It’s a wrap for Good Vibes Festival 2018 at The Ranch @ Gohtong Jaya in Genting Highlands. About 15,000 music lovers flocked to the cool, misty hills on 21st and 22nd July 2018 to catch performances by international and Malaysian acts such as Lorde, Alt-J, SZA, Zamaera, Noh Salleh and more.
Brought to you by Toyota, this year marks the fifth edition of the 2-day music festival filled with stellar music and good vibes spread out over three stages: Red Stage, Blue Stage and Electric Fields stage.
Making her festival debut on Day One, rising singer-songwriter Lunadira serenaded audience with her dreamy vocals through “Stuck With You” and more on the Blue Stage followed by Zamaera who took it to the Red Stage to spit some mean bars. Local electronic duo Pastel Lite served a sweet ’80s throwback through a chill, vibey set and soon after Kyoto Protocol got the crowd moshing to their alt rock tunes including their latest single “Delta Wing.” Closing the homegrown set was Altimet & The Kawan Band, one of Malaysia’s most influential rapper in the scene.
Liverpool-based producer SG Lewis‘ moody tracks put festival-goers in an emotive, atmospheric state as the sun began to set which was fitting as Petit Biscuit performed “Sunset Lover” against the hypnotizing scarlet skyline. Come nighttime, Louis The Child‘s electronic bops echoed over at the Red Stage before The Neighbourhood cranked it up a notch with crowd favourites “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” and “Sweater Weather.
The crowd was clearly not ready for the fire that is Vince Staples but that certainly didn’t stop the Californian rapper and one-third of Cutthroat Boyz from storming the stage with West Coast trap and mad rhymes. Anticipation ran high as SZA appeared on the Blue Stage in a saree (as if we need more reason to love her), singing the night and fans’ worries away that her voice is permanently damaged with flawless vocals. Wrapping up Day One was Australia’s What So Not who got the crowd grooving and pumped up for Day Two.
Up-and-coming songstress Bil Musa started off Day Two of #ToyotaGVF2018 (did you know Yuna discovered her singing at a wedding?) with her soothing voice followed by Indonesian-born producer and artist, Emir Hermono. This year’s festival sees the return of Froya with her feel-good music while Dangerdisko stepped out to blast some funky disco tunes that kept the crowd on their feet followed by Noh Salleh, frontman of Hujan, who kept things light with his oldies tracks.
Canadian R&B duo Majid Jordan who is known for featuring on Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home” transported the crowd into a dimension where moody R&B fused with electrowave pop while British duo HONNE‘s warm electronic sounds reverberated across the field. Nick Murphy, formerly known as Chet Faker, oscillated his set between trip hop and electronica followed by indie rock band Alt-J folk-inflected dub-pop meets alternative rock setlist and ODESZA‘s panorama set featuring songs like “Sun Models” and “Say My Name”.
As Lorde‘s performance drawn nearer, it’s easy to see why majority of the festival-goers stayed till the end to catch the dark pop princess in action. Exceptional vocals that sounded like it came straight out of Spotify coupled with remarkable stage presence, Lorde‘s set was in a league of its own.
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