When V doesn't stand for victory

Blending live pop with electronic dance music or EDM was an interesting experiment and one that in theory at least should have worked, but last weekend’s “V Day Out” in Hua Hin launched with as much success as a damp squib with less than 20 per cent of the tickets sold. 

The festival’s headliner was Ibiza DJ Albert Neve – the winner of Best Remixer 2010, Best DJ of the Year 2010 and Best Spanish Producer of the Year 2011 – but even he failed to draw the crowd.

Neve shot into the limelight for his role in the remix of David Guetta’s smash single “Play Hard” in 2013 and is now considered one of Spain’s top music icons. He put on a good show, spinning an eclectic mix of dance tracks but only a handful of the crowd showed any interest in his set. Organisers Bangkok Fanatix were expecting 5,000 people to turn out for the fest: less than 1,000 showed up.

So what happened? Was the festival too far from the heart of Hua Hin or was the Bt1,200 ticket price too steep to draw local punters? I personally suspect the latter: music fans in the area are used to seeing their favourite Thai artists at cheaper or even free concerts. Additionally, while EDM has been trendy in Thailand for a few years now, it doesn’t appeal to the masses so organising a festival with well-known DJs outside of Bangkok might have been doomed from the start.

The concert kicked off with a set by newcomers Electric Neon Lamp who played songs off their self-titled debut EP to an audience so small as to be negligible.

Next up was 2 Days Ago Kid, a composite outfit made up of members of Friday, Yokee Playboy, and Groove Riders. They drew more cheers though but playing in front of a crowd that numbered less than 100 must have been a real downer for the lads. 

The break between 2 Days Ago Kid and POP was filled by local spinner DJ April and the audience made no effort to listen, walking away from the front of the stage. The organisers had earlier stated that they didn’t want a DJ show to be seen as merely a fill in but sadly that’s how it worked out, with the crowd seeing dance sets as an excuse to head to the food and beer area.

The crowd started growing after 6pm, and the area in front of the stage looked respectably full when POP took the stage, Nop Pornchamni tried to persuade the audience to sing along and dance to hits like “Rak Khong Ther Mee Jing Rue Plao”, “Yaak Lup Ta”, “Dai Yin Khwam Rak Bang Mai”, “Wong Klom” and “Lom Hai Jai” but the participation was half-hearted even when Boy Trai, Adul and Po Yokee Playboy came out to jam with Nop on “Ae Ae”.

The next intermission was filled by Thai-born, Australia-bred DJ LonSkii and again the audience made tracks for the food and beer.

Flure and their singer Q rocked the crowd with “Ploy Pai Tam Huajai”, “Plien”, “Ruang Diew”, “Yue”, “Yaa” and “Kan Lae Kan” from the movie “Rak Haeng Siam” (“Love of Siam”).

Slot Machine took the stage after the DJ show playing a set that included “Phan”, “Fun”, “Kham Sudthai” and “Chan Jao” and succeeded in getting the fans to sing along.

Sexy girl outfit G Twenty drew loud screams and for many, their set seemed to signal the end of the festival with many leaving for home. Poor DJ Sunzone was left to spin alone.

And by the time DJ Neve took the stage, the park was almost empty. He put on a brave face for the stragglers, spinning a set of dance tracks that including the smash single, “Play Hard”.

Looking back over the event, it must be said that the stage production, sound system, lighting and LED screens were all excellent. Pity there was so little crowd participation.