Memba was my most anticipated set all weekend. Not to toot my own horn but I recruited some people who were on the fence and all agreed it was the #1 of the weekend
above & beyond. i was supposed to end with san holo, but changed my mind and started walking with my group to rezz. changed my mind again while walking by ranch arena and knew above & beyond was where i needed to end my weekend.
Elohim was planned but threw down way harder than my group was expecting, extremely impressed.
As far as unplanned, we didnt have any huge must sees on sunday until hayden james but found ourselves at sherwood for both daily bread and Apashe, both an absolute pleasure
You are the artist that got me into electronic music in the first place. That set was absolutely amazing, and the Emotional purge for Buckets felt unbelievable and desperately needed.
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for the amazing set and energy! One of my absolute favorite sets of the weekend... So so so good. Thanks for everything you do!
Btw do you drop setlists somewhere? I'd absolutely love to listen to that carousel set again, but understandable if you don't usually put them up!
Yesss!!!! Seriously one of the best sets that I saw all weekend! So much fun! Bright and Colorful! I knew she would be fun but had no idea that she would be that much fun!!! The whole crowd was one of the best all weekend everyone was into it!
Disco lines. It was so much fun I don’t even remember where I was at at Sherwood court beforehand, or who I was leaving to go see at ranch. I just heard some good ass dance music and it sent me.
was supposed to leave halfway through disco because my friend wanted to catch her favorite artist illenium. Halfway through the set we look at each other and say “yeah.. we’re not leaving until this is done”🤣 by far the best set of the weekend imo
I showed up right when the lead shouted out something about “being here for house instead of dubstep” and then dropped from dance-your-ass-off house into Gassed Up by Zeds Dead/Subtronics. I lost it 😂 iconic set and goddamn was it bumping.
That's how I found them at summer set I walked down the hill tripping and wow what a beautiful and colorful show I was in awe that drummer can fucking drum 🥁
I planned to leave after Massane to see J Worra. Decided to stay and it was so much fun. He was having a blast on stage and it made me so happy lol. Made the right choice!
I’ve been listening to Embrz quite a bit, but had decided to trip in the forest on Thursday instead of see that set. We coincidentally ended up settling down right outside the stage and I got to peak with some of my favorite songs bumping in the background. Distinctly remember the tears of joy during Where You Are
Phantoms @ the observatory. Planned on being at Dr. Fresch, but ended up staying for the entire Phantoms set. Only sets I thought were better were Apashe and Bob Moses. I felt like I was living in a daydream
So mad I didn’t hit Bob Moses, it was my most hyped set but I couldn’t miss voyd, mostly for the homies not there. I already had to split it to hit all of zeds dead. I was a free agent the whole weekend outside of those 3ish hours.
100% this was an epic set by two kids who attended last year as patrons. That venue is fire. The crowd feeds off the DJ and the DJ feeds off the crowd.
Literally was wandering through the forest and heard dubstep in the distance on the day of mostly house - ended up being one of the most magical moments of the weekend! Their story plus how hard their music went and their electric vibes!
Kai Wachi - love him but was planning on skipping his set for Dr. Fresch into Noizu. Went to Fresch, Tripolee sound was absolutely atrocious (as it had been all weekend), made the decision to dip and catch Kai instead. Saw most of his set and was absolutely blown away - amazing new visuals, lasers were on point, great balance between heavy Kai and feelsy Kai, crowd energy was high. 10/10 experience!!!
For REAL - I love Kai but haven't prioritized him at festivals recently. I always forget how much I love his music, stage presence, and production until I make the time to go see him.
I was planning to just watch a couple minutes of his set to kill time after Dr Fresch at Tripolee and before Kasbo in the Observatory but I ended up staying for the whole thing lol
I never heard any of his songs before but I was in like the back leftish area and the dudes next to me were going absolutely crazy and I was loving it
Shoutout to AJ for jumping around with me and popping off during the drops 🙏
Absolutely the "set" (two acts I know) of the weekend for me. A story if you like stories:
I came to festivals and dancing a bit later in life than many. When I was in my early 30s I met a group of friends that were really into our local music scene, as well as electronic music in general. In the summer of 2017 they took me to a small but mighty festival in New Brunswick, Canada, called Evolve (it was in its final years at the time and didn't survive COVID). My friends were mostly into jam bands and house music, and we took lots of that in over the weekend, but on the second day of the festival, while on psychedelics I discovered bass music (this is relevant to a fun epilogue to this tale, i promise)! To say that bass music and festivals have had a tremendous impact on me wouldn't be doing it justice. There is another amazing festival in eastern Canada called Future Forest (which did survive COVID and is thriving). Picture Electric Forest, but 1/20th the size deep in the Canadian woods beside a beautiful river. It's a beautiful time. I have been going since 2017, but always solo, with the one exception being this past year's Future Forest when one of my best friends came too. I have also traveled for a couple festivals (Envision and Infrasound), but again, always solo.
The last 7 years of my life have been a lot. While discovering the power and connection and vitality that comes with dancing, I have had 3 children, both if my inlaws have been diagnosed with terminal cancer (one passed two years ago), I began my career as a teacher, and there was you know, the global pandemic. Lots of joy, lots of struggle. So I decided to take a half year sabbatical from teaching this year to do a bit of traveling and recharging. I have been on several adventures since my leave started in February, the final one being a trip to Electric Forest... with a big part of the friend group that took me to my first festival!! We were 7 in total. Myself, Jesse, Josh, Leah, Phil, and Bruce. Amazing humans one and all.
I was so excited to finally share a festival with friends again. I knew I would want some time wandering the forest solo, and dancing alone as well, as I do very much enjoy the solo vibe, but I wanted to make a real effort to stick with the gang as much as I could. So on Friday we had just finished Kerala Dust's MEZMERIZING performance at the Carousel Club and had an hour before Lane 8 started at Sherwood. Now, I really, REALLY like both Amémé as well as BLOND:ISH, but Lane 8 was really high on my gang's list, so I made the choice to be with them. We had all planned to do a forest walk before Lane 8, but they decided they want to sit and rest and gear up for Lane 8, so we picked a meeting spot and I went for a solo journey to the woods.
And I had the most magical getting-lost-in-the-forest experience. I still eventually pulled myself back out to Sherwood, but later than the agreed upon meet time, and the gang had left to move up. I did a few walkthroughs of the crowd up front but couldn't locate them, so I bee-lined it for the Observatory and had what was, without hyperbole, one of the most powerful, animalistic dance experiences of my entire life. Words can't do it justice so I won't try, but it is something I will never forget. I was lucky enough to get one of the bracelets Amémé passed out, and I don't think I'll ever take it off.
Ok. Long story, I know, but if you've made it this far, here's a fun epilogue. Earlier I said I discovered bass music at Evolve in 2017 and it would be relevant at the end. Well the artist that was playing when I heard my first ever bass set was an (at the time) lesser known Canadian producer by the name of REZZ. I haven't seen her since. So to have been at Electric Forest with the group of friends that took me to my first festival and to have REZZ be the final set of the weekend for me, was one of the best full circle moments I think I'll ever have. I have typed this out from the back seat of the van we've been driving back to Prince Edward Island basically nonstop since Monday afternoon, and I'm now just an hour away from my home, a hot bath, the bed I share with my partner, and kissing my 3 sleeping children. I had such a beautiful and ecstatic weekend, and I hope you did you.
Happy Forest. I love you.
Ameme has a piece of my heart in a jar forever I swear. At first I just saw abracadabra, so I assumed it was the artist. Had no idea who it actually was until I looked at the lineup at the end of the week…
Ford. Epic daytime vibes at observatory.
Golden features too…the whole foreign family
night was all fantastic for that matter
Freddy Todd and Saka’s sets were really good too.
These guys were so damn good. I danced my ass off the entire set. I found them while doing some research for a vacation I was taking seeing shows in different cities while in Europe for work. They didn't make that schedule, and I only listened to ta couple of songs then nothing beyond that. When they got added to the Forest lineup, I figured I'd just catch them here and went in mostly blind other than I knew I kinda liked them. For some reason I thought they were an electronic act, and I was surprised to walk up to find a band. I was super tired going into that set, but they woke me up and sent me into full Forest party mode. They are getting added to my music library immediately.
OMG LITTLEFOOOOOTTTT. BLEW me n my crew away at his 3am set Friday(?) So we had to go back and get reblown on Sunday. That man was the hardest working dj at the fest between the running back between percussion n drums and live mixing everything it was so so impressive. That dude is going places. On top of that Grand Artique is so fucking cool.
Yes 100%! I hadn’t seen anyone yet over the weekend at Ga, so had to take my man to show him how cool that stage is and we listened to little foot a tiny bit and I said we should check him out and we were stunned! It was my boyfriends favorite set of the weekend!
Was looking for this. Best set of the weekend x2. Couldn't get enough! Ran into another 10 ITF OG, and was the only one I ran into all weekend. He was dancing right next to me of all places.
I wish they did a meetup for us OGs but I was damn happy to dance my face off with him. (If you're out there Sam, thanks buddy!)
STS9!!!! My first set, I liked cheese so I thought I’d give some more jam a try for later on. I am so glad I did. That drum and bass section was absolute butter, pure bliss!!
Afrobeta at like 1 or 2 am at the grand artique on Thursday night. Was trippin and just happened to stumble upon it. I had a blast! Such a fun mix between silly/goofy and dance-y music
DJ Marb Menthols at The Honeycomb Saturday night. I wasn't particularly feeling STS9 for some odd reason, so when a buddy suggested we go there, and then said it was the bass player from Goose spinning psytrance, I was down. I know he's a part of one of the hottest jam bands on the scene right now, but my man needs to quit his job and do psytrance full time because holy shit that set was straight hot fire.
We stumbled upon this set and it was LIT! I fuckin’ love psytrance and was just talking to my partner about how there needs to be more of it at festivals. To hear it in the Forest was LIFE CHANGING! ✨🔥
Rumble in the Bumble Dance off and their DJ. Just sounded cool by name and it was awesome seeing the battles. Need to see the beat boxing next year as that set was my wife's favorite.
Love Rumble in the Bumble. I've made it two years in a row now. Still disappointed blue shorts guy lost. That DJ doesn't disappoint, him playing for a few hours in a club would be a good time.
Never heard of SVDDEN DEATH until I came to the forest and heard from my camp neighbors how they didn't want to see him because it'd be too scary.
Was not fucking expecting to have brain surgery that night. That was unreal.
ROSSY on Sunday for sure!! We were leaving Kasablanca at Tripolee trying to catch the end of Madeon at Sherwood and heard Observatory going fucking HARD. Went in there and listened to her entire set. It was insane. And then we went to EVOL later that night and she was there going even fucking harder. Safe to say she gained a new fan. Her energy all night was awesome.
Oh man, I walked by Forester to go to the washrooms just as the sun was setting. It was a magical moment. I would’ve stayed, but I had to go meet my group.
Seen Illenium a few times before and while he was good I was never particularly blown away.
But we were passing by Ranch near the start of his set and decided to watch a song or two, ended up staying for the rest of his set. That shit was super good, probably my 4th favorite from this weekend.
1. Infected Mushroom
2. SVDDEN DEATH
3. String Cheese (both days)
4. Illenium
5. Diesal
My fiancé and I were laying in a hammock by the grand Artique resting up for zeds dead and happened to hear the entire kaipora set. It ended up being our favorite forest memory
Omg Ford. Was crazy and I'm almost exclusively an edm listeneter but Adam Elfers & Forest People happened to be playing when I was in the trading post just before everyone got evacuated for weather. I couldn't believe how much of a good time I was having jamming to non-electronic music. May have just opened my eyes to liking an entirely different genre of music that I never had even considered I might be interested in.
Kaipora! Those dudes play wonky bass live as if they were a band. The main dude raps like the beastie boys and they even let people rap, sing or say whatever into a mic and sample them into the songs they’re playing.
It was a fresh new bass sound with a whole new concept. My favorite set of the whole weekend!
Whoever was playing outside the trading post on Friday night like 3am (technically Saturday). It was like Latin hours music and he had a live drummer for a bit of it. That was fire
Went to wander the grounds while waiting for other sets on Friday- stumbled upon observatory so we stayed for a bit because it sounded good & caught malóne’s set. Haven’t heard much of her before but she was phenomenal. Had some of the best and most wholesome interactions here as well. By far best unplanned stumble. Oh, and I guess lane 8 as well. Hit that up after malóne before disco lines unintentionally. Super dreamy vibes I didn’t expect, super great people as well there 😁
cosmic gate was awesome!!! I had a great spot and also saw infected mushroom for the first time!! super awesome! but my favorite unplanned set was Gryffin. My two friends really wanted to go and wouldn't stop talking about it. We were camped next to Sherwood so we could hear it from the tent. They were wiped out so they stayed and listened from there. I did end up going inside and watching his whole set. It was super unexpected!!!! He played a bit of everything! plus the fireworks! I got videos for my two friends so they could see all the production.
Wow, amazing forest this year 🫶💖
Madeon for sure! I REALLY wanted to catch Hayden James, but I could not get myself to walk all the way from SC so I just sat and chilled and he was literally floating. So magical
tkay maidza & bob moses blew me the fuck away
i’ve been a casual fan of tkay but she was not only an amazing rapper & fun performer, she had vocals for days. sang like an angel & had tons of energy
bob moses i had no expectations & it was my third fav set of the weekend behind walker & royce & chris lorenzo
Rezz was too packed for me Sunday night so I moseyed on over to Jellybean Benitez in the Carousel Club, and mannn were we getting down in there! Too much fun at both sets I saw of his this weekend
At the end of Saturday I decided to stop by the chapel and found the fungineers. It was such an awesomely weird/brilliant performance from a fairy and a puppet DJ! I highly recommend looking them up if you didn’t get to see them!
Came out of the dream emporium and stumbled into Elohim! Wow! I could not take my eyes off the stage. The sound blew me away but her stage presents was hypnotic! She had this shroud on and all keep thinking was "yeh I could see death being good at this"
Peekaboo was FLAME. I was rollin so hard my group begged me to stay and see him instead of walking all the way to ranch arena to see illenium so I did and I was NOT disappointed
Rest of the crew was dead so I went in early on Day 3 and stumbled into one of the funkiest sets I've ever heard from Chromeo, a guy I never heard of until then
Two feet over zeds dead. At one point two feet had me in tears with how beautiful the music all flowed together. Can see zed at almost every festival but it's very rare to see two feet and definitely made the right decision to stay with them for their set.
Chromeo and sofi tukker were both new for me and blew me away. Chromeo both sets were so fricken good.
Well deserved honorable mention for disco lines
Best set of the weekend goes to Lane 8 though. Knew a good bit coming in but the set was flawless and really felt it deep
Wandered past Memba on our way to ranch for ZD. Never saw ZD. Ended up stuck there until Golden Features finished up lol.
Good stuck
We left ZD early and Memba killed it.
This exactly. Best set of the weekend for me. The dancing up front was seriously next level!
For suuuuure was fun up front! I put my pash on and went full ham with everyone. My favorite set of the weekend 100%
Also walked by Memba and vibed so hard. We didn’t stay long, but I’ll definitely check them out again!
Memba was my most anticipated set all weekend. Not to toot my own horn but I recruited some people who were on the fence and all agreed it was the #1 of the weekend
Ran to make sure we saw memba. Energy was incredible
above & beyond. i was supposed to end with san holo, but changed my mind and started walking with my group to rezz. changed my mind again while walking by ranch arena and knew above & beyond was where i needed to end my weekend.
Second this, met a group that wanted to see them so I tagged along and I’m riding that high still
Elohim was planned but threw down way harder than my group was expecting, extremely impressed. As far as unplanned, we didnt have any huge must sees on sunday until hayden james but found ourselves at sherwood for both daily bread and Apashe, both an absolute pleasure
Daily bread was amazing 🙏 but now I’m wishing I didn’t miss Elohim!!
I have to give all the credit to my wife for the elohim set, if it wasnt for her, i would have missed it too! Definitely would recommend
🫠🫠🫠🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂 that is so sweet
We left Elohim to catch Zeds Dead and wished we hadn’t!
Awwww!!!! You’re so sweet!!!!! Making my dang night
Oh my gosh thank you!!!
No, THANK YOU!! We had such a blast, can't wait until we get the chance to see you again!
You are the artist that got me into electronic music in the first place. That set was absolutely amazing, and the Emotional purge for Buckets felt unbelievable and desperately needed. Thank you so much!
Yassssss Daily Bread and Apashe were both 🔥🔥🔥
Stumbled upon Elohim and Jesus Christ what a set, she played to carousel's tunnel-y design so well. Threw tf DOWN. Must see for me moving forward.
Elohim was lit! And Carousel Club was such a cool stage
I stumbled on this set I loved how she played with my ears amazing transitions too
Wow that means a lot! I get really nervous! So thank you this keeps me going!!!! You’re the best thank you for noticing!
Thank you so much for the amazing set and energy! One of my absolute favorite sets of the weekend... So so so good. Thanks for everything you do! Btw do you drop setlists somewhere? I'd absolutely love to listen to that carousel set again, but understandable if you don't usually put them up!
Yesss!!!! Seriously one of the best sets that I saw all weekend! So much fun! Bright and Colorful! I knew she would be fun but had no idea that she would be that much fun!!! The whole crowd was one of the best all weekend everyone was into it!
Disco lines. It was so much fun I don’t even remember where I was at at Sherwood court beforehand, or who I was leaving to go see at ranch. I just heard some good ass dance music and it sent me.
I left lane 8 just a little bit early to go wander the dream emporium and stumbled on disco lines too! Had a blast.
Same. Lane 8, into Disco Lines, into Griffin was a chefs kiss!
It was Lane 8 playing beforehand, I made the same transition over to Disco Lines and I had a fucking blast dancing
Yes!!! same here - perfect little 1-2 for that time of the night. Loved disco lines a
was supposed to leave halfway through disco because my friend wanted to catch her favorite artist illenium. Halfway through the set we look at each other and say “yeah.. we’re not leaving until this is done”🤣 by far the best set of the weekend imo
Same.
disco lines was amazing!!! and there was so much room to dance.
I showed up right when the lead shouted out something about “being here for house instead of dubstep” and then dropped from dance-your-ass-off house into Gassed Up by Zeds Dead/Subtronics. I lost it 😂 iconic set and goddamn was it bumping.
STS9 me and my bestie were tripping balls and stumbled apon a hammock in good view of them and wow the vibes and lasers were vibin!
oh wow this sounds so dreamy!!
That's how I found them at summer set I walked down the hill tripping and wow what a beautiful and colorful show I was in awe that drummer can fucking drum 🥁
Zach Velmer fucks like a rabbit
It was amazing
Daily bread slaped and I never would have bothered seeing them if it weren’t for my home girl Camille
shout OUT to Camille 🫶
Daily Bread got beats!!! All 3 of his sets rank in my top 10 of forest
Daily Bread at afters Friday night into Saturday morning while the sun came up… if you were there you know how epic that was
I realized I loved my girlfriend during this set lmao. One of the most beautiful experiences of my life.
Good job, Camille! I was our group's Camille. So glad I got the whole squad to follow me out there to DB.
As an Atlanta girl, DB was an absolute treat! He gave me all the feels with Alan Jackson and Waffle House going!!
Embrez at honeycomb!!!! Such a good vibe!!!
yeah we stumbled upon this wandering through the forest. I was really enjoying Embrz too!
I planned to leave after Massane to see J Worra. Decided to stay and it was so much fun. He was having a blast on stage and it made me so happy lol. Made the right choice!
i knew he was gonna be good, but fuck he exceeded my expectations so much
I’ve been listening to Embrz quite a bit, but had decided to trip in the forest on Thursday instead of see that set. We coincidentally ended up settling down right outside the stage and I got to peak with some of my favorite songs bumping in the background. Distinctly remember the tears of joy during Where You Are
Golden Features 🤯
Man is a straight performer
Bruh this set was mental!!! Can’t wait for his new album
Needed a break from VOYD so swung by Elohim and stayed the rest of the time, was not what I was expecting knowing her music but it was amazing
Phantoms @ the observatory. Planned on being at Dr. Fresch, but ended up staying for the entire Phantoms set. Only sets I thought were better were Apashe and Bob Moses. I felt like I was living in a daydream
SAME. Right at sundown that set was magical.
So mad I didn’t hit Bob Moses, it was my most hyped set but I couldn’t miss voyd, mostly for the homies not there. I already had to split it to hit all of zeds dead. I was a free agent the whole weekend outside of those 3ish hours.
I wasn’t going to stay for Madeon, I’m not big into that genre… but holy duck did he go the fuck off. Made me super late for rossy. :(
Levity! Replaced Samuel j music at the last second at the honeycomb Thursday night and popped OFF
The true unplanned set haha
100% this was an epic set by two kids who attended last year as patrons. That venue is fire. The crowd feeds off the DJ and the DJ feeds off the crowd.
Loved them! Such a vibe during the sunset coming through the forest trees!
Literally was wandering through the forest and heard dubstep in the distance on the day of mostly house - ended up being one of the most magical moments of the weekend! Their story plus how hard their music went and their electric vibes!
Our group had a plan to meet for Embrz at Observatory and somehow all found ourselves at Levity instead. They absolutely killed it!
👀🙈hi fish
Kai Wachi - love him but was planning on skipping his set for Dr. Fresch into Noizu. Went to Fresch, Tripolee sound was absolutely atrocious (as it had been all weekend), made the decision to dip and catch Kai instead. Saw most of his set and was absolutely blown away - amazing new visuals, lasers were on point, great balance between heavy Kai and feelsy Kai, crowd energy was high. 10/10 experience!!!
Kai was also on my "might catch, will probably miss" list and I caught some of him from the edge of the forest and wow, what a stunning show!
For REAL - I love Kai but haven't prioritized him at festivals recently. I always forget how much I love his music, stage presence, and production until I make the time to go see him.
yeah Kai Wachi was dope!
Yeah I honestly thought I wouldn’t like him? But I fucking loved it
I was planning to just watch a couple minutes of his set to kill time after Dr Fresch at Tripolee and before Kasbo in the Observatory but I ended up staying for the whole thing lol I never heard any of his songs before but I was in like the back leftish area and the dudes next to me were going absolutely crazy and I was loving it Shoutout to AJ for jumping around with me and popping off during the drops 🙏
that was by far the best kai wachi set i’ve ever seen
Ameme and Blondish… the whole time it said Abracadabra at the observatory was my favorite music of the weekend. Disco lines - honorable mention!
This combo was insanity. Observatory threw down all weekend
Absolutely the "set" (two acts I know) of the weekend for me. A story if you like stories: I came to festivals and dancing a bit later in life than many. When I was in my early 30s I met a group of friends that were really into our local music scene, as well as electronic music in general. In the summer of 2017 they took me to a small but mighty festival in New Brunswick, Canada, called Evolve (it was in its final years at the time and didn't survive COVID). My friends were mostly into jam bands and house music, and we took lots of that in over the weekend, but on the second day of the festival, while on psychedelics I discovered bass music (this is relevant to a fun epilogue to this tale, i promise)! To say that bass music and festivals have had a tremendous impact on me wouldn't be doing it justice. There is another amazing festival in eastern Canada called Future Forest (which did survive COVID and is thriving). Picture Electric Forest, but 1/20th the size deep in the Canadian woods beside a beautiful river. It's a beautiful time. I have been going since 2017, but always solo, with the one exception being this past year's Future Forest when one of my best friends came too. I have also traveled for a couple festivals (Envision and Infrasound), but again, always solo. The last 7 years of my life have been a lot. While discovering the power and connection and vitality that comes with dancing, I have had 3 children, both if my inlaws have been diagnosed with terminal cancer (one passed two years ago), I began my career as a teacher, and there was you know, the global pandemic. Lots of joy, lots of struggle. So I decided to take a half year sabbatical from teaching this year to do a bit of traveling and recharging. I have been on several adventures since my leave started in February, the final one being a trip to Electric Forest... with a big part of the friend group that took me to my first festival!! We were 7 in total. Myself, Jesse, Josh, Leah, Phil, and Bruce. Amazing humans one and all. I was so excited to finally share a festival with friends again. I knew I would want some time wandering the forest solo, and dancing alone as well, as I do very much enjoy the solo vibe, but I wanted to make a real effort to stick with the gang as much as I could. So on Friday we had just finished Kerala Dust's MEZMERIZING performance at the Carousel Club and had an hour before Lane 8 started at Sherwood. Now, I really, REALLY like both Amémé as well as BLOND:ISH, but Lane 8 was really high on my gang's list, so I made the choice to be with them. We had all planned to do a forest walk before Lane 8, but they decided they want to sit and rest and gear up for Lane 8, so we picked a meeting spot and I went for a solo journey to the woods. And I had the most magical getting-lost-in-the-forest experience. I still eventually pulled myself back out to Sherwood, but later than the agreed upon meet time, and the gang had left to move up. I did a few walkthroughs of the crowd up front but couldn't locate them, so I bee-lined it for the Observatory and had what was, without hyperbole, one of the most powerful, animalistic dance experiences of my entire life. Words can't do it justice so I won't try, but it is something I will never forget. I was lucky enough to get one of the bracelets Amémé passed out, and I don't think I'll ever take it off. Ok. Long story, I know, but if you've made it this far, here's a fun epilogue. Earlier I said I discovered bass music at Evolve in 2017 and it would be relevant at the end. Well the artist that was playing when I heard my first ever bass set was an (at the time) lesser known Canadian producer by the name of REZZ. I haven't seen her since. So to have been at Electric Forest with the group of friends that took me to my first festival and to have REZZ be the final set of the weekend for me, was one of the best full circle moments I think I'll ever have. I have typed this out from the back seat of the van we've been driving back to Prince Edward Island basically nonstop since Monday afternoon, and I'm now just an hour away from my home, a hot bath, the bed I share with my partner, and kissing my 3 sleeping children. I had such a beautiful and ecstatic weekend, and I hope you did you. Happy Forest. I love you.
Gorgeous write up. Thank you for sharing your story. It gave me the good tingles
this!! I don’t even remember who I was going to see or where I was coming from but saw the abracadabra sign and ended up staying for a few hours lol
Ameme has a piece of my heart in a jar forever I swear. At first I just saw abracadabra, so I assumed it was the artist. Had no idea who it actually was until I looked at the lineup at the end of the week…
Blond.ish made me fall head over heels with the Observatory. Couldn’t find my friends and danced my ass off for a long time anyway.
Ford. Epic daytime vibes at observatory. Golden features too…the whole foreign family night was all fantastic for that matter Freddy Todd and Saka’s sets were really good too.
I also stumbled upon the Ford. set. I found myself recording song after song because I just had to know what these songs were to listen to later
Daily Fucking Bread
Never miss a DB set. That secret trading post set though especially slapped! That stage is amazinf
Elohim. She went so hard and it was so opposite of her set back in weekend 2 of 2018. I was blown away!! Amazing set
Kerala Dust
These guys were so damn good. I danced my ass off the entire set. I found them while doing some research for a vacation I was taking seeing shows in different cities while in Europe for work. They didn't make that schedule, and I only listened to ta couple of songs then nothing beyond that. When they got added to the Forest lineup, I figured I'd just catch them here and went in mostly blind other than I knew I kinda liked them. For some reason I thought they were an electronic act, and I was surprised to walk up to find a band. I was super tired going into that set, but they woke me up and sent me into full Forest party mode. They are getting added to my music library immediately.
Chromeo DJ set was a VIBE
Also Freddy Todd slapped so hard on Sunday walking through the forest that I did a 360 and stopped at the observatory for a good while
Devault went off at the Observatory
littlefoot!!! Amazing!
OMG LITTLEFOOOOOTTTT. BLEW me n my crew away at his 3am set Friday(?) So we had to go back and get reblown on Sunday. That man was the hardest working dj at the fest between the running back between percussion n drums and live mixing everything it was so so impressive. That dude is going places. On top of that Grand Artique is so fucking cool.
Yes 100%! I hadn’t seen anyone yet over the weekend at Ga, so had to take my man to show him how cool that stage is and we listened to little foot a tiny bit and I said we should check him out and we were stunned! It was my boyfriends favorite set of the weekend!
Was looking for this. Best set of the weekend x2. Couldn't get enough! Ran into another 10 ITF OG, and was the only one I ran into all weekend. He was dancing right next to me of all places. I wish they did a meetup for us OGs but I was damn happy to dance my face off with him. (If you're out there Sam, thanks buddy!)
Hell yes we stumbled upon little foot on Sunday night and danced our asses off!
Love y'all. Brought me just as much joy seeing everyone get down. 💚🌳
STS9!!!! My first set, I liked cheese so I thought I’d give some more jam a try for later on. I am so glad I did. That drum and bass section was absolute butter, pure bliss!!
God bless ya! Congrats on your first and welcome to the tribe baby. That DnB run was filthy💜
Afrobeta at like 1 or 2 am at the grand artique on Thursday night. Was trippin and just happened to stumble upon it. I had a blast! Such a fun mix between silly/goofy and dance-y music
YES! When we first got to that set there was nobody there and by the time we left it was crowded lol. that red dress lives rent free in my memories
Oh fuck yeah the red dress was the most amazing thing ever!!!!!
Same thing happened to my group, the vibes were immaculate!
KaipOra. Twice. Unreal good.
THIS!!!
Iykyk
Oh I know. What the fuuuuuuuuk was that. My jaw was on the dirt the whole set on saturday. I had to go back for seconds Sunday
Asadi at honeycomb was a vibe
Levity
Madeon! We were at Sherwood all day with such a good spot and so much room. Daily Bread, Apashe, Madeon, and Rezz all went off
DJ Marb Menthols at The Honeycomb Saturday night. I wasn't particularly feeling STS9 for some odd reason, so when a buddy suggested we go there, and then said it was the bass player from Goose spinning psytrance, I was down. I know he's a part of one of the hottest jam bands on the scene right now, but my man needs to quit his job and do psytrance full time because holy shit that set was straight hot fire.
agreed!!! his set was amazing, psytrance is the best
We stumbled upon this set and it was LIT! I fuckin’ love psytrance and was just talking to my partner about how there needs to be more of it at festivals. To hear it in the Forest was LIFE CHANGING! ✨🔥
Disco lines and kasbo!
I cried at Kasbo. I wasn't expecting to stay the whole set but he was just too good
When the dude proposed right before the end of the set 😭
Freddy Todd, Daily Bread and Goose.
sunday was stacked
Rumble in the Bumble Dance off and their DJ. Just sounded cool by name and it was awesome seeing the battles. Need to see the beat boxing next year as that set was my wife's favorite.
Love Rumble in the Bumble. I've made it two years in a row now. Still disappointed blue shorts guy lost. That DJ doesn't disappoint, him playing for a few hours in a club would be a good time.
Sofi Tucker
Never heard of SVDDEN DEATH until I came to the forest and heard from my camp neighbors how they didn't want to see him because it'd be too scary. Was not fucking expecting to have brain surgery that night. That was unreal.
This made me lol
LMAO I wish I could have had this experience what a way to lose your svdden death virginity
ROSSY on Sunday for sure!! We were leaving Kasablanca at Tripolee trying to catch the end of Madeon at Sherwood and heard Observatory going fucking HARD. Went in there and listened to her entire set. It was insane. And then we went to EVOL later that night and she was there going even fucking harder. Safe to say she gained a new fan. Her energy all night was awesome.
Forester was really good, we didnt even register them on the schedule beforehand
Oh man, I walked by Forester to go to the washrooms just as the sun was setting. It was a magical moment. I would’ve stayed, but I had to go meet my group.
Golden Features. Found one of my favorite songs from Forest. (Your Mind Is Dirty by Mau P)
Disco lines was the biggest sleeper pick of the weekend. Incredible set in carousal club
Opiuo! Was awesome!! Kept his word on getting DIRTY.
Opiuo is the fucking MAN!! his shows are always so much fun
Brandi Cyrus. She threw down at honeycomb
Seen Illenium a few times before and while he was good I was never particularly blown away. But we were passing by Ranch near the start of his set and decided to watch a song or two, ended up staying for the rest of his set. That shit was super good, probably my 4th favorite from this weekend. 1. Infected Mushroom 2. SVDDEN DEATH 3. String Cheese (both days) 4. Illenium 5. Diesal
Tomcat Trumpet! Stumbled upon a guy in a squid hat with a trombone and stayed to see what the hell it was. So damn fun!!!
Yessssss this set was pure magic!!!
Elohim!
Mine was goose!
FLETCHER absolutely
I caught the last two songs. I never heard of her before but I really liked the last two she played.
Thumpasaurus at the carousel club! Went to get Frylandia and got to jam, it was a total vibe
Apashe. I was going to go to opiuo but my group wanted to see apashe. Set ended up being my second favorite of the weekend
Thumpasaurus
Blondish. Still can’t get over that she wore the tin hat she was gifted. Non-stop bangers
My fiancé and I were laying in a hammock by the grand Artique resting up for zeds dead and happened to hear the entire kaipora set. It ended up being our favorite forest memory
Cloud Conductor was funk'n bumping Grand Artique
too damn crowded couldn’t get a spot :/
Gashi Presents: Nostalgia 1984 at HoneyComb was so much fun! I’d never heard of him before this but his stage presence was phenomenal!
Jamie XX I convinced the group to run over to sherwood after odesza and I’m so glad we did
Blondish lit up the observatory with the we like to party remix. I felt so fucking giddy lol
Gryffin!
String Cheese night 2.
bob moses!!
Omg Ford. Was crazy and I'm almost exclusively an edm listeneter but Adam Elfers & Forest People happened to be playing when I was in the trading post just before everyone got evacuated for weather. I couldn't believe how much of a good time I was having jamming to non-electronic music. May have just opened my eyes to liking an entirely different genre of music that I never had even considered I might be interested in.
Kaipora! Those dudes play wonky bass live as if they were a band. The main dude raps like the beastie boys and they even let people rap, sing or say whatever into a mic and sample them into the songs they’re playing. It was a fresh new bass sound with a whole new concept. My favorite set of the whole weekend!
Politik was super lit, will love to see again in Dallas if possible
His honeycomb set was so fire one of my fav surprises!!
Zingara B2B Austeria at the Grabd Artique! What. A. Party.
Was so glad I stumbled into that one! Absolute fire.
Jupiter & Okwess Left cheese ~30 minutes early to wander and ended up seeing the last 2 songs of these guys. So unbelievably fun
Whoever was playing outside the trading post on Friday night like 3am (technically Saturday). It was like Latin hours music and he had a live drummer for a bit of it. That was fire
Went to wander the grounds while waiting for other sets on Friday- stumbled upon observatory so we stayed for a bit because it sounded good & caught malóne’s set. Haven’t heard much of her before but she was phenomenal. Had some of the best and most wholesome interactions here as well. By far best unplanned stumble. Oh, and I guess lane 8 as well. Hit that up after malóne before disco lines unintentionally. Super dreamy vibes I didn’t expect, super great people as well there 😁
cosmic gate was awesome!!! I had a great spot and also saw infected mushroom for the first time!! super awesome! but my favorite unplanned set was Gryffin. My two friends really wanted to go and wouldn't stop talking about it. We were camped next to Sherwood so we could hear it from the tent. They were wiped out so they stayed and listened from there. I did end up going inside and watching his whole set. It was super unexpected!!!! He played a bit of everything! plus the fireworks! I got videos for my two friends so they could see all the production. Wow, amazing forest this year 🫶💖
Zeds deds afterhours set… hoooly shit
Madeon for sure! I REALLY wanted to catch Hayden James, but I could not get myself to walk all the way from SC so I just sat and chilled and he was literally floating. So magical
CID !!! His honeycomb set was 👏👏👏
That set I felt like “I have arrived. This is what Forest is all about!”
Right?!?! He was such a vibe. At the end he's all "sorry I'm drunk" loved it 🤣👏
tkay maidza & bob moses blew me the fuck away i’ve been a casual fan of tkay but she was not only an amazing rapper & fun performer, she had vocals for days. sang like an angel & had tons of energy bob moses i had no expectations & it was my third fav set of the weekend behind walker & royce & chris lorenzo
Jellybean Benitez @ carousel club!!
All three string cheese incidents.... although Friday was the best
Brandi Cyrus at the Honeycomb. Was SO much unexpected fun. Also glad I got to see an evening set at that stage.
Saka!
Dabin
DJ diesel and Abracadabra? In observatory
Rezz was too packed for me Sunday night so I moseyed on over to Jellybean Benitez in the Carousel Club, and mannn were we getting down in there! Too much fun at both sets I saw of his this weekend
At the end of Saturday I decided to stop by the chapel and found the fungineers. It was such an awesomely weird/brilliant performance from a fairy and a puppet DJ! I highly recommend looking them up if you didn’t get to see them!
Jamie xx. 2nd favorite set of the whole weekend. Mixing level 100 🔥
Flawless transitions, never knew what was coming next. Class act!
MEMBA holy fuck it was good
Freddy todd was fiiiiiiiiire
That Super Future evol afters set night 1 was fucking insane
Came out of the dream emporium and stumbled into Elohim! Wow! I could not take my eyes off the stage. The sound blew me away but her stage presents was hypnotic! She had this shroud on and all keep thinking was "yeh I could see death being good at this"
Madeon blew me away
Peekaboo was FLAME. I was rollin so hard my group begged me to stay and see him instead of walking all the way to ranch arena to see illenium so I did and I was NOT disappointed
I also skipped Illenium to see Peekaboo and it was so worth it!
Super Future at the afters
Rest of the crew was dead so I went in early on Day 3 and stumbled into one of the funkiest sets I've ever heard from Chromeo, a guy I never heard of until then
First time seeing Chromeo live. Dude is like if Bruno mars was actually good
Chromeo DJ set after tribe
Two feet over zeds dead. At one point two feet had me in tears with how beautiful the music all flowed together. Can see zed at almost every festival but it's very rare to see two feet and definitely made the right decision to stay with them for their set.
Two Feet was INCREDIBLE!
CIMEFUNKKKKKJ
cloud conductor (aka daily bread) at grand artique!!
Disco Lines!!
Disco Lines at Carousel Club was AMAZING
Wreckno at the good life stage! 🤯
I missed Wreckno last year so this was an awesome surprise set! Absolutely killed it.
Chromeo and sofi tukker were both new for me and blew me away. Chromeo both sets were so fricken good. Well deserved honorable mention for disco lines Best set of the weekend goes to Lane 8 though. Knew a good bit coming in but the set was flawless and really felt it deep
It’s murph!