*Sounds great! Wow, let's go!
Vietnam, just like Ibiza, only cheaper and cooler
ANDREW RAFTER
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2019 - 11:04
The rain is lashing down, it’s 8am, and Ricardo Villalobos is in full flow, wearing his usual green tank top and taking a few hundred hardened ravers down the rabbit hole. The Chilean DJ sets sail for nine hours of musical madness to a crowd that’s made up of 79 different nationalities. The soundsystem is pumping, shaking the raindrops of the Frisbee-like canopy above. It’s something of a family affair too, with his son handing the demigod records to send the dancers into an early morning frenzy. To our left is a group of dishevelled ravers, who are stood in a circle seemingly oblivious to what’s unfolding in front of them. A second glance reveals they’ve actually found a baby mouse, which they’re all stroking with Cheshire grins on their faces. This is Epizode Vietnam; an 11-day marathon where the music never really stops, and the weird and wonderful unfolds in a freeform way that just boggles the mind.
Now in its third year, Epizode is easily Asia’s best-kept secret. It’s small enough to be boutique, but big enough to welcome 150 artists from almost every conceivable genre, from the Stanton Warriors to Steve Lawler, Pan-Pot, Ferry Corsten, DJ Stingray, Digby, Zip and Nina Kraviz. It is like an electronic sweet shop, with favourites stacked in unknown quantities. It has a mind-boggling array of art (have you ever seen a row of elephant sculptures on stilts rising out of a turquoise sea, or a bamboo mega structure bar that looks like it has been lifted from J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan?) and it’s an audio delight, where the main stage soundsystem is so loud that it scares away the fish and can easily be heard in neighbouring Cambodia. It’s a playground for Russian oligarchs, Australian hippies, Circoloco bros, ex-pats, seasoned ravers and plenty of locals, too. It’s 264 hours of madness that gets under your skin on a picture postcard island nestled in the Gulf of Thailand. It’s cheap, too. You can literally live like a king from day-to-day, and the music on offer is jaw-dropping, in both variety and scope....
