- On the three-hour transfer from Bucharest airport to Constanta, I was told by a journalist that we were heading towards the "Miami of the Black Sea." I chuckled at the time, but when I got there I couldn't think of a more apt comparison. The coastline is a surreal kingdom of Eastern European kitsch. Horse and carts chauffeur tourists up and down the seafront, while art deco mansions line the hills around the scenic beach that was home to a new festival called Neversea.
Neversea and its parent festival, Untold, are a huge deal in Romania. News coverage of the event was sprawled across TV screens in the airport, and all around Constanta there were giant billboards promoting it. Run by a world-class marketing team, they have a baffling amount of investment from banks, hypermarket chains and dozens of global brands. This was reflected in the huge lineup, which included the likes of Tiësto, Fatboy Slim and pop stars like Rita Ora and Jason Derulo, who are both massive in Romania. In my mind, Neversea was similar to Coachella, both in terms of music policy and production.
Alongside the pop and EDM-leaning main stage and The Ark, which focussed on drum & bass, there were three stages—The Temple, Daydreaming and Summerhouse—that featured a tight programme of underground electronic music. They all had excellent soundsystems and noteworthy stage design. I arrived on Friday night to catch Bucharest native Melodie playing tasteful low-slung house to a small but dedicated crowd at Summerhouse. At Daydreaming, Culoe De Song dropped bangers like Robert Dietz’s "Bone Apple Tea" and Mekkah's "Race Of Survival" to a larger crowd. I danced barefoot on the beach while the full moon illuminated the sea behind the stage.
It was unfortunate that Summerhouse, which featured some of the weekend's best programming, was tucked away out of sight, in a corner near the main entrance. As a result, attendance there was poor across the weekend. Only about a dozen people swayed from side to side while DJ Sprinkles played dreamy deep house. (She clashed with Tiësto, who thumped out jarring EDM remixes of pop and folk songs to around 25,000 people.) Across the weekend I watched Hunee, Krystal Klear and Soichi Terada play to similarly small audiences. The only time I saw Summerhouse busy was for Mall Grab on Sunday night, which is testament to the Australian's international popularity.
It's no secret that minimal house and techno is huge in Romania, and there were plenty of local artists representing for the scene. Sets from Melodie, Priku and SIT, AKA Cristi Cons and Vlad Caia, were some of the most rewarding of the weekend. SIT, who specialise is mesmerising loops, played meandering house tunes like Ion Ludwig's "Mitad Del Mundo," which went down well with the mild-mannered crowd.
Other highlights included Cab Drivers, who gave a classy live performance at The Temple, a Rubik's cube-shaped pyramid structure with stages on two sides. Their lean, punchy grooves went down perfectly as I danced on a nearby sandy hill. It was Nina Kraviz, though, who gave the festival's best performance. From The Temple's south side, she rained down '90s acid bombs like Junk Project's "Volume 3" to a massive crowd. Her set was further proof that, as long as you were willing to navigate the brand activations and sterile EDM stages, there was a lot of quality music to be seen and heard at Neversea.
It was unfortunate that Summerhouse, which featured some of the weekend's best programming, was tucked away out of sight, in a corner near the main entrance. As a result, attendance there was poor across the weekend. Only about a dozen people swayed from side to side while DJ Sprinkles played dreamy deep house. (She clashed with Tiësto, who thumped out jarring EDM remixes of pop and folk songs to around 25,000 people.) Across the weekend I watched Hunee, Krystal Klear and Soichi Terada play to similarly small audiences. The only time I saw Summerhouse busy was for Mall Grab on Sunday night, which is testament to the Australian's international popularity. It's no secret that minimal house and techno is huge in Romania, and there were plenty of local artists representing for the scene. Sets from Melodie, Priku and SIT, AKA Cristi Cons and Vlad Caia, were some of the most rewarding of the weekend. SIT, who specialise is mesmerising loops, played meandering house tunes like Ion Ludwig's "Mitad Del Mundo," which went down well with the mild-mannered crowd.
Other highlights included Cab Drivers, who gave a classy live performance at The Temple, a Rubik's cube-shaped pyramid structure with stages on two sides. Their lean, punchy grooves went down perfectly as I danced on a nearby sandy hill. It was Nina Kraviz, though, who gave the festival's best performance. From The Temple's south side, she rained down '90s acid bombs like Junk Project's "Volume 3" to a massive crowd. Her set was further proof that, as long as you were willing to navigate the brand activations and sterile EDM stages, there was a lot of quality music to be seen and heard at Neversea.