- Electric Elephant takes place in Tisno, a sleepy village on Croatia's Adriatic Coast. With a capacity of 3,000 people, it's relatively small. It's also remarkably beautiful. The view from Electric Elephant's beach stage—framed as it is by crystal clear seas, dramatic coastlines and uninhabited green islands—could have been taken from a Visit Croatia billboard. The setting is so nice it's hard to imagine a bad event there.
The programme has a particularly well-pitched selection of music. The days are filled with a balmy mix of soul, disco and Balearic beats. A typical scene will have the crowd chilling out on sun-loungers, Campari and soda in hand, while Chris Rea's "On The Beach" plays from the system. It's all quite the contrast to the typical, balls-to-the-wall experience many bigger festivals offer.
That said, Electric Elephant is not all low-key. The boat parties, which set out twice daily, are boozy affairs and hugely fun. You can actually see how fun the trips are from the shore when the boats return, full of people loosing their shit to hands-in-the-air-anthems like "Rock The Casbah." Crowd-pleasing pros such as Horse Meat Disco, Ashley Beedle and EE's founders The Unabombers were just some of the jocks donning the captain's hat. Perhaps the best boat I boarded was hosted by Kelvin Andrews and Balearic Mike, two aging sea dogs known for their seriously eclectic record collections. Their love of breezy '80s pop music and carefree beats matched the ocean views and salty sea air perfectly.
Another highlight was the off-site nightclub, Barbarellas. This venue is totally open-air, much like the legendary Ibizan clubs of the '80s. It's a phenomenal place to party—when the music is good and the crowd up for it, as it often the case, it's right up with the best clubs in Europe. By far the standout performance I saw there came from Motor City Drum Ensemble. The German selector effortlessly cut between his own productions, jazzy disco and, at one point, Aphex Twin. A truly memorable moment was when he dropped George Duke's "I Want You For Myself" just as the sun rose above the trees. Typically for MCDE, the set relied heavily on songs, soaring melodies and shifts in tempo—and was all the better for it.
Almost as unforgettable as MCDE's music was a woman who appeared to be his stalker, who I met on the journey home. A 30-odd year old with a thick Glaswegian accent, she held court for around 20 minutes with a monologue that was as unhinged as it was hilarious. Much of it was unprintable, but a notable excerpt might be: "I want to get him and trap him and lick him. ALL DAY!"
On site at Electric Elephant, Awesome Tapes From Africa was one of the most original sets of the week. His wide-ranging Afro-beat selections were put a an interesting shift in gear. One of the best tunes he played was Penny Penny's "Shaka Bundu"—if Alfredo had found such a record back in 1994, it could have been a Balearic anthem. Francois K also shook things up, with a six-hour set that touched on everything from drum & bass to dub reggae and, predictably, loads of great disco. It was some of the most obscure and exciting stuff I'd heard all week, which isn't surprising when you consider the man has been a pivotal figure almost since the genre's inception.
Another highlight was Chris Duckenfield, whose performance was heavy on anthems and typical of the kind of mix that got the slightly older crowd jumping. That the EE crowds are, shall we say, more experienced than those at your average dance music festival is probably worth mentioning. Most people are aged around 30, but there's also a smattering of 40 year olds and at least a handful of 50+ in attendance. But in many ways the crowd are more up for it than others I've seen. One wrinkly raver out-danced me all night at Barbarellas, then bought a huge round of shots at 5:30 AM as the sun started beaming down.
Perhaps the only low-point of EE this year was the weather. A series of unseasonal thunderstorms literally put a dampener on things a few times during my stay. At Barbarellas, with nowhere to hide from the downpour, the whole crowd got soaked. Oddly though, this added to the party. What should have sent everyone home brought everyone together, which gives you a pretty good idea just how much fun the atmosphere can be at Electric Elephant.
Photo credits: Heather Shuker