Buy Tickets to Lost and Found Festival 2019
We're very proud of our festival heritage in the UK. Being home to the greatest festival in the world, Glastonbury, helps this a great deal. But we're also very aware of how weather dependent a lot of the fun can be. Subsequently, the option of hopping on a budget airline, cutting holes in our ozone, and parking up at a beach resort – especially to lose ourselves at a festival – has become a very popular option.
Croatia has been largely dominant in this regard – particularly in electronic music circles. But thanks to Lost & Found, Malta's a new cutting-edge destination threatening to uproot said country's hold. It's an astoundingly beautiful arid country that's rich in history, and small enough to see as much of you like within a few days. Combine that with some of the sharpest programming the world has to offer, and you've got a lethal new player on the scene.
The seven things below were particularly special experiences that left a lasting impression, with memories fond enough to have us longing to go back in 2018 for the fourth edition.
The Black Madonna was a holy experience
Having Chicago's finest, The Black Madonna, play the penultimate set of the weekend on the main stage is a truly defining moment. It's bringing everyone together for one last blow out. Rarely have we been apart of audience as deeply invested emotionally in a set as we are now on this sonically awe-inspiring journey. The world-renowned DJ – who is currently hosting a resident at XOYO in London – draws on house and techno and keeps things heavy and high-octane for the energetic Lost & Found crowd. Towards the end, she makes a very pleasing detour into jungle and dub that gets a huge response. Throughout there's a psychedelic feel to a lot of what she does as mesmerising synth melodies float over the top of the muscular thump of the bass. By the time Marea beings things to a gradual halt to make way for Annie Mac, a large section of the crowd are putting in the same unhinged, wild passion as the villagers in Malta did earlier this Easter Sunday to the Patron Saint. We don't quite see anyone get on their knees and bow – but it's close enough. Divine stuff.
The capital city is one of the most scenic in Europe
Set to be the capital of culture in 2018, Valletta is about to become significantly more well-known as a city break. As it stands now, the majority of foot traffic comes from Mediterranean cruise day trippers, who come to admire the walled UNESCO heritage city in the flattering sunlight. Thankfully, during Lost & Found, the city doesn't suffer from that theme park feel you can get in some touristy destinations at peak times as it's still early in the season and visitor numbers are comparatively low. During our stroll around – the hangovers in the group are pretty unforgiving – we feel lost in time in the peaceful medieval winding alleys and backstreets, and impressed by the beauty of the Baroque architecture. Especially good is a trip to the Lower Barakka Gardens. It offers fantastic views across the harbour and you witness the city at its most scenic around here. Blown away.
The pool parties are decked out
Malta isn't famed for sandy beaches, and where we're staying for the weekend is a hotel five minutes walk past some hilarious ex-pat bars, like the Diana and Elivis bar, to the rocky shore the pool party is. The benefit of having the lack of sand is that the skyline is barely dented by infrastructure and we can stare out across the deep blue sea, notice 17th Century coastal watch-towers, notice elegant tall antique yachts and get feel a bit lost in time – we start to get why they chose a nearby Gozo to film Game Of Thrones and in actual life we see Maisie Williams raving at the festival.
Gazing back to land on the DJ decks is Annie Mac – she has lost her voice after a heavy few nights being a strong host. But she's determined to get the party going again and is playing a high-energy house set and weaving in some suave pop bangers. Her stage overlooks the pool that's positioned beautifully close to the shore, and the Radio 1 fave looks like she's loving life after a lengthy break from the limelight on paternity leave. In the crowd one man with 'top banter' is dressed as Jesus and raves on a friends shoulders whilst reading from the Bible. Bemused locals, who've been out for Easter lunch, take photographs from the balcony above. Another raver is wearing a snorkel and rubber ring, and trying to imbue everyone to get in the festival spirit. It's working. Annie's triumphant set winds down with some Mariah Carey, which gets a thumbs up, before the secret pool party secret guest MK takes command. "He's come all the way from the states especially for this," enthuses Annie Mac, ramping up the hype. House guru MK's in a cheeky mood pulling down the smoke machine from the ceiling and spraying it all over the crowd like a student with a fire extinguisher before returning to mix some magic. It's barely 4pm.
Dave got the Tropicana Stage off to a great start
It's not the mainstage in size, but it's the main stage in atmosphere. The predominantly grime and rap zone this Friday night, is rowdy. There's plenty of moshing and wresting for space on the barrier. Particularly impressive is Dave who's fresh from joining Drake on stage at The 02 – he is also praised by Wiley and Stormzy. The 18-year-old from Streatham has an earworm with the song '71'. It's most likeable for its nod to the ideology of Karl Marx and with his line: "I'm trying to retire at 40, I ain't working till 71," getting to the heart of his issue with the philosopher's of surplus. Not only blessed with a sharp ear and wise mind, Dave has a way with the crowd, too. The standout moment of the set sees him reaching out to to find someone to fill in AJ Tracey's part on the hit grime single 'Thiago Silva' (AJ Tracey has missed his flight). Dave picks out a fan called Henry who claims to know all the words, Dave trusts him and sure enough the chancer seems to get most of the lines and holds his own. The crowd are endeared to the fast-rising teenager than ever at this point.
Grime Godfathers Heartless Crew closed the Tropicana stage in epic style.
After Dave's memorable set early on in the festival we saw some incredible performances there from Mist, Toddla T, and Giggs. David Rodigan brought in some remarkable dub renditions and Randall b2b DJ Die on the Saturday night was drum 'n' bass at its best. The biggest moment of the whole weekend, though, is Heartless Crew, who alongside Wiley are huge influencers on the grime scene. There's electricity flowing between MC Bushkin, Mighty Moe, the beatmaster, Fonti, and the crowd. Fonti, who weaves between R&B, dancehall, and hip-hop seamlessly whilst at the same time making it own is a magician. Hot Chip's Joe Goddard, who played earlier on in the festival, has immense respect for Fonti and Goddard tells Gigwise: "he's a great party DJ and his ability to do this must come from spending years doing pirate radio and always having to make things work." Over on the stage, "It's the power hour," shouts MC Bushkin, as he and Mighty Moe hype up the crowd during the completely freestyled 3am slot. No two Heartless Crew sets are ever the same and knowing taht makes it all the mroe special for us. What's clear, is this could have been a headline slot at a much bigger festival and people would have come away buzzing. Heartless Crew may have been barely playing shows the past decade but they seem to be getting their moves on again. So glad for that.
Saturday didn't get better than Joe Goddard (Hot Chip)
Seeing a band name in brackets can sometimes make you think that you're getting a watered down version of the real thing, but Joe Goddard is the real deal. His set stood out as colourful and varied and thoroughly representative of many facets of London's bass culture. His discerning taste keeps the energy levels at a high as the beat hungry, hedonistic revellers enjoy one of his most hi-octane sets to date with plenty of house, UK garage, and some pop songs that fit seamlessly into a mix. Also present are glimpses of his first proper solo album Electric Lines, which is out now on Domino Records. His inspired use of analog synths on those records are what give the overall soundscape its unique feel. Everyone – even the friendly bartenders – seem to be vibing off it. Everywhere we look people nod in a knowing way as if to say it doesn't get much better than this. We'll be seeing him at Glastonbury this year and hoping for a similar set.
You need to explore the island, it truly is beautiful
There are so many places to visit in Malta that we didn't get the time to see on our short trip and if we were to go again we'd be sure to book a longer stay in order to spend a day. Getting over your hangover on the rural island paradise of nearby Gozo is highly recommended as you can witness centuries old ways of living and pick up some local produce whilst admiring the unspoiled shores. Another trip that sounds worthwhile is one to the blue lagoon which features some of the clearest waters in the Mediterranean. To stand out as clear when the water looks so gorgeous and pristine anywhere in Malta is some mean feat. Due to the sheer amount of time spent clubbing and little time either side, we didn't have time for all that but did go and see Mdina. Mdina is an ancient UNESCO heritage walled city with a mix of medieval and baroque architecture. It's like a distillation of all the best bits of the capital in one tiny area. There's a peaceful, laid back feel to the place that's a great afternoon out. It's walking distance from the festival, too.
Massive thanks to the Warehouse Project, Sound Channel, Drop the Mustard, Metropolis, Fresh Events, Lights Out and Annie Mac herself for such a great line-up.
