Melt Festival 2017

MELT FESTIVAL 2017

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Curated By GIRLS was kindly invited by Melt Festival to celebrate its 20th birthday. Melt takes place at the beautiful German site of Ferropolis near Berlin, for four days in July. I couldn't miss this year's edition. What a line-up! M.I.A, DIE ANTWOORD and THE KILLS are some of my favorite artists.
I was going to experience the festival in its entirety, meaning camping on site. It is an incredible experience – intense – but everybody should try it at least once in her life. We made it the whole way through and so did our friend Nicolas from KALTBLUT Magazine. Unforgettable!

Imagine a Mad Max sci-fi futuristic industrial site, where buildings spit fire by the beach and the woods. Crazy, huh? Well, welcome to Melt! It definitely has a Berlin vibe, super chilled and unstressed, with an eclectic selection of DJs and live acts. You can easily find what you are in the mood for, during the day or night, since the music never stops, thanks to the “sleepless floor” that offers non-stop hardcore electronic music. Oh and this year, the Berlin club Sisyphos created a special open-air installation in the woods. Really cool vibe!

We arrived on Thursday. It's about a two-hour drive from Berlin, which is not bad. We had in mind to set up our tents and then enjoy the pleasure of a barbecue. And the weather didn't stop us! Are we Berliners or not?
Then we decided to check out the sleepless floor, the only party spot open on Thursday, with Fatboy Slim on the decks. It's exciting to discover the location. It's like being a kid at the door of an amusement park. You crave to see it. After a 15-minute walk along the huge camping site, we arrived. Even if Melt's main doors weren’t opening until the next day, it was already happening.

Nicolas simmoneau (Kaltblut Magazine) & me © Curated by GIRLS

Friday was definitely a memorable day and night. We woke up super early. Actually, we didn't sleep much because music blasted all night in the surrounding tents. We actually decided to wake up when this guy finally turned off the music. It was around 6AM. We chilled the rest of the day until we could get into the festival.

I wanted to see The Lemon Twigs, a band I discovered quite a while ago that I wanted to support. I imagined there wouldn't be that many people for them, as they were playing early on the first real day. They are not super famous BUT they are super-talented young musicians and really passionate about what they are doing. Respect.

Then, as you expect when you are attending a festival, you are in for a real crush. Mine was the band Glass Animals. I was blown away by their vibrant pop music (now on loop in my headphones)! I also enjoyed seeing the lovely Maggie Rogers. She was the first act on the main stage and she conquered it.

It was a great day – sunny but fresh. Then things started to get WET. Just a couple of minutes before M.I.A.'s performance, it started to rain. It was crazy magic. M.I.A, one of my fave artists ever, performed like a queen under the pouring rain. We were all in the same boat, equally wet. She ended with ‘Bad Girls” and “Paper Planes” before throwing her mic on the ground and leaving the stage in a rush with a towel on her head.

This is how I would basically describe Melt: You arrive fresh and excited, and in the end you are close to a euphoric Walking Dead zombie with stars in your eyes.

So, as you can imagine, the rest of the night was wet and cold...

M.I.A © Stephan Flad

To be honest, I didn’t appreciate Saturday that much. I usually hate to go out on Saturdays anyway. It is definitely not my favorite night! I feel like it’s the night when you “have to” party or you’re missing out on something! But in fact, you’re just missing crowded places and confusion. However, I was happy to see the girl power band Warpaint. I wandered around, caught the great Hercules and Love Affair performing, and I also danced to the beats of Jon Hopkins and Gusgus. We were also glad to meet our friend Apolline Guédon from Native Instruments, and some of the Blogfabrik team – our dear Antje arrived that day, and we briefly saw Jonny from LOLA Mag. All this made my Saturday really worth it. I didn’t stay out long, as I wanted to be in shape for Sunday: BIG DAY.

Apolline (native instruments) & me © Curated by GIRLS

Sunday was a super chilled afternoon. We hung out at the campsite with Nicolas, Antje and other friends around an improvised veggie BBQ. It makes a festival what it is supposed to be: a moment where you share what you have and get closer to people while barbecuing veggies. AHAHA! I guess it’s what life’s all about in the end… simple moments! Our friend Keith, who is also part of the Blogfabrik community, joined us for the day. At 5pm it was time to go to the festival site.

I am definitely more of a “Sunday go out” person. And this Sunday was definitely a not-to-be-missed day at Melt. The live acts were simply amazing: the Kills, Phoenix, SoulWax, and the best act of the whole weekend: DIE ANTWOORD. Melt felt a bit empty, definitely not as crowed as Saturday, and it was a bit sad to feel the end approaching. But right before Die Antwoord started, the whole festival was there. You could feel the electricity, the excitement in the air. Such an overwhelming feeling. Let me tell you: They were LOUD, powerful and made the whole crowd jump. They are the perfect combination of electronic and live music. You don’t need drugs to enjoy their music! You dance, you sing and feel their incredible energy. FANTASTIC!

Nico (Kaltblut Mag) & me © Curated by GIRLS

I met this girl who said she was not into Die Antwoord or The kills because they are too mainstream. I am just wondering what “mainstream” is! Is it not mainstream to hate everything supposedly mainstream? :-)
Hey, go for it girl, do what you want! But just remember that what is important is not to follow rules but to follow your heart! Like Die Antwoord state in one of their brilliant tracks: “Fuck your rules, fuck, fuck, your rules!” Remember that!

I was more than happy to be able to attend this amazing festival, spend time with my friends, and see some amazing bands and DJs. We need to support music!

Thank you Melt and see you next year!

xx
Laetitia Duveau