August 13th was possibly the hottest day of 2016 in New York City. The sticky weather caused residents to second guess leaving their own homes, however, BangOn!NYC’s Elements Music and Art Festival was a worthy reason to sweat out in the stifling summer heat. The efforts put in by the festival organizers was apparent; Elements was a beautiful festival of music and art!
Elements Music and Arts Festival 2016 was held on the Gowanus Bay Terminal in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Gowanus Bay Terminal is relatively accessible for a festival site; attendees were able to commute from around the tristate area and as far away as Philadelphia. Gowanus Bay Terminal is a fascinating abandoned ship terminal. Usually used for film shoots or bulk handling, the terminal was repurposed for the festival. The terminal allowed enough space for five stages, a vendor marketplace, and art gallery. The industrial vibe of the terminal augmented the underground vibe of Elements Festival.
Each of the stages was designed to provide a unique experience to the attendees. The stages were themed around the four elements – water, earth, fire, and air. Mixmag hosted the Water stage, located close to the festival entrance. ZERO hosted the Air stage on a repurposed shipping dock. The Fire Stage was built like an automobile scrapyard, keeping in touch with the industrial theme of the festival. The Earth stage, hosted by Girls + Boys, was the largest of the stages. It was built with a massive psychedelic LED display that mesmerized guests. The surprise fifth stage was located inside an abandoned shipping warehouse building. The Fifth Element Stage was hosted by a group of artists from the Desert Hearts collective. The location also provided a bevy of water refill stations, an absolute necessity for the stifling heat. Festival organizers also set up abundant portable restroom facilities, a gorgeous sculpture garden, a vendor village with food and clothing, and even wake-boarding!
As usual, event promoters BangOnNYC brought a diverse selection of electronic music artists to Elements festival. Since various organizers curated the stages, each was able to provide a different sound. The musical diversity resulted in an incredible crowd of attendees with varying tastes. Many attendees reunited and danced with old friends whose music tastes had become dissimilar.
The Water stage, hosted by Mixmag, hosted an early DJ set by Claptone, and was later followed by BangOn resident DJ duo The Golden Pony. Late in the day, attendees raved about the sets of Klingande and Mat.Joe. The nearby Fire stage hosted acts such as 2Melo and Govinda. Although storm warnings tampered down some of the pyrotechnics, the dancing continued; Dirty Looks closed the stage with a sizzling performance.
At the ZERO air stage, Oona Dahl and Yokoo of All Day I Dream played sets that had attendees dancing in the clouds. Closing DJs blond:ish kept the crowd grooving late into the night. The Girls + Boys Earth stage got off to a slight delay due to weather related technical issues, but resolved were able to start up quickly. Attendees waited a bit for Bleep Bloop’s early set, but were ecstatic when the show started. Closing headliners Mija and Gramatik kept a large crowd jumping. At the Fifth Element stage, the Devotion and Desert Hearts crews kept the crowd dancing in a steamy room. The crowd sweated through their shirts until Porkchop of the Desert Hearts crew closed the night perfectly with Art Department’s “We Found Love.”
As the night sky began to light up with lightning strikes in the distance, attendees planned their departure from the festival. Many attendees who planned to carry on the party went to BangOn’s official Elements after-party. Mat.Joe and Sirius Hood kept the party going at new club Analog BKNY. Those who chose not to attend the official after-party were willing to carry the vibe throughout Brooklyn. Faces painted by the All That Glitters crew at the festival were seen throughout Brooklyn for the rest of the night!
BangOn is already planning their Halloween and New Year’s Eve events. If BangOn continues to put on a show as good as Elements Fest, those shows will also be must-see events!