News

Firsthand Account of Forbidden Kingdom Festival (You Really Missed Out)

Palm trees, sun setting over rippling water, spaces of lush green grass embracing sprawled out smiley festival goers, 20 minutes of finale worthy fireworks, co2 blasting clouds into the air…

And the best of all..

Dirty. Freakin’. Bass!

These were just some of the components to Forbidden Kingdom experience, and I must say it was an unforgettable one. The Florida weather was marvelous, but adding Adventure Club, Zomboy, B2B days of Excision and more, was a treat. 

Photo Courtesy of Jake West

Forbidden Kingdom was a one stage, two night festival in Boca Raton, Florida at Sunset Cove Amphitheater. The venue sure did live up to its name. The stage occupied the majority of the space, but a grassy hill that led down to the lake made for a peaceful area to hangout and watch the starburst sunset. 

Photo Courtesy of Divisuals

One stage might not be what most people think of when a festival comes to mind, but it came in clutch for the sheer fact that no sets get overlapped.

Everyone you want to see on the lineup, you get to see. No bickering about which set to catch, no beelining from stage to state, everything was right in front of you! Considering my legs felt like jello after attending gigantic festivals like EDC and Electric Forest, I really appreciated this part. 

Photo Courtesy of Jake West

The music itself was phenomenal. If I had to describe it in three words, I’d say grimy, nasty, dirty, filthy, BASSINYOFACE!

Okay I know that was more than 3 words, but this show was seriously packed with heavy, loud dubstep. Jeff Abel, AKA Excision, always curates an amazing show and chooses compatible acts. 

What surprised me was the duo Adventure Club. Known for their melodic dubstep from hit songs like Crave You, Gold, and Youth, they contrastingly came on dirty. & I mean DIRTY. 

Photo Courtesy of Divisuals

Pulling from dirty bass lines of Space Laces, Riot Ten, & Trampa; this set was far from your average Adventure Club set. Halfway through they started to play some classics and chill out a bit, but man, they came on with a slap in the face.

If you need any more explanation, just listen to the beginning of Adventure Club’s full Forbidden Kingdom set here:

Part of me feels like they were trying to flow with the riddim wave that was being rode all day by every artist on the bill, but a change of pace was exactly what was needed in my opinion. I was thankful they switched it up halfway through, but it was cool to see a different side of Adventure Club.

As always, Excision killed it. His trademarked visuals are unlike any other, and he even synced up a giant dragon on top of the stage to blow smoke when the bass dropped. Fucking awesomeness! 

Just when I thought the magic was ending, after the last set (Excision B2B Dion Timmer) finished their encore and everyone was starting to head towards the exit, fireworks started bursting in the sky! Everyone stopped and stared in awe as my group ran towards the lake to get a better view. 

Photo Courtesy of Jake West

This firework show went on for at least 25 minutes. It was such a perfect way to end the weekend, and the explosives were finale-worthy the whole time. Overall, this fest was unlike any other. I will definitely be back. 

Trust me, you won’t want to miss this next year!

Follow Excision’s tour dates here to keep updated: 

Excision Tour Dates

 

Home

Katy Clark

Hey! I'm Katy and I'm from Madison, Wisconsin. I enjoy long walks on the beach and bass in my face. I LOVE all genres of EDM and will rave to my grave.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button