It wasn’t long into Good Vibes Festival 2014 before the green patches of grass transformed into muddy marshes. Huddling into any stage or booth that had a roof on top of it, the venue was clear of people.

That wasn’t how it was at the beginning though. The festival had a promising start, with local highlighted talents like Narmi, Faiq& The Manja Mob, and Froya taking the stage. Unfortunately that joy was short lived when storm clouds hovered over Sepang Go-Kart Circuit and gave a solid downpour.

The rain dragged on for quite awhile, cancelling off some of the bands that were to perform. On top of that the main stages were out in the open air, along with the food stalls and other promotional booths. It was understandable that it would’ve been hazardous to keep the electrical equipment running in the rain. Some were ironically saying, “The organizers probably didn’t pay their bomoh enough” though evidently it wasn’t the organizers fault.

In hindsight of all the stages closing, those who gathered under the Heineken Star Club managed to make the best of the worst festival situations. It was an impressive two-tiered club style stage where most gathered under to stay sheltered. Kyoto Protocol closed their greaser style DJ set, followed by Indiego& Co cheering up the crowd by throwing over freebies and upbeat indie dance tunes. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before festivalgoers accepted their fate and embraced the rain, going acapella amidst the several power outages that happened throughout.

Fortunately enough, the heavy rain subsided to drizzles just in time for the first major international act, Banks, a nice kickoff after a string of cancellations that occurred. The mysterious yet graceful Jillian Banks gave an amazing live set, soothing everyone with her raspy soulful voice, banishing that melancholic feeling after the rain.

There was an hour wait prior to Empire Of The Sun’s appearance on stage. Setting up such a bombastic stage evidently wasn’t pleasant after a heavy downpour, but after hitting up the stage, we understood why. There were crazy stage theatrics, accompanied with futuristic humanoid bird things, lasers and psychedelic lighting. ‘Alive’ and ‘DNA’ really stood online casino out from the rest, being their first few commercial breakthrough hits, but true fans would appreciate old goodies like ‘Walking on a dream’ and ‘We are the people’.  Nonetheless the crowd just kept going full on.

!!! (CHK CHKCHK) came up next, where lead singer Nic Offer got down and dirty along with the rest of the crowd during the set, with mud and all. Not long after, crowds gathered up for the best seats, awaiting Ellie Goulding’s set. Opening her set with ‘Figure 8’, everyone could see how far she has risen as an international pop star. Switching it up between old tracks and new, there wasn’t a shortage of energy that came out from her, particularly during a cover of ‘Tessellate’ by Alt-J. After professing that a special set was being played in Malaysia, her set went on an uproar from ‘Lights’ all the way to the last note of ‘Burn’.

Despite the unfortunate weather conditions, local act cancellations and minor technical glitches here and there during performances, Good Vibes festival 2014 ended up to be a real memorable experience, like Ellie Goulding mentioned during her set “I know it’s wet and stormy but I hope you bring good vibes”, Good Vibes definitely lived up to its good name.

Photos : Good Vibes Festival

Since Good Vibes Festival 2014 in Kuala Lumpur is coming to your way this weekend, we ask Kuala Lumpur’s eclectic fashion blogger, Hanie Hidayah, to get the best suggestions about to best outfit to survive at the festival and some unnoticeable stuffs which are quite important to bring!

What To Wear:

1. Cotton cut-off tank top or tee
The first thing that you need to make sure is the fabric of your clothes, since Kuala Lumpur is known for its sunny tropical weather, a lightweight fabric would give you a comfort to spend a whole day at the fest. It’s airy and light.

2. Dark denim shorts
You can not go wrong with this woven kind of fabric. They’re tough and it is meant to get dirty, you can sit on anywhere you want without worrying anything. So it would be a breeze. And for boys, a chinos or cutoff denims would be just great.

3. A small cross-body bag or backpack
It’s important for you to bring a bag/backpack so you don’t have to put the whole world in your pocket. Make sure it’s a small sized to allow dancing (you don’t want to smack people around you while you’re swinging your swag right?) and it’s enough to fit your essentials inside like mobile phone, identity card, cash etc.

4. Hi-cut sneakers / running sneakers
We know some girls nowadays are a clone of IronMan, but really, the whole crowd knows how painful your day would be and your feet would be blanketed by blisters. So, Hanie suggested to wear hi-cut sneakers / running sneakers. They are strong enough to wear. They protect your feet really well and allow you to be on your feet for hours.

5. Tons of colorful bangles (girls) and Hats (boys)
For girls, it’s summer and it’s the time to get colorful! Tons of colorful bangles would give a chic touch to your look. However, pay attention to your selection of bangles, because some people end up looking like Dhalsim from ‘Street Fighter’. And for boys, hats are the best thing to accessorize! You can wear fedoras, bowlers, or caps. The good thing about wearing a cap is it can keep the sun out of your eyes.

Useful Things To Bring :

1. Resealable sandwich bags
When it rains, you just don’t have any control on what is going to get wet and what’s not. But wait, you can use Hanie Hidayah’s hack to protect her valuable inside her bag by using a resealable sandwhich bags. Just put them in and zip it. No more soaked items!

2. Colorful rubber bands
Hanie does not only use it to tie her hair when it gets hot. Rubber bands are also useful to keep things together in case of emergencies.

3. Back up shoes
She always brings either her Havaianas flip flops or opts for the foldable flat shoes. So when it rains, the canvas shoes will not get wet.

4. Luggage tags
Luggage tags are useful to keep her i.d, card and cash if she wants to go hands free. You can hang them on the belt ring of your pants, or you can slide them into your pocket. It works sort of like a wallet chain.

Photo : Good Vibes