Weekly updates:

Music

Review: FOMO Festival – Brisbane

First impressions last, and FOMO nailed theirs

Posted by

One of these days I’m going to learn how to manage my time – FOMO day was not that day. Upon waking up at 10:30am to begin the dreaded journey of getting ready, which really only seemed to involve drinking coffee and wine at the same time (DIY espresso martinis would have been less disgusting in hindsight), we found ourselves still sitting in a dimly lit room in front of a fan at 11:45am – the precise moment UV Boi was going to grace the stage at FOMO down at Brisbane’s Riverstage. This was a painful jab in my actual FOMO, as I had missed out on catching him at Yung Lean due to my hopeless inability to look at the correct set times (also resulting in missing the first 5 minutes of my emotional shawty). However, I didn’t completely miss out on seeing UV Boi, as he was spotted rocking it in the crowd for a lot of the day – too cool for backstage.

Luckily I didn’t have to worry about missing anybody else, as FOMO was conveniently held at a one-stage venue. One of the most bittersweet things about boutique festivals is that they tend to have really good lineups – they’re loaded with big names within their niche. But as the FOMO venue only had one stage, you weren’t stuck trying to choose between two headliners. Skepta or RL Grime? Would be the question on everyone’s mind… but not at FOMO. Attendees were greeted with an amphitheatre-style set up where they could burn/laze to their heart’s content on the grass, and get up to join the standing masses pressed against the barriers as the music shifted into the Skepta/Jamie xx/RL Grime realm.

After playing a sold-out and much sought after show in Melbourne, I was expecting Skepta’s set to be completely out of control. Unfortunately I was met with a bunch of ~relatively~ enthused fans… and a seemingly frustrated artist at the last leg of his tour practically begging the crowd for energy. Apparently they were hoarding all their jumping/screaming/drugs for RL Grime’s set, which blew the whole venue away. With pyrotechnics, confetti bombs, and heavy bass backing his set, RL left the crowd (metaphorically) on their knees pleading for one more song. But alas, that was it. FOMO was over. And they’ll definitely be back next year.

Weekly updates