By Ivana Markotic
Making an entrance into Exit is a scenic occurrence. Hosted in a 17th century fortress in Serbia’s second largest city, Novi Sad, Exit Festival entered it’s 11th year of musical gestalt from July 8th to 11th. Cheap food, booze, accommodation paired with hot weather, babes and music entice over 100,000 people from around the world to attend the festival. It is estimated that over half are from Britain alone and in 2007 Exit was voted the Best European Festival, beating out the likes of Glastonbury.

For those not camping near the fortress, the trek into Exit begins on the left bank of the Danube river. A huge wall that was once used to keep the enemies away now invites music lovers with a huge banner reading “Exit Festival.” The walk across the bridge to the Petrovaradin fortress is interrupted with the sale of traditional rakija shots (a heavier brandy), candy to soothe the burning from the rakija and decorative head-pieces you purchased as a last minute impulse to show how fucked the rakija got you. The best part? Each item is 100 dinars, or the equivalent of one euro. The worst part? A cobblestone dirt path and stairs you have to climb to the top of the fortress once the bridge is crossed.

Day One
With over twenty stages to choose from, first stop is the main stage for the Bad Brains performance. The pioneers of hardcore punk-reggae barely drew a crowd, even with a firestorm of guitar riffs and lead singer H.R.’s gyrating voice.

Past the main stage and up a set of makeshift stairs overlooking the dance arena, trees were decorated with dresses and large bean bag strawberries sprawled out. It’s wasn’t even 10 p.m. and someone was passed out near an oversized strawberry, Tuborg beer still in hand.

The Positive Vibrations Reggae stage played host to DJs and I came just in time for Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier” followed by an invasion of booty-shaking dancers. Walking through a tunnel and back towards the main stage, LCD Soundsystem’s frontman James Murphy’s voice echoes, “the time has come.” Having attended the Toronto LCD show about a month prior, it was interesting how well every dimension of the venue show translated well into a festival setting. Wide-eyed boys and girls danced to “Drunk Girls” and “New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down” mixed with “Empire State of Mind” for the finale.

Racing over to the DJ Shadow press conference, the former producer with Unkle revealed that he thought “Organ Donor” was a throw-away track until some motivation from friends to extend and release it. Also, he discussed the DJ Shadow remix project, a contest to inspire new artists by creating CDs of winning remixes.

And then I found Waldo! Mika took the main stage at midnight in a red and white striped shirt opening with “Relax, Take It Easy.” Balloons were created out of condoms by festival goers and Mika belted out “Big Girls You Are Beautiful” before entering a trumpet solo—with his mouth and hands.

Walking down to the hollow pit of land that occupied the Dance Arena, swarms of people crowded for Canadian duo Chromeo. Asking the crowd if they knew how to two-step, they played their hit “Fancy Footwork.” Keeping up the pace, Crookers were next with an incredible set that included acrobats and mesmerizing lights, making the guy next to me dipping his finger in coke yell “I am fucking melting!!”

At 2 a.m. the plastic beer cups everywhere act as a barrier as I head towards the Fusion Stage for the Miike Snow show. White masks included, the second song “Burial” includes the shiver-inducing line “Don’t forget to cry at your own burial.” The Swedish band’s hit “Black and Blue” was the highlight with blue strobe lights.

Day Two
Authenticating the festival experience by checking out a Serbian band at a Serbian festival, S.A.R.S was next on the radar. An RnB band that included an accordion player, they played a reworked version of Sean Paul’s “Temperature” before finishing with the slow-pace “Budjev Lebac.”

Placebo were headliners for Day Two and took the main stage in all-white attire performing “Every You, Every Me” and “Ashtray Love” with Brain Molko’s trademark voice. Next, the UK band’s name Does It Offend You, Yeah? was enticing and lead me to the Fusion Stage. Minimal lyrics, but pure boom from the force of the drums in combo with the synths makes them one of the best acts of Exit.

Ending Exit Day Two on a quieter note, I join the Silent Disco party at 3 a.m. A popular party in Europe, party-goers are handed headphones and fed music from DJs, making on-lookers watch a swarm of people dancing silently. The cramped pit for the Silent Disco resulted in a line-up, especially with Bread & Butter DJing.

Day Three
By the third day, the dust in the fortress started to rise with the increase in people. With one of the most anticipated albums of 2010, Klaxons took the main stage with a new track “Flashover” and instantly pulled the crowd forward. “Golden Skans” generated the expected “ohh-ohhh-ahhh” from the audience and the newest single “Echoes” is a whirlwind of sound giving a feeling of rush. “It’s Not Over Yet” was a tease as the band concluded with “Atlantis to Interzone.”

Next, Royksopp commanded the main stage, with special guest Karin from The Knife/ Fever Ray. “Poor Leno” and “The Girl and the Robot” were all memorable performances, but the Kate Bush cover of “Wuthering Heights” towards the end had the biggest impact.

Missy Elliot attempted a comeback, but had more track suit changes than relevant tracks to perform (in case you were wondering, Adidas is still sponsoring her!). The main stage area was impossible to move in for her performance and she attempted to move security and enter the crowd.

The rest of the night was dedicated to DJs, with The Twelves playing at the Elektrana stage under a former moat in the fortress. The Twelves have found success in mixing songs (hear: Radiohead’s “Reckoner” remixed by The Twelves) most DJs would fear even playing. They resulted in the dirtiest dancing at Exit from the crowd by mixing Phoenix’s “Lisztomania” and Britney Spears.

By 3:30 a.m., the mob of people (goths included!) gravitated towards the Dance Arena for David Guetta. I arrived just in time for “Memories” and for the premier of a new track he introduced exclusively for Exit. After dropping “Mmm watchu say” a normally timid Guetta climbed the table and started thrusting his hands in the air; a little second hand embarrassment as it felt like watching your father attempt a dance move. An electronic countdown and Akon’s voice calling out “Sexy Bitch,” I decided to call it a night at five in the morning.

Day Four
The last day of Exit wrapped up with Faith No More having a late start on the main stage. Incorporating a little Serbian culture into the set, lead singer Mike Patton performed “Adje, Jano” and was accompanied by a female on stage that taught him the steps to kolo. The drawn out performance cut into the Chemical Brothers set, but they managed to propel back the atmosphere.

Walking through The Chemical Brothers performance in the main stage area was a rave with whistle blowers, sunglasses and glowing body paint. The two huge screens turned on midway through the performance turned to neon paint splatters that turned hypnotic in the background of “I need you to believe in something.”

At the Dance Arena, Crystal Castles’ start their set with Alice Glass’ chaotic yelps in a storm of lights. As a Toronto band, they are a common act in venues around the city, but they are out of this world on a big stage like Exit.

As I leave, crossing the path past the main stage, The Chemical Brothers wrap up their set. The lights fade and I make my final exit, surprisingly with head still intact.