Our Thoughts On ZoukOut 2017: The Highs, The Lows And The No-Gos

ZoukOut 2017 is now 17 years old, and yet the experience is still like no other. Instead of partying from throughout the day and well into the night, ZoukOut promises you a totally different beach party experience where you can really only say you survived ZoukOut when you’ve made it till daylight.

For the past four years, ZoukOut has been packing mainstream house and big room acts into their lineup. But this year, the lineup was more varied and saw more artists who played stuff other than big room anthems. There was hardstyle, trance, trap, there was even hip-hop – it sounded like a feast for the ears, and it truly was. In case you missed it, here’s our lowdown on everything that happened during ZoukOut 2017.


The turnt up moments

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Toasted Marshmello because Day 2 was lit

Axwell /\ Ingrosso might have been the main headliner, but it was Marshmello who really showed us a good time. Marshmello’s one of those DJs who will always keep you on your toes because you’d never know what to expect. Those who went to Marshmello’s set last year during Ultra Singapore were expecting a more pop-filled set, but enjoyed a super lit set when Marshmello chose to go back to his trap roots. Of course he still played all his biggest hits like ‘Alone’ and the latest song featuring Selena Gomez, ‘Wolves’. The fireworks? They were just the sweet cherry on the ice cream cake that only got us more pumped up. Oh, and really awesome IG story snaps.

DJ Snake, who was the headliner for the first day, gave the first day a good end after an explosive set by R3HAB. Going all out big room style, R3HAB really was a reminder of the mainstream room in Zouk club- you couldn’t go wrong with go wrong with anthems like ‘Karate’. DJ Snake dropped all his tunes like ‘Lean On’ and ‘Let Me Love You’ that helped end the night nicely.

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Claptone heating it up on the Star Stage

Over on the Star Stage, Amelie Lens, Claptone and and Gui Boratto put on a really good show for those into alternative EDM. Unfortunately for them, the crowd at the Star Stage was minimal at best, with crowds only gathering because they had to wait for their friends in the toilet, which was placed oh-so-coincidentally right next to the Star Stage. Fear of missing out kept drawing us back to the Moon Stage, but we did hang out enough at Star Stage to realise that the music there was under-appreciated.

For those who likes hip hop, 88 Rising was scheduled for a set. But with Keith Ape dropped from the  lineup and Joji who couldn’t make it at the last minute, Higher Brothers really lived up to their hype as one of the rare live acts. Even though we couldn’t understand what they were saying despite knowing Chinese, the beats more than made up for it. After all hip hop is not all about the lyrics, although it would have been even better if we knew what they were singing about.

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ZoukOut’s first ever 3D stage

Instead of the usual screen displays, ZoukOut actually had their first ever 3D stage, complete with lasers and strobe lights for the bigger Moon Stage this year, for an even more immersive festival experience. It was pretty impressive, and was exuding Tomorrowland vibes, which was really good for those who can’t afford to fly all the way to Belgium like us.

Other than the really awesome stages, the food was another of the highlights. Aside from the awesome bowls of ramen from Ramen Keisuke, Udders was also serving alcoholic ice cream (as if we needed another form to consume alcohol). If you couldn’t drink anymore, the ice cream is a refreshing haven from the heat and also ensures that you don’t sober up too quickly! Alcohol is too expensive to keep you in a good place.

The unexpected disappointments

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Yellow Claw: as seen from the top

As hard as Yellow Claw turnt it up to burn the floor down, their set was pretty predictable. With the same standard set opening which isn’t going to change (at least not anytime soon according to them), their set sounded pretty much like all their previous Tomorrowland, Ultra and Lollapalooza sets earlier this year. If it was your first time watching them live, it was a good chance to go really hard especially with the mosh pit, but for someone who just watched them a month ago, it wasn’t much to go on about. That being said, we still got really pumped because there’s no way you can sit still during a Yellow Claw set (and also because we love bass in our motherf*king faces).

Axwell /\ Ingrosso was supposed to be the main highlight for Day 2, but they’ve really fell a little from their pedestal. With no clear direction, the drops were all over the place and weren’t really aided by Vargas & Lagola. If those two names don’t sound familar, maybe the people they’ve produced their tracks for might ring a bell. Vargas & Lagola has written songs for the likes of David Guetta, Avicii, Miike Snow, Madonna, Katy Perry and Swedish House Mafia. A lot of the crowd that gathered during Marshmello’s set were seen endlessly streaming out from the Moon Stage.

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Rich Chigga during the 88 Rising set

Rich Chigga really let the crowd down as he finished up the 88 Rising stage on the first day. Maybe the stage was too big, maybe he shouldn’t have performed after Higher Brothers; whatever it was, Rich Chigga didn’t manage to get the crowd pumped up as he chose to perform some of his more obscure hits. The leftover hype from Higher Brothers’ set earlier was enough to tide over the crowd until Flume took over the stage.

The no-gos

Continuing the disappointing start was Flume’s set – there are no words to describe the disappointment. It was a bit sad when everyone was still rearing their hypebeast vibes from 88 Rising’s set and you throw in a future bass and experimental DJ next. Flume would have probably fit in better at an earlier timing when it was more chill, or maybe at the Star Stage. We were so hyped for it, and Flume just went and dropped the game. Literally.

For reasons unknown, no one seemed keen on staying for the sunrise set, the trademark event for ZoukOut. Marlo played an amazing set leading up to DJ Ghetto’s sunrise set, with the option to head over to Amelie Lens over on the other stage, but it looks like everyone was dead beat from raving too hard earlier on in the night.

Is Singapore ready for other kinds of music, especially in the EDM world? Looks like we might not be because everyone seems to be gravitating towards big room tunes, but props to ZoukOut for delivering a whole new festival experience that really stands out from the previous editions!

Thanks to ZoukOut and Zouk for hosting us.