Bass Coast Electronic Music and Arts Festival 2024: Review

By Hollie McGowan

Bass Coast Electronic Music and Art Festival returned to the Nicola Valley in Merritt, BC for its fourteenth edition this year, bringing with it its high caliber of music curation that it has become internationally recognized for. Though better known for its music, the annual event also pushes its arts installation element. This year’s exhibit had over fifty new interactive experiences in an area of the forest which has become somewhat of a raver’s playground since the festival moved to Merritt. Aside from the sweltering heat that was more apparent this year than previous, it was another fun-filled weekend of quality outdoor summer festival moments and experiences. Behold, in no particular order, my top ten for Bass Coast Electronic Music and Art Festival 2024.

Sam Binga 

As someone who has been reviewing festivals for years, I always love keeping my radar open for new artists that cause my ears to perk as I’m walking through festival grounds. There’s nothing like the thrill of finding an up-and-comer and then passing on the good news. 

Then there are other times when you go to catch the set of an artist you’ve been a fan of for years, and you are reminded every time why they keep you coming back. For me, this is Sam Binga. Binga has been back a few times to headline Bass Coast, and he never disappoints. Usually he’s scheduled to play a prime evening slot, but this year they had him closing The Cantina on Thursday night, the opening night of the festival which generally brings in about a third of the festival’s attendees. With his upbeat, bouncy blend of UK bass, an amalgamation of sound coming from the more traditional jungle, drum and bass, and garage genres, all of our booties were shaking in no time. It was the perfect opener which set the tone for the weekend. And for those of us who can’t quite party like we used to (why hello there middle age!), it was all over by 11:30pm.  

Machinedrum

Another highlight for many was South Carolina producer, Machinedrum. On Friday at 1:00am, he took to The Cabin stage and proceeded to warp our minds with his hype mix of breaks, techno, and drum and bass so well composed, it simply carried you like a current that you had no choice but fully submit to. It was a Friday night rave-worthy moment that had the crowd spinning. No contest, Travis Stewart truly is one of the musical geniuses of our time. 

The Librarian

Including The Librarian in a top ten list at Bass Coast may seem like a cop-out. But trust me, there’s a reason that Andrea Graham is guaranteed to bring in a large part of the festival attendees for her sets every year, and it's not because she is one of the founders of the annual event. The real reason people flock to Graham’s sets is because she slays, over and over and over again. She is a true master with bass music sets that never fail, starting off slowly to rope you in and then taking you on a journey of bpms. She will have you dancing non-stop while transporting you to another dimension. It's a voyage that you’ll never forget, guaranteed. 

Unmarried Woman

Charlie Finden used to live in Vancouver and was a part of our scene on the West Coast of BC for years. However, about a year or so ago, she moved to Berlin to continue being fabulous in Europe, thus taking her house and disco sets with her overseas. So when I saw that she was coming back to play Bass Coast 2024, I marked her set on my do-not-miss list while at the festival. Starting things off with a little funk and disco, she then took things up a notch to really get the dancefloor going. Gradually blending the sounds of funky disco into a garage classic, George Morel’s “Let’s Groove”, was impressive to say the least. She kept the tempo up with some classic house, taking us back to some of the first tracks that helped birth the genre. Moving into the place where house and techno meet, she brought her track selection up to the present day with artists such as Tensnake who have kept the original sounds alive and well through their modern day productions. It was glorious, from beginning to end. 

BLKFT 

By Friday late afternoon, I was crossing the field beside the Main Stage and I could hear the voices of PowWow singers over top of a pulsating rhythm coming from The Cantina which immediately drew me in. I didn’t know who BLKFT was before attending Bass Coast this year, but by the end of his set, he had officially become my new local talent discovery of the year. Not to say that he is new to the art of DJing. A Niitsiitapi artist from Siksika Nation now based in Calgary, BLKFT has become a driving force among Indigenous DJs within the Western Canadian region winning numerous awards, providing DJ workshops to youth in various Indigenous communities, and managing Drum Beat Entertainment which he is also a founder of. One of the most impressive things about him is his ability to mix bpms and genres that are quite diverse. Shortly after I made it over to the stage at the beginning of his set, he was playing a heavy, stripped back club beat which seamlessly became dubstep. From there he went into hip hop territory with a little JAY-Z “Big Pimpin'” before moving back into bass music by the likes of local North African Anishinaabe Métis DJ and electronic music producer, Handsome Tiger. At one point, I believe he even threw in a breaks remix of “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys before mixing in some UK garage and disco. It was remarkable and I loved every minute of it.

CINTHIE

One of the headliners at Bass Coast this year is also one of my favorite music producers in house music land, so obviously I had to check her out. All the way from Germany, CINTHIE gave the Bass Coast attendees what they were coming to hear at Slay Bay during the peak rave hours of 3:00am Saturday night/Sunday morning. Bringing the club to the Nicola Valley by sticking strictly to extended mixes of classy four on the floor, she proved why she is considered the Berlin Queen of House. 

Barbie mansion and races

For many of us, last summer’s Barbie movie was a reminder of the pink-filled dream world that many of us entered as children in order to let our imaginations run wild. So when I saw a Barbie car race happening in Bass Coast’s art installation district, I had to take in some of the action. A crowd had already gathered around the mini race track named the “Barbie Dream Kart” and were excitedly laughing and cheering on three electronically powered Barbie cars, each with a Barbie driver and controlled by volunteer audience members. It was shiny, overly feminine, excessively pink, and loads of fun. The “Barbie Dream Kart” was also placed next to “Disco Barbie’s Rave House”, made by the same artists, which was a doll house gone wild. All of it entertained the ‘80s child in me and I certainly was not the only one. Hey Barbie!

Different Circles

Another one of the art installations at Bass Coast that caught my eye this year was Different Circles. It was a large structure which had two seven-and-a-half-foot wide, circular saucer-shaped padded seats that could each hold a handful of people. While sitting in either of them, people were able to make the circles spin. All weekend, I watched groups play on them, laughing and rolling around. Definitely a fun big kid toy to play on between checking out music at the different stages. 

Underground Circus Giant Marionette 

Out in the field was an absolutely mesmerizing structure, a massive moveable puppet with gigantic ropes that people could grab a hold of in order to manipulate. The ingenuity and engineering behind the marionette was impressive, bringing people of all times of the day and night to play with it. Made by the Artistic Director of Vancouver based circus company and training studio, Peter Boulanger, the puppet was a winner at Bass Coast, among other festivals this summer I’m sure. 

Daisy the Solar Powered Tricycle

It was a pleasure to see Daisy at Bass Coast this year. I’ve run into this beast a few times now and it's always fun to see people of all ages riding in her carriage while she maneuvers around various festival grounds on enormous wheels. Another giant, larger-than-life structure that people could interact with and manipulate, it added an additional unique circus element to Bass Coast 2024.