On Thursday 15 August, We Out Here Festival commenced, a relatively new festival founded in 2018 by record label owner and BBC Radio DJ Gilles Peterson. We travelled down the entire day prior from Manchester to St. Giles Wimborne, Dorset, but energy and morale was high in apprehension for what was to be an unforgettable festival displaying a diverse array of music; from the ethereal tunes of Sampha to the experimental flute jazz of the legendary André 3000 and heavy house mixes of the incredible Joy Orbison, the selection of artists was vast. Festival-goers were further spoilt for choice with the nine stages performances would be taking place on. We Out Here offered festival attendees the ability to completely curate their own experience during the four days and we were all there for it. Arriving at the secluded woodland location of the festival on a shuttle from Bournemouth train station, our party speedily made its way to the designated camping site to pitch up for the weekend. We managed to all put our tents up as the field quickly became covered with coloured canvas as far as the eye could see. Once settled we decided to do some orienteering, familiarizing ourselves with what the festival had to offer. We began with the Sanctuary, the furthest place from the camping area which offered sauna and cold plunge activities, paddle boarding, and free talk therapy sessions with Blink. The safe haven within a safe haven festival- we knew we were in good hands, and if anyone needed an afternoon recovery nap, we knew where to go.
Our first glimpse of music was at the Rhythm Corner stage. MC and DJ duos were to be found there the entire day until midnight. On the main stage at 8pm was Mount Kimbie who brought out none other than King Krule to open the festival with a bang, covering songs like Blue Train Lines. Everyone was in awe at what was unfolding before their eyes and the rest of the festival's acts followed in their stead. It was then back to the Rhythm Corner, for Calibre who closed out the night in the venue that could only be described as a haybale arena. Visualisers on either side of the stage, are surrounded by walls of hay enclosing the crowd in. After the set finished everyone made their way back to camp, surprised with how insane the opening night was. A night which we thought would ease us into the weekend turned out to just throw us in the mix of an array of renowned musicians.
The next day we woke up early excited for another day of performances. I was particularly excited to see the acts on Friday, with the electronic music of Floating Points and Joy Orbison being the personal attraction of the festival. But before the evening’s DJ sets, we saw Lonnie Holley on the main stage at 2pm, an artist and musician whose resilience in the face of adversity was an inspiring presence. At the bowl, a stage that I was told was essentially a human amphitheatre of bobbing heads, we saw immaculate reggae cuts from Haseeb Iqbal and Aba Shanti-i. After which we quickly returned to camp for dinner, which meant we, unfortunately, missed the ageing Ebo Taylor and the Family Band. Determined not to miss any more of this stacked Friday lineup we headed out for the last time until 4AM. On the main stage, we saw the phenomenal Sampha whose ethereal music commanded everyone's presence, putting us in a fantastic mood. After a short thirty-minute wait, Floating Points was on. An Aphex Twin-like sound, paired with the insanely trippy visualisers of the main stage had everyone in attendance grooving and in the moment. It was a perfect beginning to the style of music I was most excited to see and got us in the perfect mood for more.
No surprise, but after the Floating Points set we were back at the Rhythm Corner, ahead of Joy Orbison’s performance at 1AM. I thought it was best as I knew the crowd would be like a tin of sardines by the time the set started, so we arrived early to watch Nick AC. Rumour had it that Nick AC was the 12th Earl of Shaftesbury. This was not a rumour at all, and it was baffling seeing the right honourable Nicholas Ashley-Cooper lay down some great house mixes, prepping the audience for Peter O’Grady aka Joy Orbison. A seamless handover and there he was, Joy Orbison. A master of his craft; a magician. There is nothing more I can say other than that he changed my life. Playing his newly released ‘Flight FM’ within an equally stacked setlist, everybody lost their minds. In addition to this, Orbison mixed in Charli XCX’s ‘360’ into the set, a show of recognition to her Boiler Room set at Amnesia, Ibiza where they played ‘Flight FM’ - this moment only heightened the impact of what we were witnessing. Simply watching Joy perform was a blessing, and he looked like he was loving every moment. The hour-and-a-half set flew by much faster than I would have liked, but he was followed by Shanti Celeste, closing out the night until 4AM. I would imagine it would be incredibly exciting yet daunting to follow on from such an influential artist as Joy Orbison, but Celeste handled it with great composure. Moving around the decks in an oversized hoodie, the same infectious style as Joy, and mellowing us out from the heavy set we’d just witnessed. The night was just perfect. We didn’t stay until 4AM, but close enough. We soon headed back to the tent to call it a night, utterly spellbound, expectations completely surpassed.
Feeling tender from the early morning sets mere hours ago, everybody seemed a little weary, nonetheless, spirits were soon high for another jam-packed day. The day kicked off with the spiritual performances of Matthew Halsall and Corinne Bailey-Rae on the main stage, we then moved over to the bowl to catch a glimpse of Luke Una’s marathon DJ set from 3-9. After a little boogie with Luke Una, we ventured back to the main stage to watch the legendary Brian Jackson perform. Jackson is best known for his work with Gils Scott-Heron in the 70s, but this evening was a complete celebration of Jackson’s own musical prowess. We got to see him perform ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, becoming a magician with the flute, and a wordsmith with the song's extremely impactful political lyrics. His profound poeticism and the funky groove mesmerised and moved you in ways you never thought you could be moved. The audience was greatly appreciative of Jackson and his warm, familiar personality. This would not be the last we saw of Brian Jackson at We Out Here.
Following on from Brian Jackson was another legend, Dee Dee Bridgewater, dressed in a Dior bucket hat and a sparkly sequin jumpsuit to match her lively, animated persona. Bridgewater continued to maintain the attention of an ever-growing crowd gathering at the main stage. The next act to follow was Louie Vega and the Elements of Life, with Vega acting as the conductor for a very tight ensemble of musicians. The ensemble grew ever larger and more star-studded when Vega brought out Brian Jackson, Dee Dee Bridgewater and moodymann, the Detroit DJ who was headlining the Rhythm Corner that night from 11PM-4AM. I can't say I'd ever seen a stage so full of talented musicians in my life. As the mega set came to a close moodymann slipped away to prepare for his own set round the corner.
Back at our beloved Rhythm Corner, moodymann’s set consisted of himself and his crew playing throughout the four-hour performance. One of them, Andres, opened the set with total command over the decks, with vinyl scratching beats over moodymann’s anecdotes of the impact Anthony “Amp” Fiddler had on their music. After an hour or two, Wajeed took to the decks, the moodymann crew surrounding whoever was mixing all vibing, bouncing to the music. Eventually making it to the front of the crowd, moodymann came down and handed a vinyl to the guy standing next to me; a bonus of being in the presence of greatness.
By Sunday, tiredness and fatigue were at an all-time high. I knew this was the time to bring camping chairs to sit at the main stage, soaking up the sun - it felt like a Nobel prize-winning idea.
Starting with the powerful words of Aja Monet, a blues poet, speaking on love, loss, togetherness and condemning war and violence. Monet believes in humans being one and not segregated by greed and a thirst for land. Her words were the best thing you could hear on a Sunday afternoon. By the end of her performance a huge round of applause, whooping and cheering announced that the headline act for the whole festival was not so far away, André 3000. Without much announcement, André was on stage with his band and an array of interplanetary musical apparatus. The album New Blue Sun André stated was completely improvised. A soundscape you would imagine would accompany you through the jungle, or equally a profound psychedelic experience that a few of the audience were visibly participating in. Sat comfortably in our chairs, the mid-afternoon sun beating down on us from above, there was an overwhelming feeling we were being introduced to the music of the future, although I found it particularly hard to feel the groove. It was nonetheless very cool and inspiring to see André driving his music in a new, totally original, ethnomusicological direction.
From 8 until 8:50 we saw the energetic Obongjayar, a true performer with an explosive, alive stage presence. The Mercury Prize-nominated Corto.Alto followed with an incredible modern jazz ensemble firing out tunes left right and centre. Even pranking the audience with a false finish several times, keeping the party going. Once Corto.Alto wrapped things up in a handful of thank you’s to various people, almost the entire festival headed to the bowl to see festival founder and BBC Radio 6 DJ Gilles Peterson draw the four-day festival to a close. Gilles was also joined by a special guest, none other than Louie Vega. Playing Bill Withers’ Lovely Day to easily a few thousand fervent fans of the festival and its warm and peaceful vibes, We Out Here was brought to a close.
Gilles gratefully closed the festival with a few closing words: “I can't express how much I appreciate this crowd and everyone coming together once again. This weekend was a truly unique and magical blend of love, support, and pure joy. This is what We Out Here is all about, and I’m so proud to see it growing year on year! A celebration of club culture, live music with the communities that bond it all together. Massive shout-out to a growing number coming in from all around the world. Thank you.”
It was extremely emotional, both ending the night and leaving the festival. It seemed particularly hard to simply return to what would seem like the mundane society we escaped from only four days ago. In all honesty, it sucked and happiness was hard to come by. But as a wise Arthur Frost once said, “Smile because it happened.”
