Following the success of last years event the festival returned to Umag, Croatia for a second time and it`s proving to be another popular & growing festival. It is located in the coastal resort & lagoon of Stella Maris, surrounded by amazing beaches. With such an idyllic venue & with clear blue skies throughout the festival it was time to relax & enjoy a variety of stages and music.

Welcome party

On the opening the night the atmosphere was relaxed & the welcome party got going around 23.00. The “Exotic Laguna”, “Silent Octopus” and the “Beach Groove” stages had various DJs playing a wide range of music to the growing crowd.

Friday Night

The two main stages “Addiko Tesla stage” and “Nautilus Arena” were opened and with all 6 stages now offering simultaneous entertainment it was time to watch my first band “Krankšvester”. With their satirical and explicit lyrics the popular Croatian band from Osijek soon had the crowd bouncing and rapping along.

Nipplepeople

Making a hugely popular return to the festival and making the main stage were the masked Electropop group Nipplepeople from Zagreb. They played many of their hits such as “Sutra” ,“Ne volim te” and “Frka”. Their popularity in the region continues to grow and after this powerful, energetic and intriguing set its easy to see why they are being nominated for numerous musical awards.

Sajsi MC

Over at the “Nautilus Arena” the Serbian Hip Hop band “Sajsi MC” played an incredible set, which was full of energy. At one point “Ivana Rašić” climbed onto the decks to sing, rap and dance .

Filatov & Karas

Keeping the party alive and really cranking up the tunes back at the “Addiko Tesla stage” were the Russian DJ duo Alex Karas and Dmity Filatov.

Robin Schulz

The headliner for the Friday night was the German DJ Robin Schulz, regarded by many as one of the masters of today’s dance-floors. His show included his hit and remix of “Waves” by Hip Hop artist Mr Probz and the chart topping “Prayer in C” originally by “Lilly Wood and the Prick” . From his latest album, “Undercover” he played the hit single  “OK”, and his new single “Unforgettable” .

Saturday

As well as many DJs playing at all the stages, the main stage on the Saturday night saw three great bands perform. The first and playing an Electronic Pop / Rock set was  Boris Štok from Rijeka and his band.

Detour

One of the leaders in Croatian Pop and Electro-Acoustic Pop were next to take to the main stage. The five piece and multi Porin award winning band Detour delighted their fans by playing many of their classic and energetic tracks from the last 10 years as well as last years hit  “Zaljubila sam se” .

Hurts

With the festival show ground full to capacity it was time for the main Saturday headline band from Manchester, England to take to the stage. The reception for Hurts was phenomenal and although it was the bands first festival of 2018 they gave an outstanding performance. Lead singer Theo Hutchcraft captivated the crowd with the bands many hits and had them all singing and dancing along to “Wonderful Life”

Adam Anderson

The multi instrumental Adam Anderson began seated at he piano under the spotlight before playing some great guitar shredding tracks.

Encore

Hurts played many of their hits and included tracks from their new album “Desire” with Theo Hutchcraft regularly throwing flowers and interacting with the adoring crowd. For the encore the band divided the crowd into two and they all sang and joined in to “Stay ” from the debut album “Happiness”.

Overall

The festival was another success for the organisers who also organise the Exit festival in Serbia and this early festival is worth putting on the calendar for next year. With over 70 different performers there was a good mix of DJs, MCs , and live bands spread over seven stages.

All the photographer`s images 

View this photographer`s A to Z of ALL the bands & artists they have captured for Chasing The Light Art. Follow the links for more great Rock n Roll images from this photographer.

Gallery A to Z