ZoukOut 2014, Singapore

The big day that I had been looking forward to for so long finally came. Yes, it was my virgin experience attending ZoukOut, the biggest dance music festival in Asia. Last year my friend invited me, but I was still underage (minimum age for entry is 18 years old with valid photo ID). This year I should not miss out the chance! A few months ago, before Zouk announced the official lineup, they ask the public for suggestions on their IG. I mentioned the name 'Martin Garrix', since I have been so obsessed with him lately (he Is a super talented 18 years old DJ! It is hard not to adore him!). And when they finally threw in the second phase lineup, I found Martin Garrix's name there. OMG, Zouk knew me so well :')

I went on the second day coz they got Martin Garrix duh. The second day ticket cost $138 (advance booking), ten bucks more expensive than the first day one. We headed out at around 10.30pm since some of us had to finish work first. We took taxi straight to Siloso Beach at Sentosa. However, even before we reached Siloso, we decided to get off the taxi and walk coz of the crazy traffic congestion! The taxi uncle was very blur, he asked us "what event is this ah?" haha. The point where we got off was the Merlion statue and we still needed to take monorail to Beach Station, where Siloso Beach is located. Reaching Siloso, we joined another friend and his GF, and proceeded to collect our physical tickets.

The ticket collection surprisingly did not take long. I began to see many drunkards (especially those angmohs wearing weird outfits like Batman and Santa Claus while holding a bottle of liquor or a can of beer on their hand), and even ambulances. "Somebody died already", my friend said. We entered the arena at 12.50am. Kinda late to catch Showtek coz we wanted to go toilet and must queue also...

Basically there were 2 stages in ZoukOut: Star and Moon. The Star Stage was where the DJs played non-mainstream music. Damian Lazarus, Dubfire, Maya Jane Coles, and Nina Kraviz played here. It was a nice warming up before experiencing the real party vibe at the Moon Stage. The DJs at Star Stage did not do much interaction with ravers, based on my observation.

It's Showtek time baby!!! Kinda late to see this duo though, but we still had like 80 minutes to enjoy their set. This was during 'Bad', one of my most favorite Showtek's songs. I love how the crowd sang the beatdrop part together, like 'totototototototototototo, toroototototo' lel.

"You see why does it feel so good, so good to be bad?"

Who doesn't know 'Booyah'?! This hit wrapped up Showtek's set that night. I was overly excited when this song was played. The crowd obviously went wilder as well. During this part, they asked the guys to carry all girls on their shoulders haha.

"Yes, all we know is about dem' party. Keeping dem' good vibes, good vibes in the air now... BOOYAH!"

Thanks Showtek for spreading the good vibe!

It is Martin freakin' Garrix OMG! He was the main reason I came to this year's ZoukOut! <3<3 *excitement overload*. But you know what, by the time Garrix was about to appear on stage, my friends needed to go to toilet again and I was too afraid to watch alone, so yeah, we failed to catch him from the very beginning :(. As an opening, Garrix dropped the 'Alive' by Krewella. By the way, Krewella came to last year's ZoukOut (so what lol).

"Take me home where my dreams are made of gold, in the zone where the beat is uncontrolled. I know what it feels like, come on, make me feel alive..."

Next up, Garrix played his rendition of 'Blame'. You may want to judge me for being biased, but I prefer Martin Garrix's remix than Calvin Harris' original mix. Martin Garrix ftw!

When Garrix dropped 'Animals', I could only record this from far (thankfully I could still see the stage even while sitting, although the booth on the left kinda restricted the view). For the sake of watching Garrix playing the legendary 'Animals', I ran closer to the stage, but still couldn't get close enough hais. Finally, 'Gold Skies was dropped and this song ended Garrix's set beautifully. His set was like the most epic one, they launched fireworks three times woah (being biased again)!

Fireworks during Martin Garrix's performance

Martin Garrix you are a freakin' dope 18 years old DJ! I was so thankful for the chance to see his hot figure live, even for just around 1.5 hours and from distance away.

Censored my face coz I don't look very sober

Steve Angello's set began after Martin Garrix. I don't listen much to Steve Angello's mixes, there were only a few songs I was familiar with. His set was quite cool, I enjoyed it while sitting on the sand, with lesser energy than before. Skrillex's set was also freakin' sick omg! All partygoers went wild, they were trance in the rhythm of the beat, some did their own dubstep moves. Me, I guessed my body was on the verge of numb already, but I could still enjoy the rest of the party with all the energy left, as Skrillex brought us to see the first light while he dropped his beatworks down. We decided to leave the area at around 7am while Skrillex dropped Calvin Harris' 'Summer' remix.

Going home was not really a big deal (far from my expectation that getting public transport would take hours). No need to queue long long for Sentosa Express (contrary to the taxi stand queue), MRT travel from HarbourFront to AMK was also hassle-free. Reached home at 8am, and what did I do next? Sleeping lor. Haha I slept so peacefully, like died one. My legs went numb hais.

To wrap up my virgin experience in attending ZoukOut, I would say this event went beyond my imagination! I had never thought there would be so many drunkards with ambulances on standby mode outside, which somewhat put myself into fear. Rowdy crowd, sweaty bodies all around, sand on my feet...just to name a few of many things happened. We made it to the first light! Raving from midnight until dawn is quite a pride for me, which is obviously nothing compared to those pro partygoers who might be raving from 8pm-8am or those who attended both days of the event. Thanks a million ZoukOut and Zouk for the experience! I definitely had an awesome time there!