This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Valerie Dawn. Find them on Instagram at @valeriejardine15. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
I was lost, and now I am found.
I just experienced my first Lost Lands, and it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. For those of you who don’t know, Lost Lands is an EDM-focused, camping music festival hosted by Excision. This particular festival focuses on heavy bass and dubstep. Out in the middle of nowhere Ohio, we set up camp and hiked around from stage to stage, experiencing mind-melting bass music. Strap in and enjoy my Lost Lands music festival review.
6-hour drive into a 12-hour drive
We drove from the suburbs of Chicago down to a small town in Ohio where the festival was held. Our drive was supposed to be an easy 6 hours and some change. We did make a pit stop in Michigan for some ~supplies~ but that only added an extra 20 minutes to our drive. About halfway through the drive, roughly 10 minutes after we had stopped to get food, we came to an absolute standstill on the highway.
Come to find out that it was a massive semi-fire that closed both sides of the highway. Unfortunately, the truck was on our side, so we parked in the middle of the highway for over 2 hours. With 3 hours left of driving. Our original arrival time would’ve been at 12:30 am on Wednesday, and because of the fire, we didn’t get there until around 3:30 am.
Waiting to Park/Setting Up Camp
After sitting in traffic for 2 hours, and then driving an additional 3 hours to complete the journey, we proceeded to sit in line for security and parking for ANOTHER 2 HOURS. By the time we actually pulled into our camping spot, it was 5:30 am and the light was starting to seep into the sky. Another hour of setting up our camp. By the time we had enough done to rest, the sun was already up, and the heat was beginning to infiltrate the camp.
How Hot It Was
The heat was disgusting. With this being our first Lost Lands, we had read from several sources that at night it was going to be cold, and chilly. It’s the last festival of the summer so it’s fall once it arrives. Except the midwest was still in our second summer phase it seems because it was so hot and arid.
The dirt was insane, you couldn’t go anywhere without being lightly coated in dust and every breath brought it into your lungs and nose. Thankfully, it lightly rained the last day but not until the late afternoon, so we still suffered in the heat for the first few sets of the day. The moral I learned from this is that you need to be packing for every single type of weather. Not sure what to wear? We have you covered for that as well!
Mission to find Ivan’s Dinosaur
This is an important part of my Lost Lands music festival review. My coworker and friend Ivan have been routinely going to Lost Lands with his girlfriend, and they always take photos with the same dinosaur. This year, neither were in attendance because they had just welcomed a baby into their family! Ivan gave Deven and I a mission for the week: find his dinosaur and gift him a little duck for them.
When I tell you I scoured the entire festival grounds looking for this dinosaur. He was nowhere to be found. I think I lapped the grounds 3 or 4 times during the course of the week with no success. This leads us to Sunday night. I had gotten ADA accommodations due to my personal health struggles, and one of these accommodations was golf cart transportation so I didn’t have to strain myself walking. We had left the ADA seating section during the last 15 minutes of Excision’s b2b set with Wooli (catch a clip below!), and we were waiting for the cart to arrive for us.
There were a total of 3 people waiting before us, but unfortunately, the set ended before the cart had arrived. Several other people had started to crowd the area for the same accommodations and had cut us in line. When the first golf cart arrived, I fought tooth and nail to be on the first ride. The security guard I had talked with vouched for me, and after a bit of conversation, we made it on the golf cart.
The woman driving had decided to drop the others in the cart off first since their location was closer. I’m not sure what happened but we ended up going the wrong way. When she went to turn the cart around we were near the glamping section. We conveniently drove past a dinosaur that they had in the area. Deven goes, “Oh my god, is that the dinosaur?” Sure enough, it was! After nearly a week of searching, we managed to find Ivan’s dinosaur in an accidental drive-by. Had we not pushed to be on the first cart and had the driver not gone the wrong way, we never would have found it. I did not get to give the dino the gift duck, but the fact that we found it at all made it a successful mission.
Artists We Managed to See
Finally, the part of the Lost Lands music festival review that people are dying to hear about: the music and performances. Between Deven and I, we managed to see over 35 different artists. Of any music festival I’ve attended, this was the most worth the money. Usually, with festivals, there’s a handful of people per day. Usually, there are no more than 3 sets a day that interest me. Lost Lands pacts the day full of so many people. On the first official day of the festival, we saw 11 artists just that day.
Some of my favorite sets include the massive b2b they did Thursday night, Crankdat, Phaseone, Marauda, Level Up, Ray Volpe, Emorfik, and of course, the Excision b2b Wooli set that closed out the festival.
They debuted a new stage this year called The Crater. The Crater is an immersive 360-degree stage with the most insane lasers I have ever witnessed. Phaseone’s set was phenomenal in the Crater.
Our other favorite thing about Lost Lands was the silent disco. You get a pair of headphones that have 3 different channels, each one corresponding with a different DJ. You get to change between channels and just vibe silently but with others. It is such a fun experience to watch people dancing to different songs than you. If you take the headphones off, you just hear the swishing of the gravel and light conversations.
Ultimately, my Lost Lands music festival review is that this music festival was the most fun I’ve had. I can’t wait to attend next year.
Do you have any questions about Lost Lands or want to share your own experience? Leave a comment below or mention a DJ you would want to see on the lineup!
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