Run The Trap Returns To Electric Forest – A 2017 Review

Electric Forest stunned the world when they announced their expansion to two weekends for 2017. For the first time ever there was weekend 2 go-ers watching in jealousy as weekend one had their fun. (At least I was). We highlighted some of our favorite acts along with a couple of ‘gold stars.’ Our gold stars are meant to highlight some other aspects of the festival that may go overlooked when looking at the lineup

Run The Trap’s Gold Stars For Electric Forest

1. Our first gold star of the weekend goes to Electric Forest Groundskeeping crew – Let me begin by saying – “WOW.” Many Eelctric forest fans looked on with worry as people uploaded pictures of some sections of Electric Forest that were quite literally – underwater.  By Thursday – the grounds looked almost immaculate and that’s after a whole weekend of people already stomping on the grounds. Electric Forest staff worked tirelessly dumping sand, woodchips and mulch. Some puddles survived – but as long as you were watchful walking you could navigate all of Electric Forest without heavy duty boots.
2. PRIIIIIIZE CAAAART – Electric Forest fans that  were at one of the main stages after the last act were treated to unique ‘closing act.’ The unforgettable ‘Priiiize cart’ song rang through the forest encouraging fans to pick up trash and redeem it for a myriad of prizes. Prizes varied – but the results were unmissable. I stepped away for a minute to get a bottle of water and I turned and the grounds were nearly spotless. The last few scraps being salvaged by the last few people with garbage bags. What a fun, simple way of getting rid of garbage on the grounds! By the end of weekend 2 it had been ripped and remixed by a redditor. This remix even got some air play at The Ranch Areana Sunday Night

 

Lido

Lido won the weekend for me. After delaying his performance by about 25 minutes due to rain it was announced that he would still be performing and performing his FULL set – as opposed to a truncated one. After opening with his gorgeous Peter Gabriel cover he flew through some of his most beloved releases. His one-man show rivaled some full band performances. I would look away from the stage and forget that it was just one performer. His piano loops combined with his gorgeous voice and live drumming took the crowd to Lido’s land. It was truly an unforgettable performance

SteLouse

SteLouse – SteLouse is coming hot off the release of his debut self titled album – and he has a brand new live show to go with it. I will admit that when I stepped into the Jubilee Tent I expected a dj set of sorts similar to the last time I saw SteLouse live. I could not be more wrong. i was met by a full band performance that felt more like an m83 show than anything else. All the band members in perfect sync as they slayed some of SteLouse’s future bass hits before playing some full band covers of songs like “Settle” and “To U.” They had the whole tent singing along.

Flume

Flume – Flume is ontop of the world right now and this performance proved it. The Ranch Arena was packed shoulder to shoulder with fans eager to hear songs from Flume’s extensive library. The emotion in the songs took shape in Flume’s rhythmic dancing on stage. He felt every single note as he delivered it to the hungry crowd. The highlight of this performance was hearing Flume play out Vince Staples’ newest song – “Yeah Right” which Flume helped produce. It turned a vibing crowd into a turnt up one on a dime.

Dillon Francis

Dillon Francis came to weekend two ready to unleash some moombahton – and he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hands  His crazy antics are multiplied ten-fold with the wacky visuals on stage with Dillon Francis. Everything from vegetables with googly eyes to displaces body parts of Dillon Francis populated the stage. The crowd erupted when the screen flashed, “Dillon Francis found Carl.” His set ended off with a sing along of a mashup of “Coming Home” and “Love In The Middle of a Firefight” before the fireworks went off. Weekend 2 was officially halfway over.

Whethan

At just 18 – Whethan is all set to take over the world. His signature crunchy bass overlaid on gorgeous future bass melodies are what commanded his set. He was able to get The Tripolee Stage packed early on Saturday to really set the tone for the rest of the day. He proved to everyone why he’s on so many festival lineups this summer. The crowd swayed in harmony to his closing song – “Good Nights.”

RL Grime

RL Grime has mastered the art of balance. His sets are the perfect balance of trap, future bass, hip-hop and ‘sing alongs.’ His Sunday night set at Sherwood Court was a true display of power from the trap king himself. As the clock winded down on Electric Forest 2017, Grime was able to summon what little energy the crowd had left for one final surge.

See you in 2018, Electric Forest!

Run The Trap Returns To Electric Forest – A 2017 Review