Must Read

Elements Lakewood: a Kaleidoscopic Explosion of NYC Nightlife in an Idyllic Summer Camp Setting [Event Review]

June 6, 2019 By Lia Tabackman

Ah, to list the things we loved about Elements Lakewood 2019, a place for eclectics of all backgrounds to dance, explore and revel together for three days and nights of discotheque underneath the shimmering Pennsylvania stars.

Anyone familiar with BangOn! can tell you that their events are paragons of New York City Nightlife: an explosion of eclectic dance music and festival culture, innovative and psychedelic art, and costumed debauchery galore. The events are nothing short of radically inclusive, and beckon all to experience life in a more glittery, vibrant realm of existence. It’s like “adult summer camp,” but the “adults” are in full-on Memorial Day Weekend vacation mode, covered in sequins and dancing under disco balls until 6 a.m.

Now in its third year, this boutique festival caters to those enveloped in the NYC dance music culture: we’re talking sets beginning at 6 a.m., artists from Berlin and London, and a crowd where there’s no such thing as an “outcast.” Drag queens, dominatrixes, and ornate disguises of all sorts line the Elements dancefloor – no matter what stage you end up at. There’s a refreshing diversity about the festival’s crowd dynamic, with more than enough space anyone of any age, gender, race, background or music taste to join in on the over-the-top party.

At Elements, the world is your playground. That means stages come equipped with art carts to dance on, jungle gym platforms to prance on, and even a lake to kick back by. Costumed performers from NYC’s infamous playhouse and club House Of Yes frolicked and danced around in the crowd, and wandering off the forest path transported patrons to other-worldly art installations, a dominatrix den, compliment bar, and seemingly endless oddities. During our short stay at Lakewood, we encountered a flaming Viking pirate ship funeral, a costumed pole dancer performing in the middle of the woods, a man microwaving and distributing personal pizzas in the middle of a beach side DJ set, people in an alien suits offering shrimp cocktail on the dancefloor, costumed acrobats swinging above the sand, a troupe of friendly monsters in camouflage woodland gear gallivanting around the stages… you know, just your typical BangOn! festival encounters.

Jess Bernstein Photography (@JessBersteinPhoto)

Music wise, Elements Lakewood had all subcultures of electronic sound covered. While the festival’s obvious roots are in New York house and techno, things go a bit, shall we say, deeper than just the two genres. From Grammy Nominees like Disclosure and Fisher to the deep, desert-house vibes of acclaimed Desert Hearts regular Tara Brooks and Robot-Heart favorite Atish, Lakewood offered a seemingly endless selection of stages and sounds to select from. The deeply wooded Earth Stage hosted some of most sought-after names in bass music, including sets from Clozee, Liquid Stranger and a sunrise set from West-Coast based Random Rab. Meanwhile, the intricately designed Air Stage, hosted by MixMag, was our go-to spot of the weekend; a haven of alluring, underground house and techno beats from world-renowned artists including Seth Troxler, Damian Lazarus and David Hohme.

Jess Bernstein Photography (@JessBersteinPhoto)

On Friday, we started things off at the Earth Stage for a stage takeover from DC-based label The Gradient Perspective Records. Sets from Beat Kitty and an ingenious new ‘Live’ production from label-head ChopyOppy filled the woods with delicious, all-encompassing bass and hyped-up hip-hop beats, getting out bodies moving before a red-hot evening of tech and deep house at the Fire Stage. Sets by LA-based DJ Sam Blacky and Dirtybird Records favorite Fisher set the night on fire (literally) as patrons shuffled and moved below the stage’s billowing flames. Next up was arguably our favorite performance of the weekend: a DJ set by the Grammy-nominated, iconic UK house duo Disclosure. Spinning only the smoothest selections from their albums Settle, Moog For Love, and Caracal, the set brought us back to some of our earliest electronic music favorites and magnetically drew the crowd in. Following our fire stage shenanigans, we headed to the Air Stage for what can only be described as 7-hours of dancefloor magic: back to back sets by minimal-house imprint Kerala Dust, Desert Hearts regular Tara Brooks, Berlin-based techno icon Seth Troxler, Crosstown Rebels head honcho Damian Lazarus, and beloved Anjunadeep figure David Hohme.

After sleeping in on Saturday and hanging lakeside, we hit The Wellnest to give our bodies a little extra TLC (turns out an 8-hour dance marathon at the Air Stage will humble even the most experienced of ravers.) After booking massages complete with essential oils, incense, and professionally trained masseuses, we rolled out yoga mats and breathed deep to some old-school disco beats at ‘Disco Yoga.’ Before leaving The Wellnest, we couldn’t resist stopping by The Twerkshop to learn from the professionals how to shake it like Rihanna.

On Saturday night, we kept warm and toasty during a brief downpour with an absolutely bumping extended set by Dirtybird mainstay Shiba San – and help from the Fire Stage’s enveloping flames. After Shiba’s nearly 2-hour-long takeover, we bounced on over to the Theater Stage for a takeover from Brooklyn-based dubstep collective Sermon. Back-to-back sets by heavy-hitting psychedelic bass music artists Stylust, Of The Trees, Tygris and Supersillyus took us for a spin inside the warehouse-reminiscent Theatre Stage. In true Lakewood tradition, we ended our evening (read: morning) with a breathtaking sunrise set from the intricate mind of Experimen:tal. Skillfully layering and weaving together minimal house tracks with left-field techno, the Brooklyn-based producer took us on a trip around the sound spectrum during his extended sunrise set.

We spent most of Sunday hanging out hard at the Earth Stage, soaking in a perfectly curated lineup of artists from across the bass music spectrum. A set from Denver based DJ and producer Maddy O’Neal made us move up, down, and around the forest dancefloor to genre-defying funk, bass and hip-hop beats. Wakaan figurehead Liquid Stranger took us on a trip way back to the roots of dubstep, drawing a thick crowd of patrons looking to be baptized in sweet, heavy bass. Things lightened up a bit as masters of electro-funk Big Gigantic whipped out their instruments for a set that infused soul, early rock and roll and dubstep into a winning combination of synthesized, extra funky electronica. After Big G, we dashed back to the Fire Stage just in time for a dark and dancy set from renowned producer and Dirtybird Records OG Justin Martin.

While we always preach living in the present moment, there’s no denying that we’ll spend the next 12 months looking forward to another Memorial Day Weekend at our favorite summer camp getaway. Lakewood has become a staple East Coast festival for us and thousands of other electronic music junkies looking for a switch up from the coast’s more mainstream events – and we wouldn’t have it any other way. And it seems the pack of weirdos at BangOn!NYC have found a winning formula – as the fourth rendition of Elements Lakewood is slated for Memorial Day Weekend 2020. Save the date, and grab tickets when they go on sale June 11. We’ll see you back at camp.