Walking into Sydney’s Future Music Festival is like being transported inside TV show The Jetsons, only with added foam-spitting stages, tanned beauties and some of the hottest international acts around. As we all know, given the huge crowds that flock to festivals, it’s only a matter of time until you lose your friends. Sometimes it sucks, but sometimes it’s awesome, as you find yourself wandering aimlessly, discovering new music and new friends at every corner. So, with no hope of finding my mates, I gave in and got loose. The first band I stumbled across was Drum and Bass duo Chase and Status. These guys started my day off with some serious dancing. Knowing I had a fellow Californian in town, I then headed to the Las Venus stage to get down to Skrillex, who, out of all the acts on stage during the day, I‘d been told many times was not to be missed. And, with “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” being blasted into my ears with epic sweetness, it did not disappoint. For a split second I almost thought I was a good dancer. Sadly, no witnesses have since come forward. After trying out my mad dubstep skills it was time to change hats and get my rap on with the UK’s own, entertaining, high energy Tinie Tempah. Tinie knows how to engage his audience and get everyone going, from his debut single “Wifey” to his latest hit single “Till I’m Gone”. He left me wanting more. As the sun was setting, the Wombats took to the stage. Bringing a high-energy set of their own brand of Brit Pop Rock. Playing hits such as “Let’s Dance to Joy Division”, “Moving to New York” and one of my favourites, “Techno Fan”. Nearly everyone in the crowd was singing along to the whole set. With catchy deep synth lines, great guitar leads and vocal lines that you’d think had come from Michael Jackson and Elton John’s love child, the Wombats were definitely one of my highlights of Future and I hope the Liverpool three-piece will return to Australia soon. With so many acts playing at the same time I was only able to get a taste of what was on offer, but with the two main stages close to each other I was able to pop between them so I didn’t miss a beat. To end the night it was a toss up between Swedish House Mafia and Aphex Twin. However, I decided to check out the packed “SHM” show with their ear-pumping house music explosions, followed with streams of neon lights filling the nights sky and fire balls blowing up into the air. On the way out, I overheard one person saying, “so that’s what it’s like to be fucked in the ear”, after their Aphex Twin experience. I was pretty happy waking up the following morning with both my ears intact!
