- The Serbian giant comes of age.
- Originally staged as a student protest against the former Serbian and Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević, EXIT Festival has, over the last 18 years, established itself as one of Serbia's most important cultural events. LCD Soundsystem, Patti Smith, Arcade Fire and Iggy Pop have all headlined in the past, and this year the typically broad lineup saw techno and house heavyweights billed alongside EDM stars, local underground heroes and acts from genres as diverse as punk rock, hip-hop, reggae and psytrance. Over the festival's four nights, it quickly became apparent why EXIT still attracts tens of thousands of visitors from across Europe and beyond. (Roughly 50,000 per day in 2018.)
The festival site, which spreads throughout the medieval Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, was spectacular. There were 20 stages in total, many with stunning views of the town and Danube river below. One stage sat beneath the fortress in one of its famed tunnels. The production was next level, particularly at the colossal Dance Arena, where a mind-blowing 59x18-metre wall of speakers and lasers faced a huge lower stage and elevated amphitheatre, positioned so you could enjoy the stage and the sunrise at the same time. Underworld's "Dark And Long (Dark Train)" has never sounded as good as it did booming out of those speakers, played by Anastasia Kristensen on Thursday night. She bravely performed to her biggest crowd to date just the day after her father passed away.
The sunrise Dance Arena sets, especially Nina Kraviz's three-hour techno throwdown on Monday, were among the most memorable, though it was the No Sleep Novi Sad stage, tucked behind Dance Arena, that was home to the most interesting lineups. Hosted by fabric, The Bunker New York, Arma17 and Rome's Goa Club for one night each, it was a more intimate, manageable space than its bigger brother. Tijana T scorched the stage early on Thursday night with a squelchy, acid-heavy set. Tin Man, playing live, kept the TB-303 fires burning on Friday, before DJ Tennis turned in a typically classy set on Monday morning, going from cuts like Thomas Schumacher & Victor Ruiz's "Apollo" to George Morel's New York garage classic "Let's Groove." Early on Sunday morning, Helena Hauff played what might have been the festival's best set—banging, surprising and impeccably mixed.
Exploring some of the smaller stages was worth the trek. Disko Zone, staffed by local DJs, offered a change of pace. Radio As FM was an all-out embrace of the genre that's been popping up in all kinds of sets lately: trance. Tale Of Us, one of the sound's biggest fans, dropped Three Drives's timeless "Greece 2000" at Dance Arena on Monday morning, sending their Serbian sunrise set Balearic.
Urban Bug Stage, which also highlighted local acts, made me want to explore the Serbian scene in more depth. Appealingly, there was room for only a couple of hundred people in the circular space, with a trippy stage setup recalling an Australian bush doof. On Friday night, I caught Peter Portman pumping out brawny progressive house back-to-back with Teo Trunk. On Sunday morning, AKIOKI and DJP, also playing back-to-back, seduced the crowd with soulful deep house.
Main Stage had the most diverse lineup of all. Fever Ray and her all-female band put on a provocative and entertaining show on Thursday night, though the sound wasn't nearly loud enough. It was better for Grace Jones on Saturday, whose performance included countless costume changes, a muscly male pole dancer and the 70-year-old hula-hooping her way through an extra-long version of "Slave To The Rhythm." Calling it "Main Stage" was a bit of a misnomer—Dance Arena felt much bigger. But it was the most democratic, seemingly designed to attract locals of all ages and musical persuasions (David Guetta, the trap trio Migos and the drum & bass duo Matrix & Futurebound also played there). For those still dancing after sunrise, there was an onsite afterparty, where the likes of Solomun and Tale of Us kicked on after their sets. A few villa parties were held around town during the day, too.
EXIT has faced increasingly stiff competition over the past ten years, but the mix of high-profile and underground acts combined with the incredible location, world-class production and the comparative affordability of Serbia made for a still-compelling selling point. The oppression of the Milošević regime, thankfully, is a thing of the past, but the allure of freedom, fun and escapism, however temporary, endures. EXIT 2018 provided it in spades.
Exploring some of the smaller stages was worth the trek. Disko Zone, staffed by local DJs, offered a change of pace. Radio As FM was an all-out embrace of the genre that's been popping up in all kinds of sets lately: trance. Tale Of Us, one of the sound's biggest fans, dropped Three Drives's timeless "Greece 2000" at Dance Arena on Monday morning, sending their Serbian sunrise set Balearic. Urban Bug Stage, which also highlighted local acts, made me want to explore the Serbian scene in more depth. Appealingly, there was room for only a couple of hundred people in the circular space, with a trippy stage setup recalling an Australian bush doof. On Friday night, I caught Peter Portman pumping out brawny progressive house back-to-back with Teo Trunk. On Sunday morning, AKIOKI and DJP, also playing back-to-back, seduced the crowd with soulful deep house.
Main Stage had the most diverse lineup of all. Fever Ray and her all-female band put on a provocative and entertaining show on Thursday night, though the sound wasn't nearly loud enough. It was better for Grace Jones on Saturday, whose performance included countless costume changes, a muscly male pole dancer and the 70-year-old hula-hooping her way through an extra-long version of "Slave To The Rhythm." Calling it "Main Stage" was a bit of a misnomer—Dance Arena felt much bigger. But it was the most democratic, seemingly designed to attract locals of all ages and musical persuasions (David Guetta, the trap trio Migos and the drum & bass duo Matrix & Futurebound also played there). For those still dancing after sunrise, there was an onsite afterparty, where the likes of Solomun and Tale of Us kicked on after their sets. A few villa parties were held around town during the day, too. EXIT has faced increasingly stiff competition over the past ten years, but the mix of high-profile and underground acts combined with the incredible location, world-class production and the comparative affordability of Serbia made for a still-compelling selling point. The oppression of the Milošević regime, thankfully, is a thing of the past, but the allure of freedom, fun and escapism, however temporary, endures. EXIT 2018 provided it in spades.