Review: Strawberry Fields was a perfectly curated escape hidden deep in the bush

Australian festival Strawberry Fields' popularity has exploded over the past few years. From a pop-up rave somewhere in between Melbourne and Sydney to its sprawling site on the banks of the majestic Murray River, that splits the states of Victoria and New South Wales, the vibe has remained pure and the music amazing as its roots spread further.

Excitement levels are always high as a seemingly endless network of highways stretch in front of you on the journey from civilisation into the bush, with summer in its full three-month-long glory and endless possibilities lying ahead at the end of November each year.

The event has cemented itself as a marker for the start of festival season on the country’s east coast, taking place across four days in the final throes of spring as parties begin to ramp up in the cities and the shackles of the colder months are well and truly shaken off and left lying discarded in the dust.

Hitting the site, ancient river red gum trees tower above with the Murray – Australia’s longest river, snaking its way across more than 2500km – offering an alluring place to cool off (and get clean of the dirt acquired as feet pound to Funktion-One speakers), providing a stunning backdrop for a weekend of house, techno, disco and more.

Musically, the curation is spot on and there is plenty to please all tastes – even more so in recent years with the introduction of several new stages, including one dedicated to live music with a jam session vibe. But, of course, the main stage is where it’s at and the pulsating heart of Strawberry Fields. A pink shade structure seemed simple and aesthetically pleasing during the day, before coming to life with lasers and lights that played off its varied sections on Saturday night.

Dominating one side, and featuring the likes of Daniel Avery and Tim Engelhardt, to Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda, Peggy Gou and the Rush Hour 20^th anniversary showcase this year, this is where we found ourselves for most of the festival having the time of our lives (again).

For the past two years, there’s been a ‘beach’ stage set up on the banks of the river – perfectly adorned with a ‘Playa Del Murray’ sign bringing a tongue-in-cheek touch of Ibiza to the Australian bush.

This year, the orientation of the decks was shifted so the water was behind the artist, setting up a gorgeous setting for lazing back with a drink beneath the trees or with feet in the sand on the dancefloor.

Art and lighting are huge focuses of Strawberry Fields and something that sets it apart from other festivals like it. The welcoming glow that emanates from the various installations and the central village at night gives an enchanted feel that never fails to make us all fuzzy.

We clambered aboard an old school bus late on our first night and were transfixed by a 10-minute-long light and music display that, for the most part, had even the most rowdy festival-goers silent in awe.

And the Organic Audio stage was a revelation, with wooden structures strung up in the shade between a collection of painted gum trees in a hedonistic adult playground that hosted some of the best sets of Strawberry Fields 2017 (more on that below).

For us, we had the best time we’ve had at the festival since we first dived in. Something felt like it really hit it right three years into the current site. As always, we’ve brought you a selection of the best tracks that graced our ears. Check them out below, and we’ll catch you next year as Strawberry Fields celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Archie Hamilton - The Beach, Friday

It’s a bit of an effort getting to Strawberry Fields no matter where you’re coming from, which, of course, is all part of what makes it so special. Nonetheless, after a solid three to four hour-long drive from Melbourne and setting up camp on Friday, we were keen for a drink and some driving beats. Archie Hamilton manned the decks at ‘Playa Del Murray’ from 4pm to 7pm and we exhaled the stress of the journey and inhaled some tech-house rollers. ‘Spent Up’ by Inland Knights caught our ear as the dancefloor eased into the first proper night of Strawberry Fields 2017.

Optimo - Wildlands, Friday

Having just witnessed Oxia treat a hands-in-the-air crowd to his always huge ‘Domino,’ Glaswegian legends Optimo stepped up for two hours from 9pm to get the night into full swing as a Scottish flag waved front and centre among a new wave of Australian ‘doof stick’ signs. Working their way through the worldly sounds of Tanzania Soundsystem’s ‘Msichana’ and the indigenous Australian-inspired ‘Kookaburra’ by Coober Pedy University Band (Tornado Wallace and Tom Moore of Melbourne duo Otologic), new tracks from Bicep – and even Black Betty and AC/DC – the duo showed their trademark eclectic approach to their sets. We couldn’t go past the uplifting keys of KiNK’s remix of Unit 2's ‘Sunshine’ as a set highlight. Big stuff.

Daniel Avery - Wildlands, Friday

The lighting at the main stage was restrained on Friday night in favour of a soft glow. The music certainly wasn’t, though, with Daniel Avery dishing out two hours of techno to follow Optimo, accented with his own productions Naïve Response and Water Jump from 2013’s ‘Drone Logic’, which carried on the breeze throughout the surrounding plains with its tribal-style female vocal. Heavier cuts included Slam's ‘Vapour,’ ‘Vortex’ by Matrixxman & Setaoc Mass and the Planetary Assault Systems remix of Phil Kieran’s ‘Wasps Under A Toy Boat.’ Layers of intrigue were built with ‘Himmel Und Erde’ by Obscure Shape & SHDW, out on Rekids, as the thunderous bass and a purple hue emanated from the stage.

Pelvis - Wildlands, Saturday

If a perfect cut of jazzy, deep house and an ice-cold beverage can’t sort you out mid-morning on day two of a festival, you’re in trouble. We wandered down to the main stage feeling good to kick start Saturday with 2017-dominating Mall Grab on from 12pm, and it was our August cover star’s friends in Sydney/Melbourne collective Pelvis who hit home early with us, moving through ‘Cosmique Arab’ by Boyz in the Oud and ‘All the Same Family (Mr Onester Original Mix)’ by Lee Rodriguez before dropping Mark Seven’s ‘The Fatal Flaw In Disco (U-4-Ria)’ with their very last track. Pure vibes as the sun shone and the crowd began to fill out front and centre ahead of a set of raw house from Mall Grab, who created an early main stage frenzy.

Matthias Meyer - Organic Audio, Saturday

We broke away from the bright costumes and joy of the main stage to make our debut at Organic Audio for the deep, melodic sounds of German don Matthias Meyer and were treated to one of the absolute sets of the festival. Tucked away in the shade of a small collection of gums on the opposite side of the festival site, the stage was a hidden paradise for those in the know. With wooden structures to rave atop surrounding the small clearing, the aesthetic was similar to the festival’s old site secluded in its own world among the trees. Ravers moved above while an Ozzy Osbourne-esque security guard ducked through the dancefloor dishing out high fives and a welcome cool breeze drifted through. Meyer’s new collab with Ryan Davis, ‘Hope', Dale Middleton’s remix of Energy 52’s ‘Café Del Mar’ and Mighty Dub Katz's ‘Let The Drums Speak (Butch remix)’ were highlights as we couldn’t wipe the smile from our faces at the scene. Closing with Bicep’s remix of Blaze's ‘Lovelee Dae,’ the vibe was as real as it gets.

Ecuadorian-based maestro Nicola Cruz brought together sounds from across the globe beautifully as the sun set on Saturday and kicked off a string of sets from Tim Engelhardt, Monolink and Frankey & Sandrino that flowed together perfectly as the night continued. Pan flute and percussion set the scene early before remixes of Fela Kuti’s ‘No Possible’ from Chris Deepak and Simple Symmetry on Cruz’s own ‘Tzantza’ – from his ‘Visiones’ EP on Multi Culti this year – were joined by ‘The Trees’ by Motel Express and a pitched down play of Santiago Deep’s ‘Bonsoca’ to provide a hypnotic, rhythmic soundtrack as the festival transitioned into darkness and the night ahead.

It was clear after Monolink’s stunning live performance Strawberry Fields organisers had left a lot in the tank visually for Saturday night at the main stage, as lasers not seen the night before pierced the black sky and smoke descended on the crowd below. Tim Engelhardt stepped up to a packed floor as visuals bounced off the shade structure above and a community of lit-up ‘doof sticks’ glowed beneath. In another standout set, the German artist moved through his own productions including ‘Best Night in Cologne,’ ‘No More Words’ and ‘Trust,’ as well as a remix of Super Flu’s ‘K5000,’ which all sounded absolutely huge. ‘Chymera’ slugging out of the soundsystem midway through the 1.5 hour set was massive.

Frankey & Sandrino - Wildlands, Saturday

The curation of the main stage on Saturday was a masterclass, with each act seamlessly carrying the vibe over for a mammoth session. Sandrino Tittel was representing Frankey & Sandrino this time around, with Frank Beckers not making the trip Down Under. The scene took on an almost sci-fi atmosphere as spooky tracks and industrial sounds echoed throughout the festival site. We moved back to take in the full spectacle as Strawberry Fields’ lights and installations hit their peak on the verge of midnight. ‘Voltaire’ by Trikk, a new Jimi Jules remix of WhoMadeWho’s ‘Dynasty’ and ‘L.D.O.E (Floyd Lavine’s African Techno Mix)’ by Aaron & Deckert, featuring Valentine, punctured through the night as psychedelic patterns beamed. Perel’s ‘Die Dimension,’ the German artist’s debut on DFA, cut through with an air of mystery that drew us back into the masses before we danced off into the night to explore the other stages.

Peggy Gou - Wildlands, Sunday

Not many were up and about when Peggy Gou jumped on the decks at 11am Sunday for two hours ahead of Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda and the Rush Hour showcase, with just a few small groups of people sitting around trying to regroup in the early heat. But by midway through the smooth set the dancefloor was filling out and bustling by the end. We perched under a tree on the festival’s hottest day (receiving a water cannon to the face from a passing post-apocalyptic style truck) as the Berlin-based South Korean artist worked through her own productions ('Maktoop', 'Gou Talk'), African sounds, boogie records, house jams and Mall Grab’s ‘Pool Party Music’ to soothe heads into the event’s final day. KiNK’s ‘Perth’ was one highlight near the end but we’re gonna go with Norm Talley’s saxophone-laced ‘Travlin’, which was the perfect closer.

Antal & Hunee - Wildlands, Sunday

Rush Hour’s 2017 20^th anniversary celebrations continued in Australia as the Dutch label brought Strawberry Fields’ main stage to a close from 2pm with Soichi Terada backed up by Antal & Hunee for a huge four-and-a-half hours of blissful boogie, funk and classic feel-good tracks, including Phil Collins' ‘In The Air Tonight’, ‘In the Evening’ by Sheryl Lee Ralph and ‘Stand Back’ by Stevie Nicks. Sprinklers kept dancers cool as a shirtless Hunee cut the label’s birthday cake behind the decks. The sun lowered to a more manageable level as the crowd grooved to a fittingly loved-up close. How do you pluck a track out of a stellar four-and-a-half hour-long set? Libyan pop artist Ahmed Fakroun’s 1980s track ‘Gelty’ was a belter that summed up the positive vibes of the label and festival for us. Thank you, Strawbs 2017 x

Scott Carbines is Mixmag's Australian Digital Content Editor, follow him on Twitter