Fusion
Festival - Germany 27th - 29th June 2014
Fusion
Festival in Northern Germany is predominantly techno and electronic music. This
is delivered with the precision of; technology meets artisan workmanship, which
the nation has become well known for. This is made complete by some of the
finest European circus and dynamic set building available in the world today,
as we know it.
The
entire festival, situated on a retired Nazi spy air base, feels like a Utopian,
future environment. As designed by a benevolent creator in order to provide
purposefully engineered, audio-visual input to the human experience: Enough to
kindle thoughtful and resourceful, creative output, without over-blowing the
fragile circuitry of the human sensory system.
It
genuinely feels like something important is happening here. This festival is
the tip of the iceberg of a way of life. The ethos is for a better way of life. A commitment to a collective cause. The outcome being a catalytic event. Respecting
a trade system therein, which supports the workmanship of those giving their
time and skills to make it happen.
It is
driven by a sense of dynamism and determination to give the best you can give,
for the benefit of those around you and thus receive the same in return.
The
endeavour is for progression and sustainability without waste and is entirely
inclusive, so long as you are giving the best of yourself. Perhaps this is
enhanced by the deutsche attitude for “vorsprung dutch technik” (translated:
advancement through technology.) Or moreover the locale having emerged from prior
Soviet rule and developing a culture for making the best of limited resources
by necessity. But the pervading attitude is “what can I do for you?” as opposed
to “what is this going to give me?” It’s breath of fresh air to say the least.
The
outcome is the feeling of delight that comes from a sense of achievement. We
are all owners of this event. We are making this happen together. There is a
culture of hope, pride and of let’s keep going as long as we are getting better
at it.
It’s a
far cry from what I term the “hippy safari park” that the veteran UK festivals
serve up today. Having long since peaked and now deliver merely a tourist
attraction. By comparison, these have lost the sense the progression and breaking
boundaries, which has given way to a package experience.
The sense
of wonder I experienced at Fusion was compounded by my feeling part of a
Mechano playground, on a human scale. Everything was was moving, revolving and
synchronised in beatific precision, as if regulated by a rhythmic, techno, momentous
governor, as like that within a well lubricated engine.
Of course
this is as much by chance as by design. But somehow a bio-mechanical
relationship between human and the machine sets off a chain reaction. Robotic,
malleable, graceful and breathtaking audio-visual installations from France,
Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and UK, all perform in unison.
With all
of this taking place, I am proud to say that Bassline Circus represented with
extreme gusto. One of the most raging venues on site. The DJs and AV crew were
relentless and I found it hard at times to pass by the Bigtop in search of new
territory. Especially whilst the circus's Class A acrobats, clad in sexy,
up-to-the-minute, lycra body suits (swoon) finished off with extreme, constructed,
hair-braiding by Bela Edgar Manegan. They took to the air with athletic energy
and tons of sultry, urban attitude, that only Brits can seriously pull
off.
The
strength and agility on display serves to back up the sense of the
body-as-a-machine mentality. This is what physical fine-tuning looks like. I
couldn’t help but stare like an addict at their bodies. Sliding seamlessly
between single acts to multiple, synchronised displays of humans in free flow,
all in time to a high BPM while we pounded the ground with our feet and
throwing our faces in the air to catch the action. It's an experience!
Accompanied
by a big bar and a clean, dry, level dance floor, an impressive geometric set
and some seriously eye-catching light fx, it was absolutely one of the best
venues on site, for consistent, high adrenaline action.
Next blog: What's hottest at Boomtown Fair.
