When the programming of the first Portola Music Festival in San Francisco fell in May, no one could know the collection of skills Goldenvoice had amassed for its new electronic music festival. year; for any type of music festival. It seemed like each and every act was humming in a wide electronic music band, then some were caught on this billboard, and enthusiasts across the country were jealous of what was going on in the Bay Area in September.
And the fact that this happens at the 60-acre historic complex of Pier 80, San Francisco’s largest shipping terminal, made it even more intriguing. A state of change in terms of its long-term use. So for Goldenvoice, securing Pier 80 to free Portola from SF’s notoriously slow port authority seemed like a blow in itself.
The 400,000-square-foot warehouse level welcomes you as soon as you walk through the festival gates. And 400,000 square feet is as big as it sounds. It’s perhaps the largest warehouse I’ve ever been to, with a row of speakers halfway to relay viaout tracks. On Saturday night, Jamie XX proved once again that he is one of the most productive selectors in the world, jumping from soul to dub to jungle, progressive breaks and techno, telling a story with every record he plays. He closed his set with his own “Gosh” and “I Know There Going To Be (Good Times),” but the warehouse’s rustic vaulted ceilings bounced off both the sound of music and the endless chatter of the crowd. Kelly Lee Owens’ Saturday set was much more suited to the region, with the way she constantly pushes barriers vocally while her cascading intonations bounce off the ceiling in celestial fashion.
The Warehouse scene was the same domain as Charli XCX on Saturday and Fred Again. . . Sunday drew the biggest crowds of the entire weekend, welcoming about 30,000 more people per day. on social media. The front of the warehouse consisted of a series of wraparound lines in a simple front that gave the impression of waiting for a ride in an amusement park or crowded airport. When the festival announced that the level was at full capacity in a while after Charli started her set, a message that gained little spread given that overloaded mobile towers in the domain could not handle the influx of traffic and made mobile service a luxury, several dozen other people waiting in line took the themes on their own tracks. hands and jumped the barricades in the domain. the VIP segment outdoors and in cellar; A rise of the festive proletariat, so to speak.
The videos circulated on Twitter (filmed from the VIP section) where other people mocked the view and local and national media picked up the story, some even comparing it to the Astroworld tragedy. It sounded like a click-hungry technique for anything that, while similar to crowd control, in fact wasn’t the same thing. Yes, Portola underestimated the appeal of two of his acts in this massive area in a different way. But there were no injuries, no arrests and the festival said: “. . . was temporarily processed and corrected. ” To insinuate that it resembled Astroworld is downright disrespectful to the other people who suffered in Houston and whose lives were replaced forever. It wasn’t even in the same galaxy.
Beyond the giant warehouse, the vast majority of the festival’s footprint is in front of us. The Pier Stage, the festival’s main stage, featured epic perspectives of the San Francisco skyline, as others danced on a huge carpet that covered the sidewalk as the fog blew in. every day. Here, headliners The Chemical Brothers kicked off their set with “Block Rockin’ Beats,” a song that hits as hard as it did 25 years ago. Their expansive visual demonstration ruled the Portola landscape on Sunday night, as a Big Brother big beat follows you like the duo’s career in full swing (even as the sound spread to other leaders). Earlier in the day at Stage Pier, Toro and Moi at sunset, a welcome replacement for a bass weekend, and early in the evening, James Blake grabbed me when I heard him play the sublime “CMYK” of 2010.
But the gems of the weekend were hidden in the smaller Ship Stage, and specifically in the far corner of Pier 80, where the single Crane Stage stole the show all weekend. Aside from an array of (pretty cool) disco balls that Portola used as his calling card, it seemed like the festival had been cutting corners on art and visuals all weekend. Instead, the organizers relied on the features of the business site to do the heavy lifting. Although a wonderful opportunity to incorporate art and installations on the grounds was missed, the Crane Stage was perfectly planned. A giant container crane floated above the marquee that housed the music, and inside, smooth rails and nine disco balls along the tent’s roof created unforgettable audiovisual moments as Fat Boy Slim mixed Underworld’s “Born Slippy” on his iconic “Praise You”. Peggy Gou’s Sunday set had the Crane Stage as packed with revelers as I’ve noticed all weekend and Gorgon City closed out Saturday night with a bang.
On the shipping stage, a dance tent appeared in front of a gigantic old shipping shipment (everything in Pier 80 is great, if you didn’t notice it already) and, despite an incredibly inconsistent sound system, artists like Caribou, DJ Shadow, and Drama controlled to stand out. Shadow’s set was packed, as he walked the line of his most notable samples through his indelible productions (but yes, the sound was missing). The drama gave one of the festival’s most productive performances, with singer Via Rosa and manufacturer Na’el Shehade sounding like a basic Basement Jaxx ensemble leaning towards the R.
By all accounts, Portola was a spectacularly settled affair. But in reality it was as if we were witnessing evidence of concept rather than the end product of what could become. There are many disorders that want to be fixed. mobile service and sound quality disorders that you would expect in outdoor tents, there is a lot to report from the crowd in the first year. The VIP spaces were too large for the number of VIP price ticket holders. At all stages, the GA zones were crowded, with more than enough space to spare in the VIP area. Some changes are needed.
The warehouse level must have been a shitty show twice. Is there really a 400,000-square-foot momentary warehouse at Pier 80 that will perhaps be used in the next iteration of the festival?Garbage cans overflowed and cups, aluminum and plastic bottles covered the grounds. Off SF land he built an incredible relationship with Clean Vibes, an organization that helped the festival maintain a tidy playground all weekend in the direction of a waste diversion rate of over 90%. And again, visual art wants to be strengthened. The disco balls were amazing and riding a disco bird was fun. But more, more, more. In the warehouse too. Does anyone have maritime disc aesthetics?
But for everything that didn’t necessarily meet expectations in terms of production, this is the music I won’t forget to the fullest about the inaugural voyage of the Portola Festival. Falling on Ark’s Saturday night under the many disco balls of the Ship Stage was a magical spirit. Playing the author’s steel trading instruments.
“I’ve been a DJ since 1984 and I love what I do,” DJ Shadow told the crowd Sunday afternoon. “It’s an honor to be able to do this for other audiences and other contexts. “It spent the whole weekend for the enthusiasts and it was indeed reciprocal. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to do so next year.