BALATON SOUND

By Gene Convery 

The first thing you notice when you are walking to the main gates of Balaton Sound is how laid back this festival is. We arrived around 2pm and the place was already buzzing with people in board shorts and bikinis. When you get though the main gate you feel more like a carnival than a music festival, there are children running and playing by the water. People sitting everywhere eating local delicacies, drinking cocktails, beer, and coffee. 

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They split the grounds into three beaches: Gold, Red and White, which are the colours of the Hungarian flag. Each has its own dj playing their own style of music. At the far ends are the camping grounds that you can out of as much as you want all day and night. 

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We found a place on the beach (which is really the side of the lake) and relaxed for a few hours enjoying our $5 beers and $7 cocktails. By 5pm the crowd changes over, the family's pack up and head home and they replaced by festival goers.

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6pm rolls around and the main stage fills up with people who are waiting for the stage to open for the night’s acts. Our first night Younger opened the main stage followed by James & Ryan Marciano who I am sorry to say delivered a lack luster show. They felt like they were holding back, their tracks did not have the usual punch and they left me wanting by the end of their set. 

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I have a feeling it had to do with Armin van Buuren taking the stage next. What can you even say about Armin these days? The man is The GOAT! Tonight was no difference as he had the crowd in the palm of his hand delivering his new style of hard trance which always delivers. Armin closed the main stage at 11pm, which is odd. They then push everyone to the large tents at each end of the grounds. 

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I loved and hated the wide variety that this festival offers. There are local bands mixed in with some of the biggest acts in the world. While that is great exposure for the acts, it leaves you waiting around a lot. However, we filled the time by checking out all the other stages. I found a little gem of a local act on the Radio 1 stage called Disco-Shit; He is the only act to play every day of Balaton and he was great, so go check him out, you will not regret it.

Later that night, we checked out Deorro who has taken a break from touring for a while now. It seems he has not missed a beat; he blew the crowd away with his big room sounds; He dropped in some Trap break downs and New Music. Martin Jensen had big shoes to fill following Deorro, but he came out and went hard from start to finish. He played a very commercial big room/Main Stage style set, but it is just what the crowd needed after a heavy set from Deorro. The night had flown by and it was 4:30 am by the time we got home. 

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We were back at the festival by 1pm the next day. I had to get a replacement bracelet, which I thought would be the most painful experiences of my life. However, it was quick and painless. I see this as a huge tick for the festival. It is this task that can really stuff up your day but this was quick and easy and the staff where great.

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We had planned to lie by the beach and get some sun, however; We got a storm warning come in about 1:30. Wind picked up, and they started closing stages and battening down the hatches. It appears they were preparing for the worst as people started to head for the campsite and units. I think it was a little overkill; the wind picked up, and it did in fact rain but it only lasted an hour. The worst part was that they had several large, empty undercover stages, which they closed when it started to rain, leaving us nowhere to take cover. 

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Once the rain and wind past we were an hour behind on the main stage lineup because of them pushing the times back because of the weather. Opening main stage today was Rudimental who where epic, they had bought up there BPM for this live set which the crowd really enjoyed. I loved seeing a live band at a mainly EDM festival. Up next was G-Eazy who I have never heard of (I found out from a friend he is huge) and only saw his last song, he reminded me of Eminem. Closing the main stage for the day and the whole festival was Swedish Power House Alesso who stepped in at the last minute as a replacement for DJ Snake.

I have been vocal about my dislike for Alesso over the past few years since he went down the Trap road. This was the Alesso of old, he opened with his new track Progresso and it only got better from there. He is back playing solely Progressive House and Big Room, which the crowd loved. We also found out it was his birthday and to have the week off; However, he stepped in and played for us instead. 

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He headed over to Gryffin; I did not know much about him before this and he was great and the perfect warm up for KSHMR. KSHMR opened and blew the roof off right away, every song he played was one of his own. He mixed in some which really got every pumped! While I loved his set and I love him as an artist and producer I have seen this set a few times now and I would like to see him change it up a little. 

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We finished our night and festival at the Elrow stage. We saw the end of Jamie Jones and watched the sun rise. I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of Techno but I enjoyed Jamie Jones and the Elrow experience. 

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Overall, I would recommend this festival to everyone. The Hungarian people are a little rough around the edges, but overall we were well received. Besides a few Aussies, most of the people there are locals or from the EU, which is always nice to do something different without a thousand Aussies around. You spend all day at the beach and all night at the festival, what more do you need? 

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#KHSMR #DEORRO #JAMIEJONES