u/loveyousall

Thought it’d be cute to do a short recap as people seem curious as to how the night went…

In terms of context I think it is important to mention that as a local it has been a lifelong struggle growing up in Sydney, in a music scene that has been aggressively shut down by the Government and police. Any sort of interesting cultural experience, particularly when it comes to music and particularly when it comes to the underground has struggled to survive in the last decade or so. However, over the past few years our state government has really been trying to spruik Vivid Festival with its pretty nighttime projections on the Opera House sails and various buildings in the city etc. There’s a lot of money involved and overall it’s a pretty family friendly idea, but the musical program really does provide, and there’s obviously a lot funding that has recently brought some amazing artists to the Opera House (Arca, DJ Sprinkles (tomorrow), Oneotrix Point Never etc). Im still quite cynical but I think it’s safe to say a lot of us locals as well as a lot of people who would come from out of state were pretty stoked to see Salem billed as for the festival despite the steep price tag ($139 AUD).

I arrived on time to catch Endless and Jawnino. The theatre was less than half full and both sets only lasted about 30 minutes each. It was a seated gig which is awkward but usually at these events people stand once the music gets to a certain level. Unfortunately, the sound never got turned up so if the organisers were aiming to position the supporting acts as some sort of ‘lobby’ music as the crowd came in, then they were successful. Would’ve been good to have a little bit of lights/production and louder sound to catch the other two acts, especially due to the price tag. Jawnino did his best but likely didn’t vibe the crowd since people were half in and half out and unceremoniously walked off stage.

A few moments later the stagehands placed a tall white statue of the virgin Mary in the centre of the stage accompanied by a flower arrangement of white roses. The lights dimmed and it started… Started with noise, smoke and lights. Flashes from bright strobes positioned in four or five places above the stage felt like robotic machina hypnotising us. Causing us all to get up out of our seats and cheer. Two figures paced the sides of the wings and behind the statue as smoke, strobe and sound continued to grow and build. I wondered whether I should put my earplugs in or just cop the onslaught of sound as it rose louder and louder.

Jack and John appeared behind the partition and walked out into rapturous applause. It took me a while to realise that Jack was wearing a South Sydney Rabbitohs training kit. For context this is a beloved local rugby league team that most locals would immediately recognise. Even if you aren’t a Bunnies supporter, or you don’t watch rugby league most of us would understand the lore and mythology behind such a team. You kind of have to be a local to understand it, but it was a very flattering touch. Truly a class act. Whoever suggested he wear the kit deserves a round of applause. But maybe I am biased - as a Bunnies fan I went giddy with joy.

As soon as they started it really dawned on me how crazy it was that Salem was playing in Sydney. On the other side of the world. In a city I have such a love hate relationship with as we (hopefully) emerge from a culturally stagnate and unsupported period of music and nightlife. Here we all were about to witness such a rare performance. It just made the night so fucking special for all of us. I never would have thought when listening to them back nearly 16 years ago that I would be able to catch Salem on home turf and at the Opera House of all places. But the Joan Sutherland theatre did not disappoint. The sound system was loud, and seemed to be red lining. Live edits of familiar tracks had surprise drum samples with high hats and snares so loud they rattled you to your core.

Jack opened up the set first, energetically walking around the stage while John kind of stood there with a mic, looking slightly lost. When it came to John’s turn it almost looked like he wasn’t gonna make it through the set. They had there backs turns from the audience, and Jack had his arm over Johns shoulder giving him some sort of pep talk. We were only 5 to 10 minutes in and I seriously wondered if the show was going to fall apart. But John came back to the mic, looking nervous or nodded out. He rubbed his face in his hand and proceeded to deliver us a heavenly and washed out rendition of ‘Star Moth’ while Jack went off to the corner to sink another beer. Throughout the set Jack came up behind him a few times and put his hand on his back almost as if he was holding him up. Or maybe just a friendly touch. A particularly noisy interlude of sound gave them respite and John started to walk off stage but another track came on and he realised he was meant to sing. He ran back to the mic to make his cue. Sheesh, what were we in for?

Jack continued to sink beers and get progressively drunk, missed his cue on ‘Train’ and told the sound guy to reload the track. In between verses during he giggled and laughed. Before ‘Red River’ he said something about how he was ‘going to get through it’. At points I thought they must be taking the piss. Laughing straight to the bank kind of thing. For the most part I was there for it. As long as they could hold out for the whole performance, I would be satisfied. Maybe halfway through the set, fake snow started to fall from the ceiling and it was very entertaining. Bringing a bit of the Mid-West to Sydney. John got on the mic again to sing ‘Starfall’ and I nearly cried with fake foamy snow dripping on to my face. Jack drank more.

They pretty much ‘finished’ with King Night and the strobes changed from white to an assortment of bright flashing colours; red, purple, green, blue. The show reached a crescendo with the boys grabbing flowers from the base of the statue and throwing them in to the crowd. They aimlessly walking around on stage for a bit longer with the track playing and then stumbled off stage arms around each other’s shoulders. One friend said he saw them kiss but I didn’t see it. Despite being relieved that they made it through the whole show and a full hour, I would’ve loved to hear a few more songs. In this era an hour headline show seems to be the norm. And to be honest any more songs would’ve likely pushed their capabilities in maintaining an appropriate level of professionalism. In saying that it truly was an incredible experience and I loved every moment of it. It will stay with me forever.

It would have also been nice for them to stay on stage while we listened to ‘Not Much of a Life’, but they were done. Johnboy had made it through despite looking rough. Jack’s drinking didn’t fuck anything up. They must be happy their cheque cashed. Hype sufficiently raised. Who knows how long it will be before the next live show, merch drop or surprise album/compilation. We all feed off it, regardless of whether we like the music, the clothes or the vibe. As much as I love Salem, with the words ‘it’s not much of a life you’re livin’ repeating again and again as we looked on to an empty stage, awkwardly applauding the silent virgin Mary, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was the joke or if I was in on it…

At the beginning of this year I did a reflections piece on the festival un:send in Victoria and it seemed to spark some decent conversation/comments, so I thought I’d do the same for Organik, hoping that it provides some insights into another festival experience that is a bit off the beaten path in terms of distance from the main electronic music hubs of Europe and America. Apologies for the length but I felt I couldn’t keep cutting away at my reflections on what became a very special and rejuvenating weekend for me.

I’ve also been a bit slow in writing this as it's taken me about a week and a bit to recover from my trip and to formulate the right words about my experience. Prior to the party, I spent two very quiet, tranquil and healthy weeks’ vacation around the beautiful Taiwan. I spoke to almost no one. I trained for a half-marathon. I spent my evenings in a food coma in my hotel bathtub. I face masked and I read my book. All this chilling and relaxing ended up having me start dread the looming Organik weekend. I just wasn’t in the mood to party. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t think I would have the stamina. And outside of a WhatsApp group of unknown Redditors, I knew no one going. I was more in the mood to head back home…

However, the three days spent at Organik were ultimately life affirming. I got to see some amazing sets of music. I had way too much fun with new friends. People laughed at my jokes! And in hindsight bookending my solo vacation with Organik ended up being a great idea. It was a perfect storm of wonderful experiences and new friendships, and it left me with a shit ton of sentimentalism and love for the scene as I return to my usual monotonous 9-5 lifestyle.

But unpacking my holiday is not really what you are here for. So lets just get to my observations...

• Prior to the festival, my only experience with electronic music in Taiwan (or East Asia for that matter) was briefly popping into Pawnshop the weekend before to catch two international DJ’s; Mari Sakurai and Ina Kacz, for a few hours before going back to bed (My “healthy” strategy: bedtime 8pm, wake up at 1:30am). The techno was heavy, repetitive and not entirely my cup of tea. There was, however, a local appetite and energy for these artists. I noticed one enthusiastic local shouting and cheering ecstatically in the crowd who I also spotted again at Organik the week after.  I didn’t stay long and eventually called it when some British bloke drunkenly shouted in my ear instructing me to go up to some local and tell him to put his phone away. It definitely wasn’t my best night out.
• Once at Organik, the weather was wet and rainy for the first two days. But not heavy enough that it was a punish to be out.  More like… bordering closely to becoming a bit of a punish. So rain jackets and decent hiking boots were the safest option. Everyone who had it could flash their trendiest gorpcore and many, many people did. The drip at the festival was strong, and it seems like the Taiwanese and the East Asians dress very well. No-one seemed over the top in fits. just the traditional gorp silhouettes. I heard last year there was some issues with mud and the Organik stage being on a grass patch which caused some issues, but this year the stage was on bitumen, so we were sweet.  There was a significant contingent of partiers that at any sign of rain would move straight to the inside ‘Red Pillars’ stage. This ended up creating a level of space on the dancefloor at the Organik stage which made movement through the crowd easy and comfortable.  
• In terms of crowd, most tourists/expats arrived around 5pm or earlier with most of the Taiwanese locals coming after work on Friday. One thing I noticed at a 1,000-person size festival was the general surge in attendees that were staying off-site arriving in the evening and leaving the afternoon sets completely to camping attendees. This meant that some of the afternoon and early evening sets were sparsely populated until the wave of off-site revellers arrived. For example, the opening set by Xiaolin, which was an incredible live set of violin and groovy dub techno productions, had a small turnout. Unfortunately, this affected the crowd size at Moopie's afternoon set the next day (i cried in green and gold tears). On Sunday it was pretty much solely campers and tourists. I assume a lot of locals were heading back home for work the next day.
• My experience and feeling in the crowd was very positive. Everyone was very relaxed and warm. The locals either were either friendly or indifferent to us tourists. And no one was super intoxicated (drunk or otherwise) so the general vibe moving through the space felt relaxed. I feel like this was a combination of cultural factors, the lack of binge drinking and the types of narcotics people were on (the bonding/loving kind). I also didn’t see any lecherous or unwanted behaviour, however, I can only speak from my perspective There were also many people from other Asian countries so you couldn’t really pick up on who was really a local, from China, Hong Kong, Korea or Japan. I would say the crowd was leaning more in favour of East Asian revellers than Europeans/anglosphere types but overall, it felt mixed.
• There is a big queer party scene in Taiwan. I’m not sure about the lesbian scene (although I know there is some good lesbian literature) but the boys are hella randy and love the G). As like all good parties, the queers truly know how to do it and they do it fucking well in Taiwan. I ended up meeting a lovely crew at the Pocari Sweaty’s closing ambient set on the first morning. They gave me a nice head massage and lots of compliments and I asked them who they were keen to see the next day and they said they were more excited for the other stuff lmao.
• In terms of sound system and chatty, you all will be happy to hear that the sound system was so overwhelming, so loud and crisp, that killed all attempts at big, long yarns on the dancefloor. Saturday night maybe got a bit more chaotic and a bit more pushy and a bit more vocal, but I think that also just comes from that many people partying and being on the bend for a second night lol. I can safely say that “chatting” didn’t ruin the dancefloor experience.
• One funny comment from a Spanish friend I made that made think about all the different reasons people come to Organik was when I said I was excited for the Saturday afternoon/evening schedule (Moopie -> Lena Wilikens -> Helena Hauff -> Piezo). But giving me his strong European perspective my friend retorted with “I see Helena more than I see my mother”. I guess for Europeans there are some artists that are constantly touring the area, while for me, it's always a must see when some big European or American name comes down to Aus. Just goes to show how your locality affects who you want to see and your curiosity/excitement for different artists. It felt great to be with a group of people who were all interested and curious about different artists. Especially around ones that don’t frequently tour Europe/US as often.
• Overall, everyone that I met from the Overload crew had a very strong grasp on dance music and their local scenes. Maybe I am selling myself short, or maybe this is what happens when you live in a major European or American city where the festival and artist circuit is just so much more active but I definitely don’t have as deep an understanding an understanding as a lot of the people I met at Organik. And it was nice to learn and hear from them about the artists and the various scenes/parties they come from.

 In terms of music:

• One name people were excited for and definitely did not disappoint was Andy Martin (Mexico City) who really killed it with a rumbling dub techno set that got heavier as the night progressed. Then, to be completely honest, by the time I reached Ma Sha’s set I had pretty much gone non-verbal (lol) so I can’t give a proper rundown.
• At this point in the night my mind was playing tricks and i was just thinking silly thoughts. I remember thinking about how fucking good this reddit post was going to be. Lol shoot me, I was having the best time and so it seemed, was everyone else. Anyways…I digress.
• Ma Sha’s set was fast, more forward-thinking club tunes which is definitely my vibe and can’t wait to listen back to set when they (hopefully) get uploaded.
• Then DJ NOBU at 4am for the first cloudy wet sunrise. Of course, for me, it was special to see. Some friends had already seen him quite a few times. But everyone was pretty pumped and the crowd had not dwindled. I have heard before that his sets be really experimental and challenging sometimes, but this was the perfect mixture of psychadelic, rhythmless at points, and ambient at others. Truly amazing stuff to close out the Organik stage on the first night.
• The next day I’d say I loved the Moopie -> Lena Wilikens -> Helena Hauf -> Piezo marathon. It was a pretty early timeslot (1600 to 100) so was great to dance with a coffee and some great food. But the whole Saturday night line up was stacked and there was memorable sets from Diskonnected (Organik/Pawnshop Resident) and then Alarico’s amazing three hour set in to one of the greatest sunrise I have ever witnessed in my time partying.
• One sad admission is that I didn’t check out too much of the locals sets and am disappointed in myself for that. I did check out Kerena’s set at Red Pillars on Saturday night with my gay Homies and my goodness she was sending it. And the crowd of boys were shirtless and sweaty and hot and heavy and it was perfect. But I was way too clothed and not feeling so hot and sweaty so I didn’t stay for the whole thing and spent most of my time at the Organik stage. Maybe others who were there can comment on some of the local sets they heard?

 Ok, I think that's enough, thank you for bearing with me. Now just a few shout outs:

• Shout outs to all the Homies I met from r/TheOverload and at the festival! It was a motley crew of people from all over the world and it was great dancing with you all. Meeting you all made my time in Taiwan so special and made that weekend a magical cherry on top of a nice short holiday. There were lots of laughs and lots of memories. Thank you for letting me be myself. I got a bit emotional saying goodbye and it was a tough Uber back to Taipei but truly love and miss you all ❤️
• Shouts out to the Organik crew who know what they are doing and they do it so fucking well. Thank you for having me. Much respect xx
• Shouts out to my boys at the Pocari Sweaty set. I love you all. Thank you for the head massage and the compliments. Yes, Taiwan is a fucking cool place to visit. I would recommend to anyone to go and check it out Taiwan and all the wonderful things it has to offer.
• Actually, shout outs to the whole of East Asia. An underrated and untapped part of the world when it comes to electronic music and partying. It was amazing, especially during that special sunrise to be partying in Taiwan surrounded by all sorts of different crews of revellers from all over.
• Shouts out to the two French girls who were having a big yarn in the bathroom stalls and not on the dancefloor during Andy Martin’s set. The fact that you were still there hashing it out when I came back three hours later, was incredible. I couldn’t understand what you were saying but I hope you got it all out. And if you are one of the French girls reading this, please send me that fugly ass dancefloor pic you forced me to take when I was non-verbal and you were drunk. Please don't put that Instagram.
• Shouts out to everyone in the Overload group chat that I didn’t get to meet. Sorry about that, it was getting a tad overwhelming facilitating everything and managing expectations. Hope you got to make some new friends.
• Finally, shouts out to the great Orb in the Sky for coming out like a fucking God at the end of Alarico’s set. No doubt a moment all of us will cherish forever. No pretension. Just vibes. Yes, phones in the air but who gives a fuck when the moment is that magical. The fact that we all turned our back on Alarico to dance toward the sun. Incredible. It felt like we were all reaching out to the heavens and touching the face of God.

Anyways, I’ve written too much. If you were there, lmk about your experience in the comments. Hopefully some European or American Redditor can post their reflections on the upcoming summer festivals so we can all live vicariously through you.

 Loveyousall xx

TLDR: Fuck that. Get used to long-form posting.

some crazy fits. can anyone ID these hats especially the one on the left?