02 Days Of Freedom

Who could forget 02 Days Of Freedom last year? Thousands of revelers flocked to Port Dickson for a weekend that memories are made of. The festival featured an orgasmic line-up of dance music royalty like Tiësto, Cosmic Gate, Ferry Corsten and more. Who could also forget the post-festival news when it was reported in the dailies as a “wild party at the seaside.”

Thankfully, fans of the festival stood up and made their opinions heard by proclaiming 02 Days Of Freedom 2008 one of the best raves they've been to not only in terms of line-up, but also because of the careful planning. Special mention was also given for the festival's awesome stages and crazy laser lighting.

Now, who wouldn't want to relive an experience like that? It's a good thing that 02 Days Of Freedom 2009 is back this month. The place to be is A'Famosa Resort in Malacca. The last time we were over at A'Famosa was for Recharge Revelation 5 Global Gathering in 2007 and if there's one thing we learnt from that experience, it's to invest in a pair of rubber boots. You can't trust the Malaysian weather to not rain and create a mud pit out of the festival grounds.

That one tip aside, this year's line-up is just as stellar and definitely warrants the drive down to the Historical State. Headllining Friday night (29 May) will be the Netherlands's Ferry Corsten. He'll be making a repeat appearance at Freedom, fresh from the success of his third album release Twice In A Blue Moon. If you club regularly, you would recognise his tunes easily, the most recent being “Radio Crash” which has been picked up and included in the sets of Djs like Tiësto, Armin van Buuren and Paul van Dyk.

The headliner for Saturday night (30 May) is trance music act, Above & Beyond. A firm favourite with local clubbers (judging from their previous appearances in our country), the trio of Jonathan Grant, Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamäki have an uplifting vocal trance style. Not to be forgotten is renowned German trance producer and DJ Markus Schulz. Having worked with artistes like Depeche Mode, Madonna, Fatboy Slim and many others, Markus's progressive trance has an electro influence that makes him stand out from the crowd. Ravers… you don't need any more convincing, do you? 

Text Sarah Chan