One of the year’s most highly anticipated one day festivals swept across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria last weekend. With the Saturday November 30th show taking place at the Sydney Olympic Park, Backyard Opera witnessed the event first hand. From home-grown talents to international powerhouses, Festival X boasted an impressive line-up. Headline acts like Lil Pump, Armin van Buuren and Calvin Harris delivered on all expectations, as the day was an unforgettable experience for all in attendance.

Splitting up the acts across five stages, every inch of the Olympic park was packed out. The smallest was the Oxygen stage held in a tight single hall, showcasing some local artists like Futurecode, national sensations like the Sunset Bros. and standout sets from acts like Vini Vici and Marlo. The Flux stage was in a double hall, accommodating larger crowds. While all the artists were spectacular, the standout was the future house pioneer Tchami. His experimental take on the house genre, fit with dynamic basslines, muted melodies and metallic drops, thundered through Hall 5&6 as his elastic subs launched the crowd into a moshing frenzy. Headlined by Alison Wonderland, this stage and the industrial hall venue gave the performances a dirty, underground atmosphere, like a secret warehouse rave that you got to share with thousands of others. Acts at both the Oxygen and Flux stages benefited from being indoors, allowing acts before the late 8PM sunset make full use of their lightshows.

With cloudy skies and light rain in the morning, the sheer excitement of the festivalgoers brought the sun out, giving the outdoor stages a great atmosphere. The Helix stage was held in the Charles Moses Stadium. It was flanked by two giant inflatable octopus tentacles, with the mosh overflowing from the show floor up into the stands. Kicking things off at 1PM with local artist Wildfox, this stage was a refreshing breather compared to the main arena. However, by the end of the night it was just as wild and exciting. The closing set by Camelphat might have clashed with the other amazing headliners, but those who made their way down were rewarded with a hypnotically entertaining hour of solid dance music. With LED boards lining the walls of the stage, videos of naked male and female luchadores plastered the stadium. As the night came to a close, Camelphat’s set was gifted with a huge firework display that wowed the stunned audience and cathartically ended the day. However, this fireworks display might have been coming from the other outdoor stage, the Pixel Stage. Held in the main arena, the Pixel Stage was the centre stage for the event. Here, the biggest names played to the biggest crowd. 

Early acts like Thandi Phoenix, Generik and Trippie Redd had the difficult task of getting the crowd fired up for an incredible day. Despite Trippie Redd’s frustrations at the audience’s relative quietness, they did a good job of ensuring those who arrived that early were entertained but not burnt out for the rest of the acts. Things kicked into second gear with the arrival of Steve Aoki. Between his heavy basswork, bouncing around the arena, and the trippy self-starring anime visuals, his set was the first sign that the crowd were in for something really special. Lil Pump might’ve been a step back from this building hype, but the change in pace and genre was wholly necessary in ensuring the audience didn’t peak early. Marc Kinchen, aka MK, ramped things up again, with the crowd singing in unison along to his remix of Wankelmut & Emma Louise’s “My Head Is A Jungle”. The Pixel stage was headlined by the trance god Armin van Buuren, who mesmerized the audience with his stellar light show, which included stadium filling strobes, rich crimson and purple LED boards and live flamethrowers. He was the perfect headliner, not only sending everyone home happy, but also with a bucket list experience.

The undisputed set of the day was Calvin Harris. As a generation defining artists making his first appearance down under in years, Harris had a lot of hype to live up to. He lived up to the hype. With a bottomless back catalogue of chart topping hits, his decade of bangers was on full display. He has so many great songs that audience members would periodically explode with excitement, hearing a classic for the first time in years. Golden oldies like “Dance Wiv Me”, “Bounce” and the timeless “Feel So Close” hit a nostalgic note in the twenty-something crowd, adding a bit of emotional resonance to the set. This included a brief tribute to Avicii as he played Nicky Romero’s “I Could Be The One”. Newer tracks, like his collaboration with Dua Lipa, “One Kiss”, pounded the audience with positive vibes, each beat echoing through the arena in sync to the frenetic light show. This set alone made the event worthwhile, but it is a testimony to Festival X that this was just one of the day’s many highlights.

There was also the Snap Crackle Pop! stage located in the Davidson Complex, which held performances from Dollar Bin Darlings, Argonaut and Troy Beman. This stage held drag shows by the Sydney Drag Royalty, adding something uniquely fun to the already diverse festival. The facilities at Olympic Park are exceptional by design, filtering crowds and managing capacity. Issues like crowded bathroom facilities and long lines for food and drinks were just like any sporting event held there. For a one day festival, Festival X carried the underground EDM edge of a rave to the grand and epic scale of a stadium festival. 

Festival X’s debut show was an outstanding and only raises the gargantuan expectations further for Festival X 2020.