Hideout Festival Croatia 2017
Venue
Hideout festival is set on Zrce Beach and takes over the entire beach front, to provide multiple stages splitting acts across five venues. These five venues are Noa Beach Club, Aquarius, Euphoria, Kalypso and the main stage Papaya.Bar staff
Across the venues the bar staff are often rushed off their feet trying to serve thousands of brits at the same time. Not always the happiest smiling faces but they do their job well and keep the queues to a minimum wait time of around 5 minutes. Floor staff in Kalypso however we found particularly helpful during the nights that rained as they were sweeping away the rain from the dance floor allowing everyone to continue to party!
Heat
It's a very hot country, even at night so its hard to judge here however across the venues there are little to offer in terms of temperature control aside from the fact that all venues are open-air. A few fans here and there would definitely go down well.
It's a very hot country, even at night so its hard to judge here however across the venues there are little to offer in terms of temperature control aside from the fact that all venues are open-air. A few fans here and there would definitely go down well.
Drink Prices
Drinks are the same across all the venues aside from Euphoria who do cheap large cocktails at only 100 kuna (roughly £11) which we highly recommend. One/two of these can easily last you a good few hours and saves you having to queue up for the bar every 10 minutes (providing you don't drink for England). Below are the rest of the drink prices for the venues :
Drinks are the same across all the venues aside from Euphoria who do cheap large cocktails at only 100 kuna (roughly £11) which we highly recommend. One/two of these can easily last you a good few hours and saves you having to queue up for the bar every 10 minutes (providing you don't drink for England). Below are the rest of the drink prices for the venues :
Water : 30 Kuna (£3.50)
Beer : 45-50 Kuna (£5-6)
Mixer : 50 Kuna (£6)
Small Cocktail : 60 Kuna (£7)
Large Cocktail : 200 Kuna (£23)
Extra Strong Large Cocktail : 250 Kuna (£30)
Crowd
Heavily dominated by the north and midlands of England. These guys are certainly live ones! The atmosphere was always pumping and booming so it really kept the spirits up even in the rain. Barely any trouble during the week and it felt like a safe environment to be in with no real issues aside from the odd loud mouth wearing a fake Hugo Boss two piece co-ord. There are also a fair share of locals present and most of these are there to also enjoy the festivities however keep an eye out for those trying to shift dodgy party bags.
Heavily dominated by the north and midlands of England. These guys are certainly live ones! The atmosphere was always pumping and booming so it really kept the spirits up even in the rain. Barely any trouble during the week and it felt like a safe environment to be in with no real issues aside from the odd loud mouth wearing a fake Hugo Boss two piece co-ord. There are also a fair share of locals present and most of these are there to also enjoy the festivities however keep an eye out for those trying to shift dodgy party bags.
Festival
For our review of the production/sound and DJ sets that we attended, we'll be breaking these sections down per club to give you a look into each of the venues on offer at Hideout and the breathtaking sets that went down.
The biggest of the venues and personally one of our favourites. Noa features a large floor space as well as pockets of smaller covered and raised areas and a circled balcony overlooking the dance floor. There are many bars dotted around the venue so you're never too far from a cocktail and there's even sun loungers overlooking the sea, two swimming pools and netted laying areas to chill/pass out in.
Production includes a large backdrop providing LED lighting and visuals as well as an arched roof over the stage area holding various can lights and strobes. There's also a row of Co2 cannons just in front of the DJ decks that look epic when fired off in time to drops. Solid sound quality all around the venue with multiple speakers in all areas meaning you never miss a beat.
DJ Sets - Pro-ject Pool Party
The sun was beating down on a hot day in Novalja ready for the pool party hosted by Worcester based event organisers Pro-ject who had a line up destined to create absolute scenes. The pool party kicked off with Worcester homegrown Pro-ject original, Jay Newman. Jay brought some tropical vibey beats to warm up the crowd throwing in some bigger tracks towards the end of his set to get the atmosphere ready for their first headliner. Jay is definitely one to watch and we wouldn't be surprised to see his name beginning to pop up again.
Jay handed over to the groundbreaking Australian DJ/Producer that is Sonny Fodera. Sonny brought the heat and had a truly phenomenal set throwing in many of his uplifting vocal tracks and remixes including Rudemential's "I Will For Love" , "Caught up" feat Yasmeen " and his new edit of Stormzy's "Shut Up". Aside from his own bangers other tracks also included K&K's summer anthem "Peaceful Crowd" as well as blending Breach's "Jack" perfectly with Raffa FL's monster drop in his track "How we do" which erupted the venue's speakers. Bravo Sonny!
Next up was the main man, MK. Born and raised in Detroit growing up revolving his life around making and playing music. Having gone from working in a parking lot named Area 10 to headlining and touring with his own events named after that same parking lot across the globe. Marc Kinchen is no stranger to the big time and he had a special Back to Detroit set in store for us today, and boy was it special.
Going slightly deeper and darker than his usual sets he sent the crowd into an intense euphoria featuring tracks like Noir & Oliver Giacomotto - "Reste" which he merged effortlessly with his own remix of Bakermat's - "Teach Me". Always grooving and dancing along you could see how much he was enjoying the music just as much as the crowd listening. An iconic moment was when he dropped his vocal house masterpiece "Piece of Me" feat Becky Hill.MK handed over to Camelphat for their Hideout debut who opened in absolute style with their bomb of a track "Hangin' Out With Charlie". The duo rounded off the day perfectly with a pumping tech house set that had everyone with their bass face on. Big moments include dropping Route 94's "House & Pressure" which was met with a huge Co2 cannon explosion as well as playing their chart topping track "Cola" that had everyone singing along.
A massive day from everyone involved and a top job by the Pro-ject boys, we'll be looking forward to seeing more events from them soon.
Aquarius
A multi genre stage at Hideout located in the centre of the beach and homing some of the Drum & Bass acts as well as House & Techno. The venue features two main areas, a circled pool party area with a centred pool and DJ decks located behind and a main larger rectangular area featuring overlooking tiered balconies on either side.Production/Sound
The venue has grown significantly in the years of hideout, going from a small low budget stage with very little to offer in terms of production to a world class arched structure infused with top of the range lighting equipment. The sound quality however can be lacking at times. There were multiple occasions where the speakers towards the back of the venue were not in operation which had a real negative impact on the sound quality and unfortunately at iconic points of sets.
DJ Sets
Night three and we've got Monki and Hannah Wants on the bill. It was the first time we'd seen Monki and she did not disappoint. The Radio 1 show host came prepared with some big tracks to get us in the mood and keep us flying throughout her set. The crowd going insane when she dropped Detlef & Green Velvet's track "Issues".
Monki handed over to Birmingham's finest, Hannah Wants. We'd seen Hannah many times before so were curious to see what she had on offer this time out. Choosing to go for a tech house heavy set and lean away from her old school vibes to kick off with, getting the crowed hyped and waiting for one of those inevitable classic tracks to make an appearance. And they did, of course. Gala's "Freed from Desire" or rather as its now sung "Will Griggs on Fire" blasted on and the crowd went crazy. Other notable tracks include Sandy B - "Make The World Go Round" and the one she closed the set with sending us all into a state of nostalgia, dropping Lionel Richie's timeless classic "All Night Long". I know how it sounds but let me tell you, it was amazing. The entire crowd singing along, the atmosphere and vibes in that place were ecstatic and rounded off a great night. Papaya
Hideout's main stage and just by looking at it you can see why. The world's 9th best club as voted on the DJ Mag Top 100 clubs and it is a castle of house & techno greatness. The venue seems to go on forever with multiple areas spread higher and lower around the event space giving you plenty of options on where to set up camp. There's only one main stage containing the decks and the venue is centred around this but is visible from most of the other areas which contain bars, a pool and seating.
Production/Sound
Papaya grows year on year and adds to its now already extensive selection of versatile lighting options including a range of spotlights, front and back drop visuals as well as strobes and Co2 Cannons.In the most recent year we've also seen them introduce panelled visuals on multiple screens ascending along the structure of the stage; impressive work! Sound quality is also up there with the best and well spread throughout the venue to give that 360 degree experience.
Production/Sound
Papaya grows year on year and adds to its now already extensive selection of versatile lighting options including a range of spotlights, front and back drop visuals as well as strobes and Co2 Cannons.In the most recent year we've also seen them introduce panelled visuals on multiple screens ascending along the structure of the stage; impressive work! Sound quality is also up there with the best and well spread throughout the venue to give that 360 degree experience.
DJ Sets - Knee Deep in Sound Pool Party
As we arrive Cera Alba is starting things off and creating a chilled setting with some melodic deeper style beats, easing us into what is set to be a big pool party. He hands over to Nick Curly who carries on those chilled day time vibes throwing in the odd stomper to get us moving.
Anja Schnieder takes over who immediately kicks up the tempo and pumps us up with some hard hitting techno, this was the first time we'd seen Anja and it certainly wont be the last. She showed exactly why she's at the top of her game and spending her summers in Ibiza's super clubs with a big set that got us fully ready for the main man.
Hot Since 82, one of our personal favourite DJs and Producers. The Knee Deep In Sound head honcho always brings energy to his sets and today was no exception. He brought a whirlwind of tech house and techno bangers including his massive track "Veins". An exceptional end to the day and proving why his brand new party in Pacha, Ibiza "Labyrinth" is one of the places to be this summer.
Kalypso - Elrow
Our favourite venue and with the help of Elrow setting the madness of their Rowlympic Games it was bound to be. Kalypso features two main areas, one including a centred pool and raised stage area homing the DJ decks for the daytime parties and an area for the night to the back of the venue with a medium sized floor space and overlooking multi tiered balcony for VIPs.
Production/Sound
Elrow had fully kitted the place out including a giant Olympic torch resting on top of the entrance of the venue, an army of inflatables that were thrown out into the crowd at big moments of every night/day event and of course their famous confetti drops that are simply out of this world; it was class. Aside from Elrow's additions the venue has a good selection of lighting surrounding the stage. This complements the visual experience as well as the speakers with the squared structure of the main night time area giving an smaller intimate feel and bouncing those big bassy beats between the walls of the world's 14th best club.
Elrow had fully kitted the place out including a giant Olympic torch resting on top of the entrance of the venue, an army of inflatables that were thrown out into the crowd at big moments of every night/day event and of course their famous confetti drops that are simply out of this world; it was class. Aside from Elrow's additions the venue has a good selection of lighting surrounding the stage. This complements the visual experience as well as the speakers with the squared structure of the main night time area giving an smaller intimate feel and bouncing those big bassy beats between the walls of the world's 14th best club.
DJ Sets
Surprise guests to a daytime pool party were Basement Jaxx and they brought with them an entire library of hits both old and new. The old school duo took us on a rollercoaster of tracks going through their many successful years and dropping tracks such as "Red Alert" , "Where's Your Head At" as well as Kyrder & Tom Staar's remix of "Bingo Bango" which couldn't have been a more fitting track for a pool party in the sun, cocktails in hand with everyone in high spirits dancing and singing along.
Fast forward to the final night and the rain is pouring but we're in for a treat as Denney is bringing his high tempo hitters like his brand new track "What's going on" sending the crowd into a frenzy, you wouldn't even think it was raining! Elrow are also up to their usual antics with Olympic style characters flooding the dancefloor on stilts equipped with badminton rackets literally playing a game of badminton in the middle of the crowd, yes, badminton. They never fail to amuse and at an iconic point of the night dropped their infamous confetti carnage and threw dozens of inflatables into the crowd. Blown up ice creams, lilos, unicorns, palm trees you name it they had it and were throwing it into a crowd of ravers that were loving every moment.
The final night was pumping with big sets from Elrow residents Toni Varga & Andres Campo bringing their high energy funky beats that Elrow is ever famous for to Zrce beach and keeping the crowd captivated all night.
Hideout ended with a very special unannounced B2B. Skream & Artwork. If you've witnessed these two B2B before then you already know that this was one to remember. These boys kept us going from the early hours of the morning all the way up to and past sunrise. It was 9am and there were hundreds of us still going strong and grooving along to their epic selection of classic house tracks and hard hitting tech house bangers. Every sub genre of house and techno you could dream of was covered and it was quite simply magical.
This final photo was taken at 9.30am. Skream and Artwork still going strong just as we left, rounding off a night and a week that was one for the history books.
Fast forward to the final night and the rain is pouring but we're in for a treat as Denney is bringing his high tempo hitters like his brand new track "What's going on" sending the crowd into a frenzy, you wouldn't even think it was raining! Elrow are also up to their usual antics with Olympic style characters flooding the dancefloor on stilts equipped with badminton rackets literally playing a game of badminton in the middle of the crowd, yes, badminton. They never fail to amuse and at an iconic point of the night dropped their infamous confetti carnage and threw dozens of inflatables into the crowd. Blown up ice creams, lilos, unicorns, palm trees you name it they had it and were throwing it into a crowd of ravers that were loving every moment.
Credit : Hideout
The final night was pumping with big sets from Elrow residents Toni Varga & Andres Campo bringing their high energy funky beats that Elrow is ever famous for to Zrce beach and keeping the crowd captivated all night.
Hideout ended with a very special unannounced B2B. Skream & Artwork. If you've witnessed these two B2B before then you already know that this was one to remember. These boys kept us going from the early hours of the morning all the way up to and past sunrise. It was 9am and there were hundreds of us still going strong and grooving along to their epic selection of classic house tracks and hard hitting tech house bangers. Every sub genre of house and techno you could dream of was covered and it was quite simply magical.
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