Road to Envision: Go Deep with the Luna Stage
As the tenth annual Envision Festival nears, attendees from around the world are readying their packing lists, digging up their passports, and getting ready to make the trek to Costa Rica’s southwest corner for a long weekend of music and healing. Held yearly near the town of Uvita, Envision promises an immersive experience of talented musical acts and world-class stage performers. As a part of our Road to Envision series, Conscious Electronic will be uncovering the hidden elements of Envision in the days leading up to the festival.
Envision Festival has quite a bit to offer in terms of what to expect during the event. Multiple stages of world-class music, a myriad of educational opportunities, beautiful landscapes and devoted attendees from around the world are all part of what make this jungle gathering so special. For diehard fans of cutting-edge electronic music, however, one booming, gleaming institution presides over all: the legendary Luna Stage.
Situated furthest from all of the other main attractions, Luna is traditionally the stage that features music the latest into the night. Often featuring pyrotechnics and a slew of acrobatic performers during and between musical acts, the stage grounds also play host to the festival’s open fire-spinning circle, for those flow artists who made the trek with their fire tools. The art gallery, which plays host to a variety of talented visual artists, is situated nearby for attendees to enjoy during the music as well.
Beginning on Thursday evening, Luna honors the local land as hometown favorite Bosque takes the stage at 5 PM. Known in this part of Costa Rica for weaving together a variety of funky electronic beats and deep sounds, his multi-genre performance is sure to set an energetic and vibrant tone for the rest of the weekend. Producer, DJ and violinist extraordinaire Govinda will take the stage later in the evening, bringing his special brand of gypsy circus bass music to this slice of paradise. Bridging the gap between his set and that of An-Ten-Nae will be a fire performance by the California-based Alliance of Gaia. An-Ten-Nae himself will then come on and deliver one of his legendary performances, armed with an array of collaborative tracks and decades of experience as an innovator in the scene.
Friday night is where things heat up even further. The action begins with Dov1, frequent An-Ten-Nae collaborator in their project DnA, and prominent producer in his own right. As the night progresses, the Luna Stage will then host one of the more impressive runs of the festival, where many bass music fans will surely be glued to the stage for hours on end. Of The Trees begins with his special brand of psychedelic, grounding music, followed closely by heavy bass favorite Stylust, with a short show by performance troupe Fractal Tribe in the interim. As the night progresses, attendees will then be treated to sets by Nico Luminous, CloZee, and ATYYA, in that order. The combined power of these three hardly bears any further exposition, other than to simply note that under very few circumstances should a fan of top-quality electronic music miss this run.
Saturday will see another epic string of forward-thinking producers take the stage one after another. After another set by fan favorite The Funk Hunters, heavy hitter Kursa will bring his intense, deep style to Luna. The stage will then have been set for top-billed Tipper, the enigmatic OG British producer who has pioneered a variety of experimental styles and a well-deserved massive following. The evening will conclude with Symbolico, Random Rab, and the Lazy Syrup Orchestra, proving that the scheduling team knows exactly how to continue the psychedelic vibe while safely and slowly bringing festival-goers back down to the ground for sunrise.
The final day of the event will require some mental and physical fortitude, as three full days of excellent music will have already transpired at this point. And for those lucky enough to have committed to the full seven-day experience, the energy reserves may be a little low. Thankfully, yoga, breath work, and healing are prioritized at Envision. So with some careful consideration and mindfulness, it shouldn’t be too difficult to keep the body and mind in good shape for Sunday’s card.
The aforementioned collaborative project DNA (Dov1 and An-Ten-Nae) leads into the hip hop-oriented bass producer Duffrey. The psychedelic journey deepens as Austin-based DRRTYWULVZ takes the stage. With Morillo and Supertask following shortly behind, the bass vibrations will get stronger as the night darkens further. The final run of the festival on the Luna stage surely saves the best for last. Soohan‘s “global bass” sound will transition perfectly into the tribal electronic style of French legend CloZee, finishing nicely with an uplifting sunrise set by the practiced Emancipator.
Overall, the Luna Stage has a wide variety of offerings, but one thing is certain: there will be excitement and delicious genre-bending music at every turn. With so many must-see artists gracing the stage, the question becomes more about what sets to miss than which to attend. As the sets often go until sunrise, make sure to stay hydrated and body aware in the jungle heat as the gathering gets under way this week.
Also, check our specially curated Road to Envision 2020 playlist devoted to the artists of the Luna stage!
Featured photo: T. Pat Photo.
You must be logged in to post a comment.