This is a different style of post than what I typically post on here. But hopefully I can do more of these in the future. I actually wrote majority of this post last month. I've been meaning to post it but it's a pain to import videos from my phone to PC. I finally got around to doing it.
May 17-18, I went to Foundation Open Radius v13.0, which is an open air music event with a few stages. Kind of like an outdoor festival, but it is smaller in scale. I mean, I guess it is technically a festival but when I say small in scale, it's small in scale. Honestly, it could be like a farmer's market with two stages, tents and food trucks and all.
The location for open radius is held on the PNE grounds, which is down
the street where I live. Last year's lineup was pretty dope. But I
didn't go because I wasn't
into going to electronic music shows then. But I do remember
being home last year when it was ongoing and I heard how loud it was. My
neighbourhood's facebook group were complaining about the noise which is typical with any music event happening at the PNE. The thing
about this location is that it is in a residential area, so there is a
curfew and it must end by 10 p.m. which is a shame.
I am such a strong supporter of the Foundation series because they have been holding these large events and bringing these bigger artists. It is definitely better than going to a club to see a single artist that I'm interested in seeing. I am happy that Vancouver has something like this because we have other electronic music festivals like FVDED in the Park and Contact Winter Music Festival - all of which are organized by This Is Blueprint. I do enjoy the artists that Foundation brings more because they tend to pull different audiences.
I've looked at the past Foundation's and I am so sad that I've missed most of them because I would have definitely gone to all of them. The ones I've gone to is v8.0 which had Eric Prydz, Cristoph, Jeremy Olander and v12.0 that had Bonobo, Mochakk, Chloé Caillet, Coco & Breezy. They also have a stage at FVDED and I did see a few artists there last year which would be v11.0; the artists I saw there were Chris Lake, Elderbrook, Wax Motif, Yung Singh, and Coco & Breezy. Foundation's going to have another stage takeover at FVDED this year, so I am excited to see Lane 8 and Disclosure.
Anyways, onto v13.0, this is the lineup. They immediately had my money when I saw this.
John Summit, Gorgon City, Sara Landry, and Mau P is insane to bring over here for a weekend. I really hope that they bring more artists in the future because I prefer the weather during this time. Contact is in the Winter, so it is cold but the event itself is indoors. FVDED is at Holland Park, all outdoors but it's in summer so it's really hot and there would be about an hour of dusk before it ended. For Foundation Open Radius, it's during the May long weekend, so it could be nice with a bit of sun and a cool temperature - which is ideal for me. It did rain but it was only a light drizzle intermittenly which is actually pretty nice.
Day 1:
I came to the venue pretty late, around 6 p.m. so I didn't have time to explore. It's fine because there were only a few tents. When I got there, I met up with friends and we just had time to see Nic Fanciulli's set. I like his music a lot and I was bopping to that.
Here's a clip:
Song: "Set Me Free"There were afterparties, but I didn't go because they weren't too enticing. Since I lived down the street, it was easier to just walk home right after. If I did want to go to an after, I would have gone to Nic's at Celebs. But again, I was closeby to home so I decided to go home to rest for day 2.
For day 1, I think I was most excited for Gorgon City. It was my first time seeing them and they were immaculate. I mean, daylight does bother me and it would have been amazing to see them at night. But still, they were pretty amazing and I need to see them again.
Here are some clips:
Song: "You've Done Enough"
Song: "5AM At Bagleys"
John Summit - my 3rd time seeing him. I've seen him at FVDED last year and the Gorge. His set at FVDED was supposed to be a "sunset" set but it was bright as hell because it was in July. My least favourite time I've seen him. But I'm pretty torn of his set at Foundation and at the Gorge. The Gorge was a pretty big event and amazing stage production and atmophere. But Foundation is a lot smaller and intimate and I was somewhat close to the stage. I really did enjoy his set and I love this man so much. I filmed quite a few videos. They're short but I was trying to enjoy it as much as I can.
Here are some clips:
Song: "Breathe" - The Prodigy
Song: "Act of God" - Layton Giordani
Song: "Focus"
Day 2:
I went to the event early solo'd for a bit before I met up with friends. Usually, I would be anxious to go to a larger event alone. But I was comfortable because I was close to home. I wanted to catch Linska's set because her set started at 4:30 p.m. She was at CRSSD Spring this year, but I didn't get the chance to see her set because she played around 12 p.m. and I arrived around 4 p.m. So, I wanted to check her out this time.
Here's a clip:
Song: "Bad Boy"
After Linksa's set, I stayed around for a bit of LF System's set until I had to meet up with friends. We checked out a bit of Kilimanjaro's set at the Propagate stage. Pretty chill at this stage. Then we went to the main stage for the rest of the night.
I was pretty surprised by Rivo. I don't listen to his original music but his remixes are really good. Not gonna lie, hearing his "You & Me" remix had me in awe. I really love Disclosure and I haven't gotten the chance to see them live (FVDED 2025 LFGGGG). So, hearing this had me in awe.
As you may know, I am a big fan of Hayden James and Rivo had an unreleased remix of one of his songs. And when I heard this live, I swear I could have ascended into the heavens. Really beautiful.
Here's a clip:
Song: "We Could Be Love (Rivo & Mark Hoffen Remix)" - Hayden James
Next was Mau P. So Sara Landry's flight was delayed so Mau P had an extended set which I'm not complaining about. He played his remix of Tame Impala's "The Less I Know The Better" which I wasn't really a fan of. But it was hype hearing it live and I like it a lot now. I enjoyed his set a lot but he seemed tired. Probably because he just played EDCLV. Anyway, I really want to see him again, maybe at a larger music festival.
Here are some clips:
Song: "People Talk People Sing"
Song: "Grove St. Party" - Waka Flocka Flame, Kebo Gotti (Basura remix)I was really excited to see Sara Landry. But I wished I could see Sara longer because her set was only an hour after her delay. Again, there is a curfew so she couldn't play another 30 minutes. I hope to see her again one day! She played "Sun & Moon" at one point and I was lowkey crashing out but I sang along anyway. I didn't record much because I was dancing too much.
Here are some clips:
Overall, I did enjoy Foundation Open Radius. I wasn't expecting a large stage production and that's fine. You're not going to see lasers or pyrotechnics because it's more about the music, which is how it should be. I'd rather much have the budget go towards artists that we want to see and artists that would be great to discover at these events. While these stage effects are great for large festivals like EDC; these festivals attracts a large audience that just want to party and I get why these types of festivals aren't appealing to some people. It gets too overwhelming and you can't really enjoy the music. And that's what I like about Open Radius and CRSSD. I went to CRSSD this March and it's similar with its lowkey stage production. But my only complaint about Open Radius is the sound. I've found it to be very quiet and I noticed that it became louder for the headliners. And I do believe that it's because of the event's location and they have to stay within legal decibel limits. If I could change the location, I would have it downtown like at a plaza - but we really don't have a large plaza like that in Vancouver. That would be amazing if we did so we could have different events. But we live in a society and unoccupied land is expensive. Anyways, I think that I'll definitely go every year given I like the artists and I am so excited to what artists Foundation will bring in the future.
That was a long post. My future posts will probably won't be as long, but I did want to add more context because I know that most people reading this won't understand what I'm talking about, especially if you don't live here.