The first edition of Pitch was the perfect festival debut

Melbourne’s Novel crew has been bringing the world’s biggest electronic artists and cutting-edge newcomers to the city for six years. So, when they decided to throw their first multi-day camping festival (on the fringe of the state of Victoria’s picturesque Grampians mountain range, no less), about three hours’ drive west of the capital, there was no shortage of A-grade connections and artists to call on.

Linking up with the guys behind rapidly rising New Year’s festival Beyond The Valley, held in eastern Victoria, the collectives saw an opening at the end of Australian summer and moved in with arguably the biggest dance music line-up the country has ever seen on one bill.

From the likes of Âme, Dixon, Ben Klock and Donato Dozzy, to Francesca Lombardo, Paula Temple, John Talabot, DJ Tennis, Mike Servito, Fatima Yamaha, Gold Panda, Red Axes and Kiasmos, diverse tastes had a huge selection of sounds to savour as they sipped BYO or on-site concoctions from one of the festival’s stage-side bars.

Stretching across four days from Friday afternoon on the state’s March Labour Day long weekend, there was time for each artist to breathe in the fresh early autumn air with a stack of three and four hour sets from big names taking the crowd through till Monday night.

Three main stages served up top-shelf quality house, techno, disco and ambient electronic DJ and live performances against a backdrop of ancient Red Gums and dusty fields stretching far into the distance.

Béton Brut, the largest, was characterised during the day by its striking grey concrete-look brutalist design and at night by its amazing light shows that aligned perfectly with raised rectangular blocks that formed a pyramidal shape jutting out above the decks.

A masterpiece from acclaimed stage designer Dave Dinger (who also put in a heaving Saturday afternoon set) and lighting maestro Florian Walther, this was without a doubt the event’s main weapon.

Béton Brut also had the best soundsystem and it was as good as it gets (we’ll be looking at our home set up with disappointment for weeks). Pitch was the first festival in the southern hemisphere to use Funktion-One 32 inch vero subs and the quality was incredible whether in the thick of it, at the back, or chilling under the trees.

Meanwhile, the nearby Electrum stage, designed by ZOD, was more fitting of what you’d expect to see at a rave in the Australian bush. The timber creation blended in organically, adorned by a tribal-mask-type-face, rainbow panels, scrap materials including cricket stumps and showerheads, and screens above and below the booth.

The last of the main three, named Vanishing Point, was at the back of the site, providing a window to the mountains. This is where live acts took control from the start of the day well into the early hours. And a fourth area was the domain of local club crews across the event.

The crowd was smaller than other Australian festivals, with about 7000 on site, and space for a lot more. This intimate vibe meant you kept running into familiar faces having the time of their lives (Babylon also debuted the same weekend only a few a few hours’ from the Pitch site, and Golden Plains and Esoteric festivals were also on.)

There were art installations, market stalls and, of course, food, but the focus of Pitch really was quality music and that brought out people who were there to simply enjoy it. No one seemed too messy, everyone was friendly and the vibe grew stronger as the days passed.

As a Spanish guy wearing a fluffy toy snake around his neck declared to us as we watched Ben Klock close Béton Brut on Sunday night: "In fucking 20 years’ time, we’re going to say we were at the first Pitch."

Festivals come and go, but this was as professional a first time as you could get, with an amazing line-up to rival any event on the global scene. We’ve got a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more about this one.

Check out a collection of tracks that set off the weekend below.

Francesca Lombardo, Béton Brut, Saturday: Friday night went by in a haze of excitement at what was to come with sets from Andras, Stimming, Detroit Swindle and Oliver Koletski warming the crowd into the festival and their new surroundings as they filtered in. By midday Saturday, the site was filling out and Francesa Lombardo’s three-hour set was the perfect meeting place. The sun beat down as the Crosstown Rebels regular dished out deep, dark sounds and tech-house rollers. The underlying funk of this one, ‘Altitude,’ by Romanian trio Livio & Roby and George G under their Premiesku alias, growling out of the Funktion-One system had people getting down nice and low, shoes off in the sand. Admittedly, this was one of the first timetabling situations that had us torn so we bailed early to catch Andrés, but one of the festival organisers informed us later that Lombardo was the first to have people absolutely losing it.

Andrés, Electrum, Saturday: Among Detroit’s finest, Andrés turned in one of The Lab’s of the year at the end of last month and it’s one that we’ve had it on repeat since. So, when Humberto Hernández stepped up to the Electrum stage on Saturday afternoon we were front and centre with his broad range of influences and skills as DJ Dez and Andrés fresh in mind. Of course, he did not disappoint, with a genre-spanning set including A Guy Called Gerald’s ‘Vooday Ray’, Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ (with some added bass), Eric Robertson’s ‘Don’t Change’, and cuts from Whitest Boy Alive and Moodymann, alongside his own productions, brought together with a deft touch and some sublime scratching. His remix of Detroit project Cool Peepl’s ‘Free’ (Bill Beaver, Sundiata and Amp Fiddler) is a soulful slice of house that shone in this standout set.

Midland, Béton Brut, Saturday: It’s no secret that Midland rose to become one of the biggest figures in dance music last year, taking out Mixmag’s Track of 2016 for ‘Final Credits,’ which we premiered back in May, as well as BBC’s Essential Mix of the Year. As such, we found ourselves breaking into a jog from the Vanishing Point stage on the way to his three-hour Saturday night set as we heard it already heaving in the distance. Deep blue and purple lighting and a thick layer of smoke bathed a dancefloor of people going wild to an expert selection of disco-laced house cuts. Wbeeza’s ‘Coastspotting,’ Zap’s classic ‘Get Down’ and the Full Intention 12” mix of Duke’s ‘So In Love With You’ were all highlights as the Béton Brut stage’s lighting display got into full swing. But you couldn’t go past the UK producer’s biggest track as the stand out moment. Bright lights eased into a minimalist purple with flashes of blue as the distinct groove was met with cheers and hands in the air for a shiver-inducing festival moment bringing the set to a close.

Gerd Janson, Béton Brut, Saturday/Sunday: Saturday night at the Béton Brut stage was drenched in good vibes with the Running Back boss up straight after Midland for another three hours. We perched ourselves up the back to take in the full light show as designer Dave Dinger grinned from the lighting booth at his stage in full flight. Cosmic and straight-up disco grooves, Outlander’s raucous 1990s classic ‘Vamp’ and Denis Sulta’s ‘It’s Only Real’ were brought together in an eclectic set which also featured dolphin calls on several occasions (this had to be confirmed with those nearby to make sure it wasn’t a late night trick of the imagination.) An unreleased track said to be upcoming on ReGraded was a huge feel-good disco tune as lit up ‘doof stick’ signs bobbed in the air and our jaws dropped at the precision and quality of the lighting and stage. The soothing keys of UK veteran Ashley Beedle’s loved-up rework of The Streets’ ‘Weak Become Heroes’ let the crowd take a breath and appreciate a moment of pure joy at what they were experiencing.

Fatimha Yamaha, Béton Brut, Sunda: Fatimha Yamaha played 2am-3am on Sunday after Gerd Janson and there were some bodies understandably starting to feel the weight of gravity after partying all day and half the night. But the stage was full at 3am as a still up-for-it crowd eagerly awaited the emotion-laced synths of the Dutch artist’s resurgent classic ‘What’s A Girl To Do’ at the end of his stunning live set. Béton Brut was permeated by pink for one of those festival-and-life-affirming moments, which was spoken about as the highlight of the four days by many afterwards. Hands in the air, people on shoulders and pure bliss as bright lights turned out towards a dancefloor full of ear-to-ear smiles. Equally impressive was the closing energy of ‘Araya,’ Yamaha’s latest release on Dekmantel, which brought the night to a powerful crescendo and drew the curtains on the first full day and night of the festival, by the end of which Pitch had really found its soul.

Henrik Schwarz, Béton Brut, Sunday: Sunday was more or less an Innervisions takeover of the main stage with Âme and Dixon playing three hours each with Recondite in between. Up first though, was Henrik Schwarz from 12.30pm and, kindly, Mother Nature had pulled herself together after persistent rain the night before. The sun was shining bright for Schwarz’s live one-and-a-half-hour-long set and the ambience was perfect for his blend of melodic techno tinged in places with African rhythms and vocals, including his mix of ‘Ene Nyame ‘A’ Mensuro' by Ebo Taylor & Pat Thomas, and 'Kuar' by South Sudanese-Canadian musician Emmanuel Jal. Bright attire stood out against the blue sky as the crowd shook off any lingering partying-induced shackles from the night before to the exotic rhythms and charismatic back and forth male and female vocals of the latter, from the 'Kuar' EP, released on Innervisions in 2010, ahead of another huge day of music.

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.

Paula Temple, Vanishing Point, Sunday: Heads whirling from how good Octave One had been we wandered up to Vanishing Point at the back of the festival site to witness Paula Temple do her thing. Icelandic minimal duo Kiasmos were just finishing up and provided their own profound moment as people huddled together against the encroaching cold of the night. As they closed, we made our way to the front to dive head first into the experience the UK techno icon was about to deliver. Japenese artist Koichi Shimizo’s recent release on Holontone Records ‘Wholetone’ was the opening track and the rapid-fire bass was like a beautifully brutal shovel to the face after the quickly forgotten short period of prior silence. It wasn’t long until people were hanging off the speakers as Temple cranked things up a few notches on the fringe of the bush where silhouettes of twisted gum trees lay in the darkness.

Ben Klock, Béton Brut, Sunday/Monday: Ben Klock’s set was our set of the festival. From the moment we arrived at Béton Brut we were completely lost in the German techno heavyweight’s sound which was matched perfectly by the stage’s towering brutalist grey design and deep blue, green and purple lighting. It felt like you could have been at one of the world’s best clubs in Berlin rather than the Australian bush, but the moon and stars visible in the clear night sky made it something very special. The way the stage could look so different across the weekend was impressive until the end. At 3am and after three solid days of partying we admit we were starting to feel a little broken – but the pull of the music held us there and made us forget about everything else. After three hours of incredible dark techno the final stages of Klock’s set drew everyone into a frenzy. Underworld’s huge 1994 belter was the finale and 10 minutes of pure ecstasy. Each element sounded incredible on the system as the crowd heaved and the mood elevated to yet another level. The techno don finished his glass of wine, raised his hands to the crowd and was gone. Absolutely. Huge.

Axel Boman, Béton Brut, Monday: Monday morning came around with disjointed thoughts of the night before and a rapidly approaching set from the Studio Barnhus co-label-head from 11am-2pm. The crowd was pretty thin in the early stages as some rested and others hit the road back to Melbourne or elsewhere. But those still dancing in the sand were treated to some sublime tribal rhythms and disco edits to ease themselves into the final day of an all quality inaugural Pitch. SB’s ‘The Washint,’ ‘Got To Be Loved’ by the Soul Reductions and Max Graef’s ‘BE’ all kept hazy heads feeling as fresh as possible on a Monday morning after three days of partying. A pitched down play of the Spiller Rouge Mix of St Germain’s ‘Rose Rouge’ (Shout out The Identification of Music Group) was a dreamy highlight as the crowd swayed into their last moments with John Talabot and Wolf & Lamb b2b Soul Clap still to come.

John Talabot, Béton Brut, Monday: Dance moves were starting to get delightfully weird and off-kilter in a mix of exhaustion and elation as John Talabot took control of Béton Brut for almost the final four hours until 6pm, Monday, after which Melbourne good-times purveyor CC:DISCO would close the festival. Shoes off in the sand, dirt and dust that had coated everyone’s bodies throughout the weekend, the tribal percussion, African chanting and disco-orientation of Alphonse’s ‘Smokey,’ just released on (Emotional) Especial, was apt as the scene took on an instinctual feel as everyone lost themselves in the music. The Spanish producer slugged out some low-slung techno to keep the crowd energised right through till the end, while Wolf & Lamb and Soul Clap went b2b with some classic NYC house over at Electrum, leaving us in complete awe on the long journey back to civilisation at what we’d experienced in the Australian bush as Pitch exploded onto the global event scene.

Scott Carbines is Mixmag's Australian Digital Content Editor. Follow him on Twitter