The first edition of Pitch was the perfect festival debut

Âme, Béton Brut, Sunday: By the time Kristian Beyer stepped up in Âme DJ mode at 2pm most people had dragged themselves from the campsites with chairs and coolers fresh with ice to bask in sets from the Innervisions heads all afternoon. Some opted for the shade of the giant surrounding trees but the dancefloor was packed beneath its soaring shade structure as Beyer guided the crowd on a sonic journey throughout his three-hour set. About midway, the stunning and instantly uplifting afro house of French producer Manoo’s remix of South African artists Stones & Bones ft. Toshi’s ‘Amahloni’ drifted out of the speakers and across the golden fields towards the mountain range beyond in a moment of sheer celestial beauty. As far as tracks to match the moment and setting go, Beyer nailed this one as it soothed and rejuvenated in the early afternoon heat. Sun, nature, good people, good music and delicious cold beers. Tick.

Octave One, Electrum, Sunday: Octave One’s live performance was incredible and high energy from start to finish and without a doubt one of the sets of the festival. Omar-S had just played the Electrum stage as the sun set and the scene was set for night three. Lenny and Lawrence Burden came out with ‘New Life’ and the crowd was instantly engaged by the heavy-hitting music and passion you could feel emanating from the two brothers. The whole set was mind blowing, with Paula Temple posting to Instagram “witnessing Octave One do their live set was an incredible highlight of being at Pitch Festival.” We couldn’t agree more. The stark beauty of one of the Detroit legends’ newer releases ‘7 b4 Dawn,’ from last year’s ‘Love By Machine’ album on 430 West Records, had us completely enthralled beneath the night stars. But we could feel something even more special coming for the end as it faded out. Sure enough, early 2000s classic ‘Black Water’ was built into and when its distinct hook arrived the crowd absolutely lost it.