A neon circus flooded Vancouver streets on Sunday as
ravers, young and old, came out of the woodwork by the thousands to bask in the
spectacle that was the Full Flex Express.
With two stages, seven diverse artists, and seven hours of mind-bending
production value it was a festival for the books.
As endless hoards lined the fairgrounds outside of
the Pacific Coliseum TOKiMONSTA tested
the limits of the outdoor stage’s savage sound system and kept crowds happily
dancing as they teemed with excitement.
Taking over the reins from TOKiMONSTA, British DJs Koan Sound showered a perpetually
growing crowd in bouncy eltro-dubstep. With the perfect mix of hard-hitting
beats and energy fueled dance music Koan Sound deserves the attention of all
EDM lovers regardless of their musical preference.
They had certainly garnered the attention of rising
BC dubstep star Datsik who quietly bobbed his head, trademarked flat brimmed
hat in tow, from behind the DJ booth.
Sunday night Full Flex was the place to be.
Meanwhile, inside, Grimes was busy hypnotizing the Pacific Coliseum with her dark,
ambient tones, and her jarring bass rhythms. Her voice was filtered through a
delay, and it echoed throughout the transfixed crowd.
Grimes is an anomaly: if Björk and Nelly Furtado somehow
spawned a mystical lovechild deep within the caverns of a wintry Icelandic snow
cave, she would sound a lot like Grimes.
Oblivion was an obvious highlight, especially
noticeable as it is receiving heavy airplay on The Peak right now.
The stage, was as atmospheric and ethereal as her music: draped in
radioactive green and yellow, bubbles shot into the sky as a giant green
projected face stared at the audience for some sinister reason.
As the haunting vibes of Grimes came to a close and
the house lights flicked on an already jacked crowd clambered for Diplo and another injection of pure dance
music.
Radiating a traditional DJ vibe Diplo mixed rap,
pop, rock, and Brazilian favela flavour flawlessly into a set which reeked of
individuality. It was a unique experience to watch thousands forgot that they
were at a concert as the Pacific Coliseum transformed into a giant house party.
Backlighting Diplo’s larger than life presence, the
guy radiates I-do-what-I-want cool on a ridiculous level, was a visual
presentation that could have only been created during a drunken night and a MS
Paint binge. It was the crowning jewel of Diplo’s carefree set and while no one
wanted it to end the draw of Pretty Lights was not to be denied.
Expectations for Pretty Lights were high.
Without a doubt the man definitely lived up to his
name – literally. His stage production was a miniature metropolis, consisting
of tiny towers lit up with LEDs that displayed orbiting multicoloured cubes and
geometric shapes. Pure white lights whizzed through the skyscrapers and
exploded into brilliance, as solid beams of blue, pink and purple lights were
strewn into the crowd: all timed to Pretty Lights’ eclectic mix of lounge
infused dub.
By this point the crowd was in full swing. Dancing,
spinning, even singing along at points, was made possible thanks to Avicii’s Levels, which has reignited the
popularity of the Etta James’ vocal sample contained within Pretty Lights’ Finally Moving.
Uninspired by our singing, however, Pretty Lights
cut the sound, and demanded that we sing LOUDER. Vancouver rose to the
challenge, and the energy shot through the roof.
Finally, it was time for the king of drops.
Skrillex
virgins heaved in anticipation. Was popping their cherries going to be a
delicious experience, or a letdown?
The Skrillex countdown clock started at five minutes
and the anticipation was enough to weaken even the bravest.
With one minute
left the bass kicked in.
Thirty seconds and
you could feel the bass.
Ten seconds and you
began to brace yourself.
—Three—
—Two—
—One—
BOOM Whom Whooom Whomp BOOM
Skrillex live. The man is at the top of his game; in
the flesh, in his element, and in a fucking spaceship.
It was everything.
The full power of Bangarang hit you like a wall with unbelievable speakers the likes
of which you have never experienced. Everybody was going nuts.
Five acts in, and the energy was, by far, at its
high point. It was magic. The backdrop a nerd’gasim of videogame headshots and
CGI madness.
For returning fans, we all know seeing Skrillex live
is like dancing in the streets during a hurricane.
For a large portion of the general populous the
intensity present at Sunday’s show would have been akin to their worst
nightmare but for bassheads it was a temporary trip heaven. A unique communal
experience unlike anything else, shared amongst those riding the raging wave of
musical evolution.
As Right On
Time graced Skrillex’s behemoth sound system more lasers then a Coldplay
show erupted from the stage and giant fire encrusted demon robots barrelled
through a barren landscape on a massive LED screen.
Skrillex performance eclipsed the Mothership Tour in
every way. Not only did he play his set in an actual spaceship, the sound
system was undeniably superior. Crisp, controlled, and outrageously loud: the
experience demanded the audience’s attention.
Time to produce and expand his catalogue of tracks
gave Skrillex’s set a stronger sense of cohesion then during the Mothership
tour.
One could go on forever, but simply put: he finished
with Cinema and we all bowed down. Skrillex
is a master of his craft.
By the time one AM rolled around no one wanted to go
home. The Full Flex Express was the whole package. Not a single person should
have left with a frown on their face. Production wise, the festival was
unparalleled and the talent was staggering.
To Blueprint, you have outdone yourself.
To Skrillex and friends, please hurry back.
Vancouver needs you to push its nightlife to the next level. You’ve given us a
taste and there is no going back now.
