Lost Lands Round 3- My First Festival Back!

I GOT TO GO TO A FESTIVAL AGAIN!!!!!! My last festival that I went to pre-covid was Lights All Night 2019, so it had been nearly 2 years since I’ve been to a festival! Lost Lands this year was particularly special, not just because it was our first one back, but we went just days after Jayson and I got engaged. Our little crew down here in Austin all went together- it was myself, Jayson, Charlie, Michael, Nicole, Samy, and Jeremy (you were missed Brooke!!) It was my third Lost Lands, Jayson and Charlie’s second, and everyone else’s first.

Lost Lands is a bass music festival located at Legend Valley in Thornville, Ohio and took place form September 24-26, 2021. It’s put on by Excision, and is prehistoric-themed, with life-size dinosaurs scattered among the lands and many characters everywhere you, mostly cavemen. It truly is Dubstep Disneyland, and feels like a portal to the land before time.

The Stages

The main stage is called Prehistoric Evolution, and I swear it was twice as big as the 2019 stage. The next tiered stage is the Wompy Woods, and it’s accurately named; nestled in the trees is this giant stage that envelopes you in the woods. The new stage for this year was the Forest Stage, and it had what I imagine an Electric Forest feel to it. The stage was pretty big and there were vendors and installations; there was a massive treehouse/castle that you could walk around in. The Subsidia was a small side stage that was kind of hidden, but had incredible artists a part of Excision’s label, Subsidia. After hours, the Prehistoric Evolution was vacant while every other stage held Sound Camp sets. The Asteroid stage was the smallest stage and only had artists during Sound Camps- it was a circular dome that you could walk inside, but there wasn’t much room. Raptor Valley is the other Sound Camp-only stage and it was towards the back of Wompy Woods and across the way from the Forest Stage.

DAY 1

We arrived at camp around 7AM after a long travel day and a night in a hotel and it surprisingly didn’t take us too long to set up! We had two tents and a canopy. We set up a pretty sweet canopy spot with blow up coaches and chairs. Once we were settled in, we took some power naps and got ready for the day.

Walking in, Jayson, Charlie, and I watched our rookies take everything in, and their reactions were priceless- I’ve never seen them so fascinated! We walked around the festival to get a lay of the land, and within ten minutes we spotted Trivecta and Wooli!! As a group, we’re HUGE Ophelia Records fans so we were very starstruck! We walked over to talk to them and asked for a picture, and they were super sweet guys and honestly seemed shocked that a group of people were so excited to have run into them.

Wooli was actually the first person we wanted to see that day, so we continued on with our exploration. We found ourselves at the Subsidia stage, and had a great time checking out Chassi! We then headed over to the Prehistoric Paradox to find a good spot for Wooli, who crushed his set. After Wooli was Marauda and then Trampa, and I’d actually never seen either of them before! They have different styles than I typically listen to but I really enjoyed their performances and finally getting to check them out. Next was Black Tiger Sex Machine, who was one of my most anticipated and top sets of the weekend. They were at Lost Lands 2019, and absolutely stole the show in my eyes, and did no different this year. We left a little bit early to see Griz at the Wompy Woods and that was 100% a top set of the weekend. He has such a fun energy and performance that it’s impossible to not have a good time! Something special happened at the end of his set- my favorite song is The Little Things by Big Gigantic (the Kasbo remix, particularly). The only time I’ve seen Big Gigantic so far was at Spring Awakening 2018, my first festival. They played that song and I fell in love, but had yet to get that song live again. At the end of Griz’s set, he said he has one last song for us- and played that one!!!! It was so special that I got to hear it again at my first festival back with my fiancé.

Finally, it was time for Excision’s 2 hour set. We all were laughing so much during it because we felt like he didn’t want to give us a break at all- it was so much harder and heavier plus there was drop after drop. His two hour sets are always so much fun because you get plenty of time to appreciate his performance and enjoy it with your people, plus it’s so unique to an Excision-curated event.

This was the only night that any of us made it to the Sound Camps (we’re getting old, LOL) and Jayson, Charlie and I stuck around for Trivecta before exhaustion took over. Trivecta played at the Asteroid stage and I wish he had a bigger stage, because the dome was surrounded and not everybody could get in to see the stage. We still enjoyed at least listening to his set, but eventually called it a night.

DAY 2

Surprisingly we all got a lot of sleep! When Charlie, Jayson, and I got back to camp the night before, we were a little scared to see that our group wasn’t there. A few minutes later they all arrived, and apparently the poor kids got super lost on their way back! Jayson made us all eggs on the min propane grill he got and we got ready. Day 2 was definitely our chillest day- we spent most of it in our blow up couches and I even got to reunite with my little from my summer camp days- Maddie!

Day 2 had a strong start with Kompany at Prehistoric Evolution- I’d never seen him and was excited to finally catch his set. Next was Dion Timmer, and I was so impressed with his growth and how he conquered that massive stage. We then went to Wompy Woods to catch the end of ATLiens and then the beginning of Space Laces. We ended up getting so caught in Space Laces’ set that we missed Sullivan King b2b Kai Wachi, so that was an L we unfortunately took but we at least had an amazing time. G Jones came on next, and I felt like I was in a trance. I’d only seen G Jones once during the day on a smaller stage, so seeing him at night on a much bigger stage and unique environment was a whole different experience. We then opted to see Liquid Stranger while Charlie and Nicole saw VOYD, and finished the night with Ganja White Night.

DAY 3

This day was the earliest we got to the festival, arriving around 3:30 and catching Jessica Audiffred. We went exploring but made it back to the Prehistoric Evolution for Excision’s detox set. In my first two years, the detox set was never my favorite, but this year was different and I really enjoyed it! Next was Nghtmre, which was another top set of the weekend for our group as a whole. Nghtmre was Michael’s first show and where the boys met Samy (who is how we met Jeremy), so Nghtmre is one of those artists that’s very special to us. Next was Peekaboo, and then we went back to the Wompy Woods for Adventure Club, and their set was so good I couldn’t stop wondering how this was their first time at Lost Lands! FINALLY, it was time for Excision’s throwback set!!! Banger after banger. Excision played only his songs and it was so cool to have a total Excision set and hear all the stuff we normally wouldn’t.

Lost Lands 2021 was incredible! If you’re a huge bass music fan, this is a great festival for you because believe it or not, there’s variety within the genre! You get to see such a different side of artists- this is one of those festivals that is an honor for artists to play so they’ll either bring their A-game or completely mix it up. Being among the Dinos and disconnected from the rest of the world for the weekend was incredible; we all got to just be present and enjoy our time together. I appreciate the work Excision and his team put into this festival every year, and especially this year with the new stage additions and introducing us to new artists under his Subsidia label! Lost Lands is such a unique experience and it was amazing to return for my third year.

You can watch my recap here!