I knew when I woke up Saturday morning that it was going to be a good weekend. Despite not sleeping much over the last few days, I woke up before noon with a not-so-brutal hangover (went to Bambi’s on Friday, the night lasted well into the morning). The forecast had been calling for rain all week but it had all run out over the course of the night. Stepping outside, I found that the temperature had risen to a nearly unbearable heat of what felt like 35º (don’t know what the exact figure is but it was hot and muggy as fuck).
After firing some protein back into my system I began to feel my hangover dissipate, and decided to start drinking again. My buddies were already on their way to my house and we had planned to have some drinks on my roof before heading to the festival grounds. After a couple beers and a few frantic minutes of trying to dodge Uber surges, we rallied and left around 3:30.
Traffic was a little iffy so we missed most of RobDaBanks’ set. Getting into the festi was no issue, the main entrance line was fast and steady. We cruised the grounds for a short time and linked up with some friends at the Bollywood stage. Gaiser was on and was laying down a consistent set. I’ve heard some of his tracks before but never had seen his sets in person, they’re bass forward but have this weird element of trippyness… hard to explain…
The heat was fucking sweltering, after sweating it out for a while we headed to the Main Stage for Jamie XX. He played Drake – One Dance (cuz: Toronto) early on in his set and got the booties poppin’. My memory is a little hazy after this but I remember Joris Voorn being a snooze, and a vague feeling of disappointment. I recall fragments of Art Department as well but obviously wasn’t paying enough attention to notice if it was Johnny White or Kenny G. (I guess Art Department is just Johnny now anyways).
The next thing I know, we’re at Odesza on the main stage and I’m being a big time downer, whining to go back to Bollywood for Maya Jane Coles. Ya girl obviously tore it the fuck up as expected. We saw her at movement last year and I’ve seen her at a club shows before, but I guess I had forgotten how she gets down. Would have been happy to stay there and step it out for the remainder of the night but my crew wanted to catch Tame Impala so we zipped back to a pocket on the left side of the Main. Their sound was on point, very close to what they sound like recorded. I was most impressed with their visuals and their general cool demeanour on stage. Strayans’ right?
Left with around 20 minutes left of their set in hopes of beating the rush. We walked up to the TTC lines, hoped on a bus and went for well deserved shower to rinse off the days filth. In comparison to last year, the festival was much better organized in terms of lines and logistics. I think the move to Woodbine was a smart play on the part of the organizers, especially considering the ferry fiasco of last years’ day2. Kudos Bestival, kudos.
Went to bed earlier than most, with the intention of maximizing my energy levels for day 2. Grabbed “breakfast” with my roommate at the Free Times Cafe on College st. and waited for my homies to message me for our return to the grounds. The heat wasn’t bad today, the breeze even made it a bit chilly. After hearing about the others’ exits and after party’s, we had a couple drinks at the clinic and headed back to the grounds.
Sunday was less busy, the crowds were thinner, a few of our own had tapped out from the previous days exhaustion. Daughter was playing when we arrived, so we caught a bit of them while trying out the Come And Get It Jerk Chicken sandwiches (ATTN v lit chicken sando’s). We checked out some of the peripheral areas during the afternoon, and ended up cooling’ out at the Sunday’s Best stage: A small, chill stage in the trees with a bar and DJs spinning disco-funk.
We stayed there for a while but eventually made the migration back 2 Bollywood for Lee Foss. I’ve seen him before, and was in no way disappointed with his performance. He slapped down track after track, starting with the more vocal shit and later moving into the heaters. IMO this was the best set of the weekend, the sun was still shining and the transition into the night was delivered well.
Dubfire got on as it started to get dark. We decided to skip The Cure, figuring that it would be a shame to waste the momentum that we had built up. We were fine with closing out the festival full step. He picked up the reins where Foss left off and played a solid set right up until the end. We dipped from Woodbine Park just before 10 and beat the majority of the exit traffic, walked up coxwell to the gerrard st. streetcar to head back west.
It was an exceptional weekend. Got to catch lots of cool artist and talk to lots of cool people, made a couple new friends too. Check out some snaps from the event on our Facebook page, and keep your ears peeled for the next escapade.
Bestival Photos @ https://www.facebook.com/Houseoflords.xyz/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1205490396168493
HOL
Rare Candy Feat Tristan Henry & Janine Fagan – The Bottle (A Lister Remix) – Lee Foss’ Set
Aaron Carl – Oasis (Nick Holder vocal dub remix) – Jamie xx Set
Ian Pooley ‘Cold Wait’ (Bicep Dub) – Gaiser Set
Tame Impala – Let It happen