Count on Sunshine Nation to throw one of the best parties in Singapore; the outdoor picnic party at Fort Canning Park left us with lots to say
Club raves are full-on immersive (glitzy or gritty, depending on your preferences), and we’ll happily party ourselves sore in a gargantuan stadium full of spewing lasers and pyrotechnic geysers any time. But there’s something quite different when you’re dancing amidst lush greenery – grass beneath your feet, trees swaying in sync with you… or at least, that’s what you’d like to imagine when you’ve had a couple of ciders in your belly. Letting loose in the great outdoors and attaining peace of mind with nature is the forte of the Garden Beats Festival, and it unabashedly heightens the experience with a deluge of dance music specific to the musical direction of promoters, Sunshine Nation – that is, light enough to mingle, heavy enough to make your boogie bone tingle.
Riding on the momentum from Garden Beats’ last festival in March, its sophomore soirée of the year had lots of expectations to meet. One in particular was the demand to make the local acts more visible; they previously only got to spin in between the main sets on a small deck setup at the back, and its sound was so drowned out by the international headliners on the booming main stage that it was pointless to compete. But this time, the veteran homeboys – Joshua P, Maurice Simon, and KFC – all got their moment to shine with full hour-long sets on the main stage, enhancing the alfresco aura of the festival with bouncy house and disco beats as punters assembled flower crowns and partook in inebriated lawn games. ’Twas fun to watch.
Despite the boozy hijinks, Garden Beats has always been (and it was once more) an elegant affair, while retaining much of its whimsical wonder – think Lewis Carroll’s Mad Tea-Party taken down just an itsy-bitsy notch. We spotted an Arch of Love where folks could ‘inscribe’ their names on the walls, healing tents for zenning out, typewriter poetry, flower hearts, Airmocks, vintage barbers, and a sea of dangling orbs that cascaded and bobbed above the main stage. It wasn’t too scorching a day, but it was nice to have a cosy canopy for shelter as we shimmied to the plush, rhythmic sounds of Kraak & Smaak, represented solo by Mark Kneppers. Even without the whole trio together, his set was top-notch, with just the right balance of housey hardness and Travolta-approved disco edges.
The biggest deal for us, however, was the reveal of the enigmatic Moodwax, who turned out to be none other than the house-styled moniker of Thailand-based Sunju Hargun. Hargun, who’s more known for spinning underground techno under his name, busted out a softer, spiritual side of his repertoire. Hovering more over the deep house end, his set as Moodwax was more subdued in melodies and vocals, but possessed a dynamic four-on-the-floor thump that reminded us of the Open Airs we used to attend in Berlin. Oh, and it also turned out to be his birthday – Happy Birthday, Sunju!
Before transitioning into Möwe – thankfully, the short transitions meant less time for the adrenaline to come down – our 10-minute attempted disco nap was disrupted by the merry blaring from a roving brass troupe, prancing and tooting all over the place like a maniacal marching band. With spirits kept at a peak, Möwe was cheered onto the stage wholeheartedly, particularly because the Viennese duo had been originally scheduled to play at the 2015 edition of Garden Beats, but was forced to pull out – this was a long time coming! And as hoped, they did not deny anyone their fill of sprightly hooks, croon-a-long vocals and hands-in-the-air drops that drew in crowds by the hundreds.
Now there are parties, and there are concerts, and then you have geniuses who innovatively blend the two together – such were the entertaining tactics of main headliner, Bakermat. Billed as a live set, we kept our fingers crossed for the Dutch deep house star to play a couple of his hits, and maybe even yank out a live instrument or two. And straight from the get-go, Bakermat was accompanied by a sessioning saxophonist who helped his performance ascend to stratospheric heights. The warm melty timbre of the sax gelling together with Bakermat’s luscious chords and throbbing beats – a dance symphony that left no stone unturned and no raver unsatisfied.
It didn’t matter that Garden Beats ended at a (some might say early) cap-time of 10.30pm, and we’re not just saying this ’cos of the not-so-secret after-party at Terra (salutes to you if you mustered the energy to make it!). Garden Beats isn’t about how hard you can go or how wild you can revel; it’s about soaking in the very moment at hand with friends old and new, from when you’re stretching out on the picnic mats to the climax of dancing as one on the festive fields. What happens in the garden stays in the garden, and if you wish to relive a moment as magical as this, you’ll just have to wait for the next one. Something tells us it’ll be back sooner than you think.
For more information on the next Garden Beats Festival or Sunshine Nation parties, visit this website.