FOMO was absolute scorcher of a day! The sun was beating down in full force and the wind was minimal but that didn’t stop the almost SOLD OUT crowd of FOMO 2020 having a killer day. Showcasing at their new home at RNA Showgrounds the one stage, no clashes, party together festival produced a well run and exciting music filled day for everyone. If you haven’t brought your tickets for Sydney, Melbourne of Auckland yet get yours now because you won’t want to miss out!
CHILLINIT
Sydney rapper Chillinit kicked off his set in the early afternoon so I expected the crowd to be small, but this was not the case. Thousands of people had already found their spot at the stage and the hype was unreal. From the minute Chillinit took the stage the crowd went wild. Capturing everyone’s attention instantly, Chillinit took the stage with a cricket bat and started batting tennis balls into the pit to the backing track of Land Down Under by Men At Work. Playing tracks such as Wish You Well Pt.2 the energy flowing from the stage was out of this world. The crowd was singing every song word for word and Chillinit was leaping around the stage like a mad man. At one point he cleared the whole photo pit by committing to one of the craziest stage dives I’ve ever seen! The highlight of his set was definitely his high intensity verse from single Underrated which features Wombat. The bars in this song are so quick and grungy but Chillinit didn’t skip a beat and his fans were super impressed. After leading the crowd in a “Hey Hey 420 Family” chant the beats merged into his latest single Freedom. I had been pumping this track for weeks and it was bloody awesome to hear the party track live. Overall Chillinit has to have one of the best rap flows coming out of Australia at the moment and his live performance was one of a seasoned pro.
RICO NASTY
American rapper and total babe Rico Nasty owned the stage as soon as she stepped foot on it. Looking like a festival head in her killer denim jacket and bloomer combo, Rico kicked off her set with single Trust Issues and it was all up from there. Backed by a hype man on the decks, Rico flaunted her stuff across the whole stage connecting with her fans and rapping like a pure goddess. You could tell she was pumped to be performing and during single’s such as Poppin, Rico got down and dirty with her dance moves bringing out her in inner gangster ghetto. The biggest hype for me was definitely Rico’s single with Doja Cat Tia Tamera, I’m not even sure if many people knew the track because I was to busy singing at the top of my lungs and rocking out some serious booty pops. Finishing off her set with high intensity baller beats Smack A Bitch and Rage, Rico gave her everything spitting rhymes at the speed of light with ease. The best part about Rico Nasty’s performance was that she didn’t hold back. She was feeling herself and feeling the music and she engaged with the crowd every second she could just to make sure we all had a good time.
MEDUZA
Jumping into the musical lime light only last year, Meduza became famous for his single Piece Of Your Heart. Even though fans knew it was going to be the last song he played they all stuck around from the start to vibe out to his killer electronic beats. Although there wasn’t much happening on stage from Meduza himself, his killer visuals and upbeat forever changing tracks kept the energy pumping. Halfway through his set, Meduza dropped popular single Lose Control and that is in fact what the crowd did. While everyone was jamming you could still feel this underlining anticipation for one of the most hyped singles of late 2019. Suddenly the music dropped and the intro to Piece Of Your Heart kicked off, it was the moment we had all been waiting for. People from left right and centre were running like a bat out of hell through the crowd yelling and singing along it was madness, but my god was it fun to be surrounded by thousands of people as every sung “Da da da uh uh”. In that moment you could tell no one wanted it to end, and its a memory I will never forget.
LIZZO
Lizzo was the bad bitch we had all been waiting for and she wasn’t mucking around. Entering the stage Lizzo kicked off with chart topping track Good As Hell and the crowd went absolutely ballistic. Dressed to the nines, she was looking hotter than ever and you could tell she was excited to be performing as she tossed her silky hair to the beat. Sounding just as amazing as she does on recording Lizzo rolled through a party popping set list of all her best tracks while dancing her butt off for her fans (literally). Cutting through meaningless pop nonsense with one clear message, “Be your fucking self and love every minute of it” Lizzo lead an army of positive filled fandom that spread throughout the whole of the arena. The “Ya Ya Ye” interludes of her single Juice were sung by everyone in the audience from the 20 year old girls slut dropping to the mum that was standing up the back further proving that Lizzo really does cross generations. At one point Lizzo even broke out her flute and she completely slayed! (If you haven’t already you must check out her flute channel on Youtube.) Taking time out of her set to have a chat with the crowd, Lizzo touched on the seriousness of the Australian bush fires and encouraged everyone to donate even if it was only a dollar. She also on a lighter note mention how much she loves Tim Tams and that she was thankful for how many were put in her hotel room. Finishing off her set, Lizzo turned to the back and put on a veil as Here Comes The Bride played over the speakers. And then boom! She dropped Truth Hurts and the whole of FOMO went wild. Everyone was singing at the top of their lungs to every word and Lizzo brought to life the line “I just took a DNA test turns out I’m 100% that bitch” forever immortalising it in everyone’s heart. Backed by killer dancers the entire time, Lizzo put on a performance that was unforgettable. Her attention to detail, her engagement with the crowd, her insanely catching tracks, it was all perfect and we all loved it.
MADEON
I wasn’t familiar with Madeon or many of his tracks but this guy put on such a performance I spent his whole set dancing to the beat. The sun was fully down by the time he took to the stage so Madeon was lucky to get the first set of the day with an intense light show and tv graphics. Playing tracks such as All My Friends and No Fear No More, Madeon rocked the decks playing a live DJ set with launch pad drums and in some parts singing with his beautiful French accent. His whole set was a roller-coaster of catchy beats and sing along tunes and I loved every minute of it.
BROCKHAMPTON
I had seen Brockhampton once before at Listen Out but the boys had shot up the charts and their popularity was through the roof by the time they hit the FOMO 2020 stage. I started off watching their set from one of the carnival rides and the few from the top was killer. Playing a lot of their tracks from 2019 album ‘GINGER’ I wasn’t super familiar with their set list but there was still some classics in their such as BLEACH. The boys started off pretty slow with single ST PERCY but it wasn’t long before the crowd was hit with quick rap tracks IF YOU PRAY RIGHT and ZIPPER. The boys had so much energy on the stage it was mesmerising and their matching orange jump suits looked incredible in the mix of all the lights and chaos. Single 1999 Wildfire went off and from all around you could hear fans singing “I know they come and go, la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la” and grooving to the beat. Near the end of their set the boys had put so much into their performance that even front man Kevin Abstract had almost lost his voice. Finishing off their set with singles Boogie and No Halo I thought it was a little strange to end of such a relaxed note after such a high energy performance but it was the perfect segue into Kaytranada’s following set.
KAYTRANADA
I fell in love with Kaytranda when I heard his single Got It Good with Craig David which unfortunately he didn’t play, but if I’m honest I never really listened to any of his other tracks. Even though I thought he was a little mellow to be closing the whole festival he still did an amazing job. I found myself swaying along to the beat of every song and I was completely absorbed by the back drop visuals that paired with each one. Playing a lot of tracks from his most recent album ‘Bubba’ such as The Worst In Me and Vex Oh, Kaytranada just did his thing keeping a continuous vibe happening throughout the entire set. Halfway through Kaytranada covered All Night by Chance The Rapper which engaged everyone into a mass sing along and then he brought the vibe back to being chill with single Gray Area. I felt myself getting lost in his music. It wasn’t really sing along worthy or anything to crazy upbeat but for some reason I couldn’t stop moving my body and my eyes never left the stage. After almost 9 hours in the hot sun Kaytranada was the laid back groove music I think I needed to end the night and I danced my way out of the showgrounds as he played his last track.
Overall FOMO 2020 was a massive success. The layout was perfect. There were plenty of toilets, short bar lines, friendly staff, amazing acts, and those misting fans during the hot summer day were to die for! I’m excited to see who they bring in 2021 and I look forward to being apart of it.
