Shifting the post-festival blues after Dimensions is no mean feat. You’re forced to come to terms with the small piece of your soul you left behind in Croatia, and it’s pretty likely you’ll find yourself walking along to the lingering 4/4 drumbeat which you can still somehow hear, a week after the festival ended. 2015 was Dimensions’ fifth year, and saw fans of the underground electronic music scene from all corners of the planet gather at one of the most spellbinding festival locations in the world – Croatia’s Fort Punta Christo.
Sun, sea and a serious sound system kept the crowd entertained from Tuesday to Sunday as The Beach Stage played host to a varied daytime line-up ranging from ambient to disco and chilled house to live jazz; Jeremy Underground, FKJ and BADBADNOTGOOD delivering our favourite sunbathing soundtracks of the week.
So far, so good. But nothing could have prepared us for the location of the night time line-up and what truly was an aesthetic masterpiece, The Fort. I would go as far as to say that the visual production here would end up having even more of a lasting impression on me than the music itself; an outcome I’d never anticipated. The lighting installations which filled the site were exquisite; rich colours illuminated the abundant pine trees and most of the towering brick walls were projected top to bottom with intricate and detailed digital patterns which alternated subtly over the course of an evening. Particularly breath-taking was the stage Fort Arena 1, where we looked up to see the letters of the Dimensions sign illuminated with scattered white light just beneath the full moon which shone over the festival for all four nights of music. This really was a staggeringly beautiful setting for a party.
The Garden stage would be our base for Thursday night. Kicking things off was Scottish producer Space Dimension Controller, who dished out plenty of his catchy self-described “galactic funk” along with some deeper yet consistently upbeat techno. The feel-good vibes were then cranked up a few notches by Dan Shake, who delivered a crowd-pleasing and varied mix of disco and house heavily infused with jazz. Throwing shapes on a steep and rocky hill is no easy task, but that didn’t stop the crowd from erupting as the mighty Eliphino took to the stage with a set of his no nonsense deep house groovers. We finished off the night at, for me, the most memorable of all of Dimensions’ stages; The Moat. With its unbelievable length, towering walls and staggered speaker stacks, this stage would play host to the deepest of the techno line-up and there can surely be nowhere in the world better suited for that purpose. Pangaea closed the stage for the renowned Leeds-originated Hessle Audio who had hosted all night, and played out soulful vocals over minimal techno as the sunrise took us into Friday morning; a mellow climax to an electrifying opening night of music.
Our Friday night began with three hours of Bicep and Hesseltime playing b2b on the Tief-hosted boat party with the breath-taking backdrop of an Adriatic sunset. Although the sound system could have coped with twice the volume, this set was undisputedly the most varied of our weekend with funky disco, smooth classic garage including MJ Cole’s ‘Sincere’ and pounding 90’s house all managing to feature without sounding out of place. Back on dry land, Underground Resistance played a fast-pace live set of electro jazz to the packed out Clearing – Dimensions’ largest yet still intimate main stage – and Bicep met all expectations with their melodic tech house set at The Void; seeing the sun rise to the soundtrack of their atmospheric latest single ‘Just’ was a particular highlight of the weekend.
Saturday required a bit of a battery recharge and allowed us to admire the fort in all its glory. We enjoyed Loefah’s “history of Chicago” set from the bar overlooking Fort Arena 1 – one of several thoughtfully placed for those needing a timeout yet still wanting to be a stone’s throw from the music.
Sunday was the real highlight musically. Half of Dusky’s four-hour set got the adrenaline pumping as they took us through a lively mix of groove-driven, deep tech house and techno, interspersed with plenty of their infectiously catchy house anthems both old and new including ‘Squeezer’ and ‘Love Taking Over’. This was followed by man of the moment and festival headliner Motor City Drum Ensemble who played an irresistible mix of disco and house – Kerri Chandler’s remix of ‘In my system’ being the highlight – to a packed out Clearing; ending the festival for many festival-goers here on a high. We then made our way to the 75-capacity Noah’s Ballroom for the first time that weekend. Right in the heart of the fort lies a dimly lit corridor leading to a tiny circular room with towering stone walls. Here we joined only a few others for the dirtiest bass and dubstep set from Tarqeeb and it became clear why this sweaty and adrenalizing stage is so many punters’ favourite. What had been an emotional journey at Dimensions ended in The Void however to the sounds of John Talabot; an alluring and classy set of techno and tech house rounded off with his moving and euphoric cover of Jamie xx’s Loud Places.
You’d expect such a high brow festival on the underground electronic calendar to provide only the finest sound systems; and that it did, with all stages from the tiny Noah’s Ballroom to the spacious Clearing delivering consistently impressive punch and bass. Dimensions’ capacity also deserves high praise, as capping the figure at 6000 is seriously well thought out. The festival truly is a music-head’s paradise; its organisers appreciating a ticket-holder’s expectation to be able to dance and chat and not feel the claustrophobic atmosphere which is so standard at a vast proportion of its competitor electronic music events.
Kudos Dimensions, you blew our socks off.
Julia Connor
(photos: Dan Medhurst)