BESTIVAL TORONTO REVIEW + RECAP REEL
Bestival kicked off its sophomore year in Toronto, Stretching its limbs into Woodbine Park to really let its hair down.
With veteran act The Cure headlining a festival stocked with acts like Porter Robinson, Odesza, Jamie XX, Rob Da Band, 4b, Dubfire, The Wombats and more,
Saturday the heat baked the festival goers at Woodbine Park with
the temp hitting a scorching 30'Degrees, I made it by mid
afternoon and met up with fellow Videographer Dan Slater discussed the plan for the day. I headed straight for the Big Top where I witnessed 4B kicking the crowd into a dance fueled frenzy. I foolishly didn't plan properly before leaving for the festival and skipped out on a meal before hand, Which left me with a terrible case of heat stroke essentially leaving me quarantined to a tree shaded hill for most of Saturday until the sun set.
Sadly I missed out on a few acts as I desperately seek'd out ice and water to cool my burning soul, by the time the sun had set I was feeling like my self and ready to explore.
I headed over to the Bollywood stage and checked out the vibes of Art Department and his sonic beats until it was time for Tame Impala to hit the main stage.
Tame Impala can be best described as The Beatles if they formed in 2016 and added more Synth to their music.
The crowd was soaking up their trance heavy vibes and I was left feeling like I was wanting more from the Australian born musical act.
The visuals of their set were grand but almost felt like it was meant to be a distraction from the very down key band. They really didn't move around much and I felt their stage presence lacking
So I wandered over to The Big Top as it looked like their was a fire happening in there.
It wasn't a fire just a "feck" ton of stage smoke from Porter Robinson's very fire set.
A virtual mirror to the action happening on Main Stage where five Australians are standing still, we've got one Dj practically jumping out of his own skin, he just couldn't stop dancing.
Porter Robinson was a surprise act for me in the sense that for a DJ, He had a lot of life into his show. Not just with the visuals and the lights, but with a presence of pure fun entertainment.
Feeling famished I sought out food. As a vegan this was no easy task, as most of the food at the festival involved animal by-products of some form. I would ultimately find solace in a lone food truck selling $10 Falafels, it was that or Fries. I find Music Festivals always are about equality and inclusion except for when it comes to vegan dietary options. Kip Anderson's work with festival Comunité is a shining example of what can be done to make a festival more environmentally friendly by exploring vegan options.
I ultimately made my way back to Tame Impala to see if things were of any interest, I found myself exhausted from the heat so I made my hour long bike ride back home and called it a night.
Sunday was funday, The heat was gone, the wind was breezy and I was running late!
I biked as fast as I could from Etobicoke all the way to Woodbine park and just got there in time for Grimes, the one act I was looking forward too all weekend.
I missed her first track but was there for the rest, eventually making my way to the front. I fan boy'd a little over Grimes and took way too many photos of her and her excellent back-up dancers.
It all proved to be worth it as I got some great shots.
Even though she announced she was fighting a cold, Grimes showed no signs of being Ill and brought what I would consider the sickest performance of the weekend.
So much love for Grimes, check out this fantastic artist and book her at your next venue, or festival.
After Grimes left me feeling exhausted from dancing and elated from her incredible vibes.
I made my way to one of the Free Water huts filled up my bottle then found a nice spot in the middle of the festival sat down and proceeded to wrap off portrait shots of all the smiling faces and dancing asses of Bestival.
It was magic hour and everything looked perfect so I sat and took photos for a good hour before making my way to Bollywood and catching Dubfire close out the set, I met some nice people and enjoyed the good vibrations.
Making my way back to the main stage to indulge in The Cure.
The crowd wasn't nearly as packed at the main stage for them, honestly the band seemed oddly out of place in this festival considering the mainly electronic atmosphere of Bestival.
But young and old alike all who were there enjoyed the intimate setting for a stellar performance.
Before long The Cure would say their goodbyes and fireworks would be lit signalling the end of another summer festival in Toronto.
One rightfully named Bestival.
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