Dimensions Festival 17' Review
I made my first visit to the Adriatic coast this year with the hopes of a kiss from the sun and a dance on the beach. By Friday,when the storms began to roll in, the chance of a tan was looking bleak. Many would leave the festival disappointed by the way the weather treated them, but I’m sure that nobody would complain about the way they were treated by Daphni during his stormy Saturday night set.
Daphni in action at Dimensions Festival: Photo from Vinyl Factory
Dimensions attracts music enthusiasts from all over the world, setting the stage for an electric atmosphere.All stages were well equipped with state of the art sounds systems,even the smaller stages sounded better than many clubs I have been to in the UK. A lot of thought had clearly gone into stage setup. Stages such as the Arija stage were cleverly placed in tight corners to avoid the ambient sound of the festival. The most impressive sounds came from the Clearing and the Moat: The Clearing speakers carried sound across vast field with excellent clarity whilst the Moat stage used Fort Punto Christo’s majestic moat to create sound tunnel that artists such as Ben UFO pumped techno through the entire weekend.
To compliment excellent sound and an eager crowd, this year’s Dimensions festival also had a fantastic lineup. Although the lineup mostly consisted of disco, house and techno acts, Dimensions provided for all, including Soul, Jazz and even Drum and Bass performers.Theo Parrish’s all-night booking lasted an incredible Eight hours, there were also standout sets from Daphni, Romare and Helena Hauff.
Above: Theo Parrish played an eight hour set at the festival.
The only time I found myself not glued to a stage was when they were forced to close due to lightning strikes. Missing Antal’s beach set and Ata Kak’s performance was very disappointing and I would have hoped the organisers would have been better prepared for the storms. Nevertheless, the festival did a good job at recovering and festival goers were largely unphased, taking the party to the campsite’s shower block.
From going to the Fort Punto Christo this year, I’ve learnt that Dimensions Festival doesn’t mess about. It’s a serious music festival. From Moderat and Grace Jones’ magical performances in an amphitheatre to Nina Kraviz’ secret closing set in the Moat, Dimensions really is one of the best dance festivals out there.