line-up and guests TBA the anticipation was high as everyone was wondering who might show up. As we entered the venue local favourite Pusher was rocking the stage with his signature blend of dark trap, bangers and future bass. He rinsed out a ton of huge trap anthems including ‘Dum Dee Dum’, ‘Chimes’, ‘Chinchilla’ and more. It was awesome to see the crowd going off to his latest original ‘Basic’ as well as losing it to his rework of ‘Take U There’. As it drifted deeper into the night ½ of Smalltown Djs (Pete Emes) took the stage and blew the doors off the spot. The set was routed in deep house with a ton tunes from LA’s bass house movement including AC Slater, JAUZ and SNBRN. Rumours began to fly that Flosstradamus would take the stage as the homies were in the house. Though it never came to fruition, no one left disappointed as Smalltown DJs amazed with the performance and even took the time to shake hands and talk to fans after the show.

Cashmere Cat

Norwegian musical visionary Cashmere Cat played an early evening set on Saturday. The DJ’s ability to breakdown tracks, draw them out and make them seem unfamiliar before smoothly bringing them back, always makes for an incredible set. The mixture of technical skills with his incredible catalogue of originals/remixes and productions is difficult to top. His forward thinking future bass filled the crowd with joyous vibrations while popular tracks like ‘Party Girls’, ‘Adore’ and ‘Wolves’ had fans singing along. Balancing some of the more poppy songs, Cashmere Cat dropped in some gritty Jersey club tunes and had everyone bouncing along to ‘Ice Rink’. I don’t think a single fan left without a smile on their face.

Keys N Krates

Hometown favourites Key N Krates destroyed the big top tent with a wide array of weird rap beats. Every time the 3 piece electronic trio grace the stage they deliver a memorable set. Their originals were easily the highlight, with tracks like ‘Are We Faded’ ‘Keep It 100’ and ‘Dum Dee Dum’ eliciting major reactions. It’s awe inspiring to see them perform these tracks live and just as interesting to take in live renditions of huge trap favourites. The addition of instruments allows for a completely different performance experience and opens up a new realm of mixing. With the ability to play the keys/synths and drums live KNK can really mix things up. Whether it’s drawing out a melody, switching out some kicks or snares, or completely reworking a song all together, as they did with the classic ‘Bittersweet Symphony’. The group did take a break from behind the instruments to stand side by side as they unleashed their brand new track ‘Save Me’. Despite the fact that the track just went up for stream a few days prior the bulk of the crowd was singing along nearly word-for-word; a true testament to the group’s die hard fan base.

ZHU

With the mysterious producer set to make his Toronto debut, the anticipation was immense. After a 15 minute changeover, the music and lights began to rise. Not your average set, the stage was completely covered with a translucent screen that allowed for provocative imagery to overlay the set, while masking the performer’s identity. The opening built massive anticipation and when ‘Stay Closer’ hit the place was set on fire. As he ran through his catalagoue the crowd vibed out hard. His mixing was on point, perfectly demonstrated as he brought in ‘Superfriends’; stripping the instrumentation and bending the vocals to give the cheery track an eerie, haunting feel before bringing it into the funk filled bass. Throughout the set the visuals and lighting allowed gaps to give fans brief peeks of the artist’s silhouette, which only added to the performer’s mystique. The biggest surprises came as ZHU played out The Weekend and then moved into a mash-up of T-Pain’s ‘Bartender’. Unsurprisingly ZHU’s mega-smash ‘Faded’ made the place errupt. The combination of incredible visuals, stellar music and overall excitement made this one of the Weekend’s best sets.

Nas

Closing time. Nas was set to take the Bestival stage on Day 2 at 9:45pm. As the crowds from different stages rushed to the main stage, the excitement began to build at a fever pitch. The crowd cheered for Nas and soon after the legend took the stage. Supported by DJ Green Lantern, Nas ran through his extensive catalogue with the crowd singing along with every word. The setlist resembled his Illmatic 20th Anniversary show that took place last year in April at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre following a screening of the Illmatic documentary. Nas introduced himself with ‘Nas is Like’ followed by the ‘N.Y. State of Mind’ from his classic debut. The Queens native who is no stranger to the festival crowd displayed excellent performance skill as he and DJ Green Lantern weaved ‘Got Yourself a Gun’ with Dr. Dre’s ‘Deep Cover’. As a true master of ceremony would, Nas thoroughly entertained the Bestival crowd and it’s true to say the little things count. Ever so often Nas would swap out lyrics and throw in some love for Canada, Toronto and Bestival. Songs like ‘Hate Me Now’ with a large flame backdrop and powerful and emotionally charged songs like ‘One Mic’ were huge crowd pleasers. It’s safe to say, he’s still got it.

The Stages

Another key piece of what made this festival so unique was the variety of stages and vibes. Well-spaced throughout the island, there was no sound leakage or bleed-over from one stage to another and each offered a very distinct mix of sounds, festival goers and decor.

Main Stage

Harboring the biggest acts, loudest system and most space, the main stage was exactly what you would expect. The sound quality was great and it never seemed like you had to stand too far away. Conveniently located by the exits also allowed for quick getaway for those trying to skip out a few moments early to beat the rush.

Big Top presented by Bacardi

The massive tent was home to the weekend’s biggest electronic acts. It was a great place to get a break from the rain on Friday and offered shade on sunny Saturday. The stage was solid and the sound knocked.

The Bollywood Temple

Easily the wildest and most interesting stage of the event. Bollywood offered flame throwers, exotic dancers, psychedelic lights, trippy elephants and more. It was the spot to truly let your inhibitions go and get lost in the feels. The fact that they put so much time and effort into creating a stage this unique is just one of many examples of why Bestival stood tall against the less inventive festivals our city has seen.

The Perrier Greenhouse

I’m not a fan of corporate branding at festivals. It’s a generally a necessary evil for financial backing but it seldom provides any tangible benefit to fans and often takes away from the experience. That said, it is possible to do it right and Perrier’s Greenhouse is a perfect example of this. The Green House was, as the name indicates a real green house equipped with a green turf floor, a small stage with crisp sound and a massive bar exclusively serving Perrier based cocktails. The end result was a great spot that had an upscale but outdoor loungey feel.

Sunday Best Balearic Beach Club

Last but not least the Balearic Beach Club took the festival to another level. Located at the far end of the grounds concertgoers traveled down a short but winding path that opened up to a sandy beach oasis complete with bars, Muskoka chairs, a DJ booth and a large cabana. It was the perfect spot to relax in the shade, drink in the sun or chat with friends. Despite the large gate surrounding the water it still felt more like a relaxing spot up in the Muskokas than a major music festival.

Food & Drink

Though you don’t attend music festivals for 5 star meals or their remarkable craft beer/wine selections, there’s nothing worse than spending an entire weekend stuck choosing between 3 varieties of Bud Light while eating poorly made pizza slices. Once again Bestival got it right and saved attendees from this fate. The beverage selection included a few different beer types, champagne, coolers, and a number of cocktails from the Perrier Greenhouse and Day of the Dead Cocktail bus. The food selection was excellent with over a dozen food trucks and stands, with options ranging from T.O. favorites like 416 Snack Bar and Rock Lobster, to Fit to Grill and even Tiny Tom’s donuts. There was truly something for all.

The People

The final dimension which can’t be planned or accounted for is the people in attendance. Though many of Toronto’s festival’s have become over run with bros and girls more concerned with rounding out there Instagram profile than actually listening to the music; Bestival was different. Everyone seemed to have the common goal to enjoy the music and to have a good time. I met a ton of strangers throughout the weekend and everyone was friendly and in great spirits (even while standing ankle deep in mud).

Almost Perfect

The only complaint about the weekend is one which has been highlighted by many; the ferries. Due to the fact that the event was held on an island ferries and water taxi’s proved to be the only means to get to and from the festivities. Word has it some people were stuck on the Island for hours, a time which is completely unacceptable. My worst wait was about an hour and although it was frustrating, considering how epic the event was it is easily forgotten. Next year the festival needs to run far more Ferries (GA and VIP) especially during peak travel times (at the end of the night). If they can recapture what they did last weekend with that slight tweak, they may be able to create the perfect experience.

We’d like to give Bestival and all of its organizers a huge thank you! You truly showed Toronto what the festival experience should be. We’ll be counting down the days till next year.

For more pics of the event check out our gallery on Facebook.