Review by Ysabella Smith / Photos by Jennifer de Koning
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DAY 1
Golden Lights returns for its 2024-edition two-day-festival in Aucklands Trusts Arenas. Hosted by Endeavour Live, the Line-up for Day One; consisting of a mixed bag of house and indie rock.
The sun was shining in Tamaki Makaurau, treating guests to an adornment of food trucks lined along the perimeter of the festival, with people slowly trickling in throughout the afternoon. Aunty El & Beccie B kept tunes flowing throughout the evening in-between sets.
Half Queen hit the stage at 3pm sporting a ‘Free Palestine’ shirt in solidarity with a great cheer from the growing crowd. Many dancing by the barrier are familiar with Half Queens’ slick mixing style and consistent beats for dancing. Bestie Pollyhill was stage side, camera in hand, capturing their performance and panning towards the crowd for reactions to a remix of Nelly Furtado’s classic -‘Say it right’ warming the crowd for a great evening.
‘’Tamaki, You wanna go FERAL?…..okay;period’’ Half Queen teases, proving their worldwide talent by pushing up the tempo with heaving bass and wooping from the audience.
Having just returned to Aotearoa from a European and Asia tour; in which I was lucky to witness, growing their fanbase drastically; few DJs have the exceptional taste that Half Queen processes AND the technical ability to intertwine those songs into pure euphoria- it’s a true skill and pleasure to witness.
West Auckland based alt-band PARK RD takes the stage for an hour set of indie tunes, covering Radioheads’ ‘Creep ‘along with many original tracks. By this point there is bleating sunshine, If you are lucky enough to be in VIP you have access to shade, sunblock, and a bar stocking different beverages plus separate toilets. I was impressed by the water stations and the adequate amount of facilities provided, though as always; it would have been better with more shade tents in GA and phone charging points. The venue has plenty of spacing and its clear to see that Day 1 and Day 2 draw very different audiences based of genre and artist preference.
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Rolling into mid-afternoon, A-Track rises to the decks. A-track has a small history with NZ; collaborating with Kiwi artist Kimbra for their single ‘warrior’ in 2011.
The crowd now swelling, A-Track plays house classics with EDM twists and of course; a large build up in anticipation to his biggest hit and arguably the most played remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs ‘Heads Will Roll’ teasing the track right through his set; the atmosphere feels electric.
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As the sun begins to set, Brit-Rock legends Foals enter the wings waving with a pleasant greeting from the crowd, gently gliding their guitar straps over their shoulders and begin plucking strings as the cheering continues.
It was clear they came to dance and the crowd is ready to boogie. They lead with their hit track ‘Wake Me Up’ followed by bangers like ‘My Number’ and ‘2001’ Lead singer Yannis Philippakris indulges kiwis flirting: ‘’We love playing in New Zealand, This is our Third time here, it’s absolutely beautiful; we love it’’ having returned to NZ for the first time in over Four-years.
Fans were treated to all the Foals hits including ‘Mountain at My Gates’, Reaching their ballad ‘Spanish Sahara’ Yannis encouraged everyone to kneel low for the slow build until the peak of the song, obediently crouching and Yannis fanning his hands gesturing Lower, lower- hitting the climax where people leapt up from the ground.
Their biggest hit ‘Inhaler’ rang out with its notorious riff, pursuing the chorus with fans singing along as Foals gave an energetic performance with great sound and gusto.
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Our final act for the day was Headliner Peggy Gou, at 9pm. She was met with great applause, the build-up for this Korean-born-Berlin-star had been immense and people were ready to hear her smash-Tik-Tok hit ‘(It Goes Like) Nanana’
Peggy gave the audience what they asked for, the crowd harmonising ‘’NA NA NA NA-NA’’ chanting their way through the song, Peggy impressed with the volume and enthusiasm. Gou also indulged fans with her hit ‘Starry Night’ and her new song with Lenny Kravitz ‘I Believe in Love Again’ along with a remix of Megan thee Stallons hit ‘Body’.
It’s no secret that people had been waiting a long time to hear the song that got stuck in everyone’s head in 2023; ‘Nanana’ was a definitive point in the festival and it was clear winner in terms of the vibe for Day One. ’This is my first time here, WOW; Thank you so much for your energy! I’m coming back!’’ Peggy exclaimed.
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DAY 2
The final day of the festival dawns with a cloudy day ahead as kiwi DJ/ producer EMWA warms the crowd in the afternoon, setting the bar high for the acts ahead. During intermissions the graphics on stage boast whose next which builds hype for the talent to come.
San Diego DJ ISOxo takes the stage with intensity ‘’ What’s up New Zealand?! This is my first time here! I’m loving it! Let me see your energy’’ he bounces around the stage; fuelling the crowd.
‘’this is crazy y’all! I’m in New Zealand!! Thank you for coming early and letting me play my weird-A** Music for y’all’’ grinning at his first time spinning his trap-infused-electronic-beats on the other side of the world from his hometown.
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The pit grows with those ready to Mosh, todays audience is visibly bigger than the previous and attracts many eager for a night of heavy EDM and DNB. Fellow San Diego DJ Knock2 hits the decks next, amplifying through the fields of Trusts Arena Knock2 plays a mixture of crowd pleasers remixed with flare and his own material including hits ‘Getting Hot’ and ‘Dashstar*’
Complete with all the bells and whistles one might expect for an epic performance with fog cannons, big bass and fun visuals in full display
‘’Auckland! There’s no place I’d rather be!’’ this is also Knock2s debut to Aotearoa and it’s fair to say; based off of crowd reaction alone- he’s made quite the lasting impression. Playing a new track, Raising hands, energy and overall vibe as the clouds roll over Auckland dubiously.
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Proceeding an already electrifying afternoon, British-singer and sweetheart Becky Hill enters the stage to much delight. Beaming; Becky begins her set to heavy raindrops which eventuate to a downpour by the first song; she jokes; ‘’seems I’ve brought the UK weather with me; I’ll give you a minute to put on your ponchos…’’ collectively the crowd seek shelter in appropriate garments to prevent the rain from ruining the vibe, VIP swells with people huddled under tents to stay dry.
Becky continues ‘’…this weather is awful isn’t it? This is my second time in New Zealand!’’ she marvels, feeling grateful for making friends with the promoters bringing her down-under to a beautiful country with lovely people.
Becky plays hit after hit including ‘Remember’ with French icon David Guetta, ‘Lose Control’ with MEDUSA, ‘Hold On’ with Netsky, ‘Gecko’ and of course, her tracks with fellow Headlining performer Wilkinson; as in ‘Here for You’ and 2014 anthem ‘Afterglow’
Becky showed her vitality, vibrance and versatility, flaunting her vocal range with ‘Disconnect’ with Chase & Status (arguably one of the most played songs out of the UK in 2023) The rain subsided, the weather gods almost appeased by Beckys’ performance enough to clear for a fine evening.
George FM favourite, Subfocus joined Becky post performance, playing a heavier drum and bass set, lasers, fog canons and animation complemented the UK-DJs hour-long set.
Playing his 2023 hit ‘Illuminate’ with a twenty-year experience in his arsenal, Subfocus is not shy to inflict heavy beat drops and trance-like bars. Hyping the crowd ‘’When I say ‘SUB’ you say ‘SWITCH’… SUB…. SWITCH…SUB….SWITCH’’ getting the crowd to interact with notable hits like ‘Ready to Fly’, ‘Recombine’ and ‘Air that I breathe’ with fellow performer Wilkinson who takes the stage after Subfocus ends out his set with a new song.
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The final act for the festival, Wilkinson, gives the crowd what they want with an hour-and-a-half set with ‘Used to This’ with Issey cross, ‘Sweet Lies’ with Karen Harding along with collaborations with Subfocus & Becky Hill being highly regarded as a legend in the UK garage scene and beyond.
‘’New Zealand! Lets Go!’’ he treats the ravers with Flowdans hit ‘BADDERS’ remixing it into his jungle / DNB set. Attendees feeling satisfied with a night of ecstatic raving and break-beat heavy bass performances.
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Overall, I think the festival provided a nice atmosphere, despite having a high police presence. Officers made a couple of arrests for unruly behaviour and drug procession with intention of selling.
I was intrigued to find there was no Know You’re stuff stall at the festival; it would have been good to see some drug testing stations providing safe means for those partaking in elicit substances (especially for the second day of festivities in which MDMA was prevalent amongst crowd-goers)
Following homophobic comments made at R&V this year towards attendee Harry Bain, explaining his experience on Tik-Tok; You can’t prevent d**kheads; but you can certainly mitigate them by enforcing positive rules for the event set out by the promoters example. We are all equally responsible for making sure attendees feel safe and comfortable at festivals- everyone is there for a goodtime and it’s a shame some people set out to ruin others experiences. Fortunately, the Golden Lights crowd was respectful.
Golden Lights festival has so much potential for expansion, drawing bigger talent and bigger crowds, I’m looking forward to the next edition in 2025.