Oro ’17 Festival
8th April 2017
Woodhill Forest, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Shan Iyer. Photography by David Watson.
After counting down the days the inaugural ORO Festival had finally arrived and we were looking forward to what was surely going to be the experience of a lifetime in the middle of Woodhill forest. The festival was created following the collaboration of both promoters and the local Ngati Whatua O Kaipara who owns the ancestral lands. Both parties are hoping that today’s event will be the first of many to come.
Unfortunately we were off to a bit of a rocky start, thanks to the usual issues with Auckland Transport and no trains running. Our ticket to the festival came with a shuttle pass; the choice being to leave from either Kumeu or the city centre. VIP tickets while carrying a hefty price tag did offer the opportunity to take your own car and park at the venue. After finally getting onto the shuttle we arrived halfway through Feint from the UK, which meant that we had already missed opening acts Dubhead and Greg Churchill from NZ as well as Evil Needle from France. Boo.
First impressions of the festival grounds were encouraging, besides the amazing scenery of all the trees surrounding us there appeared to be ample room for people to be able to spread out and dance or relax on the grass if they wanted to. At first glance the stage was not as impressive as first imagined, but we were sure that once all the lights and effects got going that it make for a pretty remarkable show. Overall sound quality was fantastic, crystal clear and not over mixed.
Getting our bearings we noticed that like most festivals held today, ORO had also chosen to go with the AWOP card system [you purchase a card or wristband which is then ‘topped up’ with an amount designated by you]. There were also several food trucks on site many offering vegan and vegetarian options which was a welcome addition. There appeared to be sufficient dedicated port-a-loos in place, however towards the end of the day the lines for these did start to become a little lengthy. A designated smoking area was also available for those who required it. It was noted that there was no merchandise for sale from any of the artists, which was a little disappointing as a t-shirt or two from some of our favourite acts of the day would have been a nice memento.
Getting back to the music, Feint [aka Andrew Isaac Hu] is an electronic music producer hailing from the UK. Specialising in drum & bass Feint released his first EP’s back in 2011 and has moved from strength to strength ever since. The blend of bass and beats definitely made you want to dance and his entire set was rather enjoyable.
Followed closely behind by another UK act, Koven raised the roof with their just over 45min set. One of the more anticipated acts of the festival there were a few grumblings that they did not play later in the day. Koven is the production alias for the duo Max Rowat and Katie Boyle who burst onto the scene in 2011 with their cinematic bass music and ‘Wake You Up’ EP. Katie is dressed in a bright red pant suit and looks stunning twirling around on stage in the sun; Koven’s tunes are full of energy and light and they soon have a fairly decent size crowd in front of the stage dancing along with them. They finish their all killer no filler set with the outright crowd pleaser ‘Telling Me’.
It was time for another injection of New Zealand Music before heading into the main acts of the night. SoccerPractise hailing from Auckland class themselves as multimedia genre-benders, their music infused with elements of Te Reo and featuring both electronic beats and an electric guitar. One of the stand outs for this act is their use of visual media, which is created and mixed live on stage in response to the music. While they are still currently working on their debut they have already released two singles (‘Windfall’ and ‘Haere Mai E Tama’) which have done extremely well on both Spotify and student radio. They are certainly an act to watch for in the future!
Next in the lineup is Jeru the Damaja from the USA; the only American act in a predominantly UK/NZ bill this artist specializes in all facets of the Hip-Hop genre from Classic through to Alternative and everything in between. Jeru is no stranger to the tour circuit having worked with some big name acts such as Groove Armada and DJ Cut Killa, and his music has been featured on everything from GTA to the NBA2K16 video games. While obviously a skilled artist his act seemed more at home in a Hip-Hop festival then it did here, and his continual howling and calls to ‘make some noise’ soon became a little grating.
Dave Seaman from the UK had the task of not only playing the all-important twilight set (there is something always so magical about this time of the day) but warming up the crowd before the main headliner arrived. Seaman has a long history as a not only a dance music DJ but also as a record producer. Formerly a member of DMC Publishing and editor of Mixmag magazine, Seaman formed Brothers in Rhythm (along with Steve Anderson) doing production work for such artists as Pet Shop Boys, David Bowie and New Order. His set was more down tempo than outstanding but was certainly still very entertaining and it was accompanied by a notable lighting display which really started to make an impact with the last of the fading light almost gone.
The crowd was almost holding their breath as the hour of 8pm rolled around and the arrival of the mighty Underworld was imminent. Touted as the headline act for ORO we were all expecting big things from this monster of the electronic music world.
As smoke machines started to billow and the lights pierced through across our heads we were greeted by the word “Underworld” in bold white letters across the back screen. The opening notes of ‘I Exhale’ then began to ring out and the crowd gathered in front of the stage went wild. Karl Hyde dressed in a simple long sleeve white shirt that reflected the ever changing colours and imagery on stage was almost otherworldly, twisting and turning his body hypnotically to the music.
Formed in 1980, the duo of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith first broke upon the dance scene with their ‘Underneath the Radar’ debut album in 1988. The album was recorded in one continuous take and did extremely well in both Australia and the US. But it was the little known B-side track ‘Born Slippy.NUXX’ that really propelled Underworld into the big time. The original single ‘Born Slippy’ released in 1995 was completely instrumental and featured the B-side which was used in the hugely popular movie Trainspotting. ‘Born Slippy.NUXX’ was then subsequently released as a single on its own in 1996 following the interest generated by the film. They may be getting a little longer in the tooth now but like a fine wine the Underworld duo have lost nothing. The combination of Rick Smith and Karl Hyde absolutely enthralling the audience for the full 90 mins playing tracks such as ‘Two Months Off’, ‘King of Snake’, ‘Cowgirl’ and finishing with the aforementioned ‘Born Slippy.NUXX’ sending the crowd into a flurry of movement.
One would have thought that Underworld would be the last act of the night, however in an interesting move there was one more international act scheduled to follow. We assume that this was a move by the promoters to allow people to enjoy the main act of the night and have the choice of making their way back home before the wee small hours (as for many that was a two-step process) or staying and dancing for a little while longer.
Phil Hartnoll is one half of Orbital – another electronic dance act from the UK – that he formed in 1989 along with his brother Paul. Despite stating that they were disbanding in 2014 to work on their solo projects, Orbital have just recently re-formed this year and announced a re-union tour. Hartnolls set is again rather down tempo compared to the ecstatic vigor of Underworld, however we appreciated the value in having an act with which to wind down and just chill with. And with that we allowed the music to escort us out into the night.
Overall this was a well put together and professional festival with only a few minor hiccups and we hope to see it back again in 2018 with even bigger and better acts!
Were you out there at Woodhill Forest for this awesome uplifting dance party? Or have you seen Underworld or any of the other acts live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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