Festival Review: Electric Elephant 2011

Relaxing under the pine trees of the rocky Croatian peninsula that is home to Electric Elephant, watching the sun set lazily into the Adriatic Sea while blissful Balearic beats resonate around the site from the wicker clad DJ hut, it’s hard to imagine that anywhere in the world could feel more perfect than here, now.

And we're all here, now, thanks to legendary Manchester DJ/production duo The Unabombers, who have called on their years of experience and wealth of long standing relationships with some of the world’s most respected DJs to create an unassuming, unpretentious festival with a powerful heartbeat; which boasts quality music, a down to earth and knowledgable crowd, and a confident, soulful vibe.

The festival takes place at The Garden - a self contained holiday resort in the small Croatian fishing village of Petrcane. With its kitsch 1960s nightclub, scattering of outdoor bars, well proportioned outdoor main stage arena and ceiling of scented pine trees, it’s an ideal site for festivals such as this – as has been proved by the fact that The Garden now plays host to a different festival practically every weekend throughout July and August.

The four days of Electric Elephant saw sets from a host of carefully selected electronic acts, anchored by unforgettable performances from a handful of DJ heavyweights including Chicago house legend Derrick Carter, electronic pioneer Andrew Weatherall, cosmic disco champs Horse Meat Disco and, of course, The Unabombers themselves.

Arriving in Petrcane on the Wednesday, we had a full day to acquaint ourselves with the surroundings – and overwhelming heat – before things got off to a relaxed start on Thursday. The festival eased eager Elephants into their new home by holding back on any main stage action and teasing us with a taste of what was to come, with outdoor sets by History Clock v Capracara and Michael Cook, and late night goings on inside the small but awesomely equipped Barbarella’s nightclub.

Friday – also known as the best day of our lives – saw us climb aboard the good ship Argonaughty and set sail across the deep blue Adriatic for a joyous afternoon of nautical disco beats from Horse Meat Disco and Manchester’s Will Tramp! representing Homoelectric. After four hours of serious shape throwing – which seemed to pass in the blink of an eye -  the voyage came to a triumphant close as we sailed into port to the sound of a hundred rapturous voices singing along to Will Tramp!’s closing tune; Bill Withers’ ‘Lovely Day’.

A quick change of clothes, and it was off into the sunset to witness the mighty Andrew Weatherall chugging his way through a slow burning set of acid infused house; a particular highlight being the drawn out Todd Terje remix of M’s ‘Pop Musik’, which seemed to ebb and flow for an eternity. In a good way.

Highlights of Saturday and Sunday included a live set by fresh beat multi-instrumentalist James Pants on the Saturday evening, and a Disco masterclass at the hands of boompty master Derrick Carter, who took hundreds of tanned and overjoyed clubbers through a three hour disco soundscape under the stars to bring the festival to a knee trembling climax on Sunday night.

Electric Elephant, more so than any other festival that we’ve visisted, succeeds in evoking that dreamlike trance quality; that other worldliness that offers an idyllic escape from real life for four quietly hedonistic days. And what an escape it was. Quality without pretension, fantasy without gimmick, and thousands of like-minded souls sharing a simple love of great music and good times in a sun drenched paradise.

Take us back.

Please.

Words: Jayne Robinson

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