Why Annie Mac's Lost & Found is the perfect summer pre-party

Lost & Found festival returned to Malta for its third instalment this Easter Bank Holiday and I was one of 8,000 punters that flocked to the Maltese shores of St. Paul’s Bay for four nights of raving. We were treated to a colourful spectrum of the world’s best DJs, led by dance music’s own Cleopatra and figurehead of BBC Radio 1’s esteemed Friday Night Show – Annie Mac.

The festival symbolised Annie Mac’s resurrection back into the musical sphere, as her first DJ appearance after four months of maternity leave, and rekindling the annual spirit of festival season.

The open-air clubs were adorned with tropical décor and the island had a mystical feel. I remember being surrounded by tall tiki pillars and flags branded with ‘Annie Mac Presents’, finding myself dancing under neon cocktail glasses at Pyramid stage and gazing up through the lights at the brightly outlined palm trees of Tropicana club.

Lost & Found’s intimately placed stages made it easy to navigate the site and even easier to find the mates you'd made in the rave the day before. The festival was low-key and easy-going, with DJs and party-goers alike running around in crowd. Everyone was just there to dance.

Thursday night’s welcome party kicked off things off at Café Del Mar, a sea-side stage headlined by one esteemed legend and the other well on his way to earning that status: Armand Van Helden and Jackmaster. They set the tone for the next few days perfectly, spinning timeless classics such as New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ and Daft Punk’s ‘One More Time’ and Jackmaster caught us all off guard as he dropped La Roux’s ‘Bulletproof’ in his mix, causing a nostalgic frenzy. Meanwhile Artwork took to the stage and started blasting nearby ravers and the DJ booth with his smoke gun. Lost & Found was now ready to launch.

The AMP event was a melting pot of musical tastes, with many genres overlapping and complimenting each other. On Friday I found myself skanking along to Skream’s rave set at Factory, then singing happy birthday to Game Of Thrones’ Maisie Williams from behind the decks of Redlight and My Nu Leng. On Saturday I was fist-pumping to J.E.S.U.S who were going in with full force techno, and on the Sunday I was captivated by the enchanting spell cast by The Black Madonna’s seamless selections.

The days were as jam-packed as the nighttime schedule, with pool parties hosted by Toddla T & Coco, Charlie Sloth and MK, and boat parties that saw Manchester boys Solardo take the helm alongside Melé and Yousef, while Dusky teamed up with Denis Sulta. I also attended AMP’s legendary Castle Rave, a limited capacity party which took raving to a whole new level as we danced on top of a pink castle on a hill overlooking the island’s stunning coastline. The view was as breathtaking as the wealth of music provided by sets from Eats Everything, Kolsch and Annie herself.

Check out the top tracks of the festival below.

Jaguar is Mixmag's Weekend Editor. Find her at the front of a rave near you

Fatima Yamaha, Friday at Pyramid: I’ll never forget the moment when Fatima Yamaha played this Dekmantel gem. I rushed down to the festival site early to catch him, and it was my favourite set by far. Playing on a live set-up, he kicked off with bubbly house groover ‘Love Invaders’ and teased the crowd throughout his set by playing ‘What’s A Girl To Do’ towards the end, right before he dropped ‘Araya’ at the grand finale. I was totally overwhelmed by this track’s melodies and euphoric lifts, and everyone else was feeling it too. There were smiles all around in the crowd, and even B.Traits was flashing a grin from the stage as she was getting ready for her set which followed.

Kölsch, Sunday at Caste Rave: The Castle Rave was a real highlight. It kicked off in the early afternoon and the grounds soon filled up with punters dancing off the weariness from the night before. Eats Everything and Annie Mac created the perfect party vibe with disco-house grooves, but it was Kölsch that stole the show. At 7pm the sun began to set, the sky was bleeding with pink and orange streaks, and it was here that Kölsch’s melodic techno ballads had never been more fitting. I remember looking out at melting sun in the evening skyline when he dropped ‘Grey’, and I'd never seen so many people fall in love at the same time. The uplifting brass sounds and steady rhythm struck a chord with every single person at that castle, and we were all united by this moment.

Toddla T, Saturday at Tropicana: Tropicana was the home for all things bass and grime. Toddla peppered his set with personal dubplates and slick mixing, which left the crowd hungry for more, and it was when he dropped Hazard’s 2014 stomper ‘Bricks Don’t Roll’ that everyone really lost their shit. The d’n’b banger generated mosh-pits in the middle of the crowd and I’m pretty sure I lost my mates for a good 10 minutes afterwards, but it was worth it.

TQD, Saturday at Tropicana: The holy trinity of bass and garage graced the stage after Toddla T. It was pretty bizarre to hear TQD blaring out their Vicky Grout-voiced intro and bassline wobbles across an open-air venue, but when Flava D dropped her ‘In The Dance VIP’, it would have blown the roof off any nearby building; The impact was explosive. It was here that fans from across the globe were united in their love of Royal T, DJ Q and Flava D. I smiled at my new raving buddies around me, they flashed me a bass-face back it me. It was divine.

The Black Madonna, Sunday at Palace: The Chicago DJ’s set was eclectic and extremely well received by the crowd, dropping disco gems like Chaka Khan’s ‘All Night’ before rolling into Lil Wayne, yes that Lil Wayne. I celebrated my 22^nd birthday in Malta and there was nowhere I would have rather been than in a rave with The Black Madonna. At Midnight I found myself singing along to Technotronic’s 1989 banger ‘Pump Up The Jam’ as I raved my way into another year of life.

Dave, Friday at Tropicana: Representing the new wave of UK grime, Dave was a highly anticipated act on the line-up. He commanded the stage like no other, and his lyrical prowess is even more impressive live. He was supposed to be joined by AJ Tracey for their track ‘Thiago Silva’, but it turned out that the West London rapper missed his flight, so he asked the crowd if anyone knew the words to help him out onstage. It wasn’t long before a skinny guy with glasses and a manbag, an unassuming grime fanatic, jumped onstage. The DJ ran the track and suddenly out came these bars, with this guy performing the track word-for-word alongside Dave. His name was Henry. He smashed the set and the crowd even demanded a wheel-up. Afterwards Henry was promised eternal guestlist for the performance of his life. We'll be following this up to make sure it happens.

B.Traits, Friday at Pyramid: B.Traits went straight in with a heavy house and techno set, sprinkled with break beats. The defining track was Radio Slave’s ‘Another Club’ which rumbled through the crowd as the harrowing low-pitched monologue dropped. The Canadian DJ sandwiched this track with her own productions ‘Basic Scenario’ and ‘Breathe Out’ which heightened the intensity of the dancefloor.

Annie Mac, Sunday at Palace: After four days and four nights of raving, Annie Mac’s final set was the pinnacle of the festival, and she closed it with a gospel groover from Floorplan. I was on my mate’s shoulders, and as the drop rolled in, we saw fireworks shoot from the sky and confetti cannons roar over the crowd. There was an infectious tone of celebration from the dancefloor to the DJ booth, as we couldn’t help but reflect on the incredible few days of partying we'd had at the festival. As I looked out at the sea of dancers singing along to ‘We Magnify His Name’ and spotting Annie and The Black Madonna jamming behind the decks, I felt truly warmed up and ready for the summer. Festival season has begun!

AMP Lost & Found returns in 2018 and will take place across May Day bank holiday on May 3 until 6. Super earlybird tickets are on sale now.