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

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