TCN’s Dave Gasson gives us the highlights of Rise Up Porec, held over the 9th and 10th of June, 2017.
The new “Rise Up Porec” music festival sponsored by Laguna Porec is certainly set in an idyllic location, just 200 meters from the beautiful old town of Porec and the stage set a mere 30 meters from the sea.
With a crowd of 10,000 people over the weekend enjoying the music and good weather, the festival was a big success. Security was tight and, on entering, each person was given a free Panama hat bearing the logo of the sponsors: Laguna Porec.
With the golden sun finally setting, the first band to play was the Croatian band Vindon Havin from Zagreb. They played a lively mixed set of dance/pop /Croatian and some Rock n’ Roll with a very appropriate rendition of Nirvana’s legendary ”Teen Spirit’‘ `which soon had the growing crowd singing and dancing.
Just as the sea breeze started to cool the early revellers down, it was time for the Swedish duo, Icona Pop to make their first appearance in Croatia. With their up beat and unique brand of electro pop music, the crowd were soon dancing to their chart hits and new, unreleased material .When they played ”I Love It” it signalled the start of a trend that followed all weekend: the throwing of hats in the air and at the stage.
The arena was now full and, surrounded by his band, John Newman stood statuesque on the raised steps of the stage. The spotlight fell on him and he turned to the crowd, holding the expectancy and anticipation levels for another moment before bursting into song.
His energy levels were phenomenal as he danced, jumped and sang his way around the stage. When it was time for his biggest hit ”Love Me Again” the crowd went wild and a millinery of hats littered the night sky.
His voice was as powerful as ever and, even though he joked with the crowd that they were a bit rusty for the first festival of the year, they were far from that. At one point he even brought some Rock ‘n’ Roll to the stage as he started to smash up the drum kit and the symbols went flying.
Throughout the concert, his performance was full of energy and passion. Several times he seemed to almost collapse on the floor, only to raise his head and start singing once more.
. The band left to the sound of a huge applause and they soon returned for an encore to the crowds’ delight. John Newman was genuinely humble in his thanks to his band, his management and the audience. He is living his dream “of headlining festivals” and to top off what was already a very sincere performance, he climbed down off stage and embraced his fans.
Now that the night and festival were in full swing it was time for the American DJ Roger Sanchez to take over on the decks.
With the bass turned up it was Stereo MC’s, the British hip hop/electronic dance group who kicked off the second day of the festival. Lead singer Rob Birch gave a good, strong and solid performance and they sang ”Step It Up” and ”Connected” as well as others.
The stage was cleared and preparations began for the next band. All manner of objects appeared on stage and band members stood at the edge throwing fluorescent plastic toys and inflatables into a delighted crowd. It was time for Redfoo Party Crew. If you have never seen them before and you are looking for one of the best party rock bands then look no further. Incredible!
The members of the band are full of energy and the performance was exceptional. They sprayed champagne into the crowd from the stage, constantly fired streamers, dressed up in bizarre outfits, came into the crowd blowing whistles and poured beer over them, shared drinks with the audience and generally ran a party riot on stage. And of course, there was the singing and dancing and when it was time for ”Sexy And I Know It” with the men in the band stripping, much to the delight of the crowd.
With the bands finishing, but the crowd still wanting to party – it was time for a few DJ sets and who better to start with than the hugely popular Rudimental DJ set.
To conclude the live music and to keep every one partying until ??:?? at this years successful Rise Up Porec festival was Sister Bliss performing the timeless and legendary Faithless DJ set.
Festival goers will be looking forward to the next Rise Up Porec festival in 2018 after such a wild and successful weekend!
If you would like to see more of Dave Gasson’s photography, click here.
