EXIT Festival 2019: Raucous, chaotic fun with The Cure, Skepta and Tom Walker

If youre not exhausted and giddy with delight by the end of Serbias EXIT festival, youve done something wrong.

Petrovaradin Fortress played host to more than 200,000 people and hundreds of artists this past weekend for one of Europes busiest and most bonkers festivals.

Think warehouse rave meets D.I.Y. punk show meets rap battle.

Situated high above the Danube river, sprawled across a vast medieval fortress, the musical variety on display is mind-boggling.

Rap fan? Try Skepta in his prime, Desiigner climbing 20ft buildings or a powerfully sultry IAMDDB. Prefer your bands? The incomparable The Cure, nostalgic rockers Greta Van Fleet, or Brit breakthrough artist Tom Walker will entertain you. Maybe your tastes are more electronic. Techno royalty Jeff Mills, Berlins Paul Kalkbrenner or the seemingly unstoppable Peggy Gou are just the tip of iceberg.

Robert Smith's The Cure light up Petrovaradin Fortress — Robert Smiths The Cure light up Petrovaradin Fortress (Photo: EXIT festival)

After four decades of touring, it was The Cures first time playing in Serbia – but you wouldnt know it from the adulation of the crowd.

While the sun set on the dusty fortress walls and the heavens opened, Robert Smiths band stepped out for a three-hour showcase of their very best. Smiths voice, still near-perfect, cut through the rain for a performance every bit as good as the 50,000 fans, hailing from nearby Bosnia, Hungary, Greece and further afield, had hoped for.

As The Cure left the crowd ecstatic with post-punk anthem Boys Dont Cry, a firework-filled opening display and a message from Serbias own Novak Djokovic declared EXIT open for business, revealing itself in all its colourful glory.

From punk to trance, EXIT played host to every genre (Photo: Alex Wilkins)

Lip rings, leather jackets and shaved heads in Fred Perry polos moshed for 80s punks Peter and the Test Tube Babies on the Explosion stage. Just two minutes walk away, neon tiaras and hundreds of glowsticks stomped at the Gaia eXperiment Trance Stage.

One of the many bonuses to hosting a festival in a fortress is an ability to contain sound. There arent many other venues that could have such diverse scenes – trap, punk, trance, and 20 more – within a minutes walk of one another.

The Dance Arena, possibly the most self-contained stage of all, was also the most jaw-dropping. Festival goers filled every nook of the forts ramparts, spilling from overhangs and perched on balconies like eager ants.

Berlin's Paul Kalkbrenner enthralls the EXIT's the Dance Arena — Berlins Paul Kalkbrenner enthralls the EXITs the Dance Arena (Photo: Alex Wilkins)

Whether it was the refined, big room techno of Charlotte de Witte, or the carefree grooves of Peggy Gou, the Dance Arena was consistently rammed (bordering on uncomfortable at times.)

If youd have just stayed at in the Dance Arena the whole weekend, you would have seen a parade of dance musics finest: Carl Coxs legendary Ibiza house on the first night, Paul Kalkbrenner, who played at the fall of the Berlin wall, on the second, and Jeff Mills faster-than-light, wizardly skills on the decks on the last.

But strangely, one of the most crowd-pleasing sets of the weekend was over on the Main Stage, for The Chainsmokers brand of hyperactive bro-EDM. Fireballs and confetti cannons accompanied a frenetic medley, from dubstep remixes of the Lion King to the Rocky theme with a trap-backing, and punters loved every minute.

The Chainsmokers proved to be one of the most raucous of the weekend (Photo: EXIT festival)

Though the Main Stage played host to many DJs, it also found space for some more thoughtful moments.

Tom Walker, who won the prestigious 2019 Brit Breakthrough Artist award, had two guitars stolen on arriving to the festival and was accordingly angry, describing his hit Dominoes as my two fingers to the news, because they really are bastards. Skillful in keeping people hooked in from his busking days, the crowd fell silent as he thundered his single Leave a Light On.

On the final night, a powerful storm swept in from nearby Croatia, drenching Novi Sad in a biblical downpour. Though the festival staff worked admirably to get the stages up and running, there were noticeably fewer people than the Thursday.

It fell then to Manchesters IAMDDB to dispel the gloom. With fiery bars and delicate high-notes in equal measure, by the time she played her hit Shade, all memory of bad weather had been forgotten.

Desiigners star may have fallen slightly since his 2015 success Panda, but you wouldnt know it from the ferocious energy of his set next. Climbing every available structure in sight, health and safety be damned, he whipped fans into a frenzy by the time he left the stage.