by Oli White
There was something a little slimy about this guy, I thought.
‘I’ll take that,’ Ella said, smiling. She shook Ethan’s hand too, the others following, and then we split: Sai and Lily heading off towards the yurts, and Ethan leading us out of the parking zone and into the festival grounds.
‘This is vast,’ Austin said in wonder as we all trailed along behind Ethan. He seemed more animated by the sight of the festival than he’d been by anything else since we left Heathrow. ‘I mean, did you imagine it was going to be like this, J?’
I shook my head. To be honest, I didn’t really know what I’d been expecting, but to me the festival seemed like another planet, with its food markets, futuristic fairground rides, brightly coloured circus tents and huge abstract art installations in silvers and whites, all contrasting with the cloudless desert sky. On the ground, makeshift pavements of slatted wood covered the sand, marking out clear pathways to the main areas, and from the route we were taking I could see at least two of the incredible-looking stages – was one of them ours perhaps? All around us people were either running like crazy or just heads-down busy, building something or setting up stalls. And behind me, on the highway, I could see lines of cars: everything from battered hatchbacks to camper vans to souped-up, pimped-out vehicles that looked like they were built to drive on Mars. Most of them were laden with camping gear and all of them were heading towards Total. It was four in the afternoon and time to let the masses in, where they’d set up home for the following three days and nights in this insane new city.
I’d seen all the plans for our stage and I knew what the dimensions were, but I still wasn’t prepared for just how big it was in real life. It was obvious to all of us that this was a serious set-up and we were going to have to pull out all the stops if we were going to do it justice.
‘What do you think?’ AJ said, holding his arms aloft. ‘Will it do?’
‘I’ve got chills just looking at it,’ Ella said. ‘Look at the size of the GenNext logo on the backdrop.’
‘Yeah, and it’s going to be even more superb when it’s all lit up with lasers,’ Suki added, capturing a shot on her iPhone. ‘We should upload a few before-and-after pics on the GenNext Instagram.’
I moved closer to the huge stage and tried to envisage myself up there tomorrow, addressing a large crowd, my stomach completing a Tom Daley-style backwards-triple-somersault dive at the thought. ‘Yeah, it’ll do, AJ. Very nicely.’
After a quick reconnaissance of the backstage area, with its Portakabin dressing rooms, catering area and – Ella was relieved to find – beautifully clean toilets, we headed back out to the front of the stage to wait for Jason. It was swelteringly hot, so we made our way over to one of the two huge pavilions constructed of recycled paper and rope and parked ourselves in its magnificent shade on giant chairs and couches.
Ava put her hands behind her head and lay back with her eyes closed. ‘OK, I can’t bloody wait for tomorrow now.’
‘I won’t sleep, you watch,’ Austin added.
‘I told you it was amazing.’ Ethan appeared, seemingly from nowhere again. ‘I’ve just been checking out all your merchandise stalls going up over there. You guys have got some really cool stuff.’
‘You should take a free T-shirt,’ Ella said with a smile.
‘That’s really nice of you,’ he said, sitting down next to me. ‘You OK, Jack?’
‘Yeah, I’m good, thanks.’
‘So what kind of TV show do you work on, Ethan?’ AJ said. ‘Like, a reality show or something?’
‘No, I work for a show on Owl TV. We showcase new acts and do interviews. It’s not a million miles away from what you guys do, I suppose.’
I could just imagine the type of show it was. Since GenNext had taken off, I’d seen a fair few music-based programmes that had either been inspired by our style or just plain ripped it off. I’d never really let them worry me, though; in fact I took it as a compliment rather than letting it annoy me.
‘So are you a presenter?’ Ava said.
Ethan shook his head. ‘Oh, no! I’m just an assistant producer. I source content and stories for the show. Actually, I was going through some of this week’s rushes in my van when you guys turned up.’
‘That sounds awesome, though, working for Owl TV,’ Ella said.
Ethan shrugged. ‘Yeah, it’s cool. Eventually I’d like to do some on-screen stuff, but, you know … we’ll see.’
‘I reckon you’d be great, Ethan,’ Ava said, sitting up. ‘Let’s face it, if Jack can do it, anyone can.’
‘Oi!’ I said, as Ethan turned to look at me.
‘I think Jack’s very good,’ he said seriously, like Ava had meant it.
Ava laughed. ‘Yeah, you wouldn’t say that if you’d watched him fluff his questions during an interview. And how’s it been, living in America? Do you like it?’
‘Yeah, it’s good to shake things up, I reckon. Plus it’s a chance to meet new people, get some proper sun.’
Sun? The dude was milk white.
‘What about you guys?’ he said, looking around at all of us. ‘Would you ever consider moving over here to work or live?’
Ella and I answered at exactly the same time, only I said, ‘Yes,’ and she said, ‘Oh God, no.’
I turned to look at her, surprised by her emphatic answer – I’d always thought she was in agreement that if GenNext continued to grow, anything was possible. ‘Well, I’d at least consider it,’ I said with a smile, trying to make the moment less awkward. Ella looked like she was about to discuss it further when AJ’s phone pinged twice.
‘OK, Jason says he’s sorry but he’s tied up for the next hour and will come find us later. Lily says the yurts are amazing, and she’ll meet us at the parking zone and take us over to where they are,’ AJ said, reading from his phone. ‘So why don’t we go find out where we’ll be laying our weary heads tonight, eh?’
‘We might as well,’ Austin said. ‘There’s not going to be much more to see here until later on, is there?’
As we started to head back towards the artists’ parking zone, Ethan stuck close and I wondered if we might have acquired a shadow for the duration of the festival. I hung back from the group for a while, watching him laughing and chatting with Ella and Ava, and I hoped not. There was something a bit weird about the dude. It was like he was too eager to please all the time. And that kind of person always put me on edge.
THE VIP EXPERIENCE
‘Our luxury yurt was quite cosy, wasn’t it, Austin?’ Sai was collecting more than his fair share of crispy bacon as we lined up at the impressive breakfast buffet laid on in the artists’ glamping area on that first morning of Total. ‘Bedside tables, lamps, even a sheepskin rug. Very nice!’
‘It was a little too cosy for my liking,’ Austin said, queuing behind Sai, bleary-eyed and settling for a cup of black coffee. ‘I’ll be pulling those bunks a bit further apart tonight.’
‘Is he a snorer, Austin?’ I said.
‘That’s rich coming from you, Penman,’ Ella laughed, loading scrambled eggs onto her plate. ‘You snored most of the way here on the plane. I could have dropped my complimentary moist towelette in your mouth and you wouldn’t have stirred.’
‘It wasn’t so much the snoring,’ Austin went on. ‘It was the fact that I woke up at five a.m. to find we were practically spooning.’
We headed over to a long table set up in a clearing amongst the yurts and tents and sat down. Suki, Ava, Lily and AJ were right behind us.
‘Don’t listen to Austin, he’s exaggerating,’ Sai protested. ‘My arm just flopped over, that’s all. I’m a very physical sleeper.’
Austin peered over his coffee cup. ‘Yeah, that’s what worries me.’
‘Well, our yurt was like a beautiful Bedouin tent with loads of plush throws and pillows,’ Ella said, sipping her tea. ‘I felt like Khaleesi from Game of Thrones.’
When we headed back to the Total Youth stage after breakfast, my stubborn bo
dy clock was insisting that it was still the middle of the night. In fact, the whole team were looking decidedly bleary-eyed, despite the Styrofoam cups of strong coffee that we were all clutching. The stage was complete, and our tech team – overseen by Lily – were industriously preparing it for our big launch at five o’clock that evening, and doing an amazing job by the looks of it. The first sight of the finished article brought a collective gasp from the GenNext crew as we gazed up at our dazzling, other-worldly jungle set, flanked by towering PA systems and two enormous video screens that would mirror everything that we broadcast on the GenNext channel.
‘It’s truly magnificent,’ Ava said.
Ella nodded enthusiastically. ‘I know! You picture it in your head, don’t you? Then you see the 3D mock-ups. But you just can’t imagine how fantastic it all is until you actually see it for real.’
High above the stage, a young woman wearing a tool belt and standing on a scarily tall ladder positioned the lights on the batten while her colleague on the lighting desk focused them one by one, guiding her through each intricate movement via a radio headset. Meanwhile, our two-person camera crew were moving around the front of the stage, finding the best positions and lining up potential shots. Once all that was done, Ella and I met our sound team and then headed up onto the stage for a quick microphone check. AJ remained quiet through the entire process, wandering around the stage looking deep in thought and very serious. I suspected he was as apprehensive as the rest of us; he just didn’t want to let us see it. Once Ella and I had finished our sound check, he called the rest of the team up to join us on the stage. I could feel a speech coming on.
‘Gather round,’ he said, beckoning us all towards him. ‘I have something to say.’
Ava rolled her eyes and giggled. ‘This isn’t one of those weird prayer circles, is it?’
AJ laughed. ‘OK, no big speech. I just think we should all take a minute to be on the stage together. Once it kicks off, we won’t get the chance. I want us to take a moment to appreciate what this all means and what you’ve achieved.’
‘You know what, AJ, you’re right,’ Suki said. ‘We spend so much of our time looking at things on a screen, we do sometimes need to stop and be in the moment.’
We all stared out over the vast area around our stage and the festival beyond. Once the stage was open, it would be utter madness, but for now it was all reasonably calm until—
‘You’re a bunch of bloody hippies!’ Sai yelled, and everyone cracked up.
‘All right, let’s get out of here and let the crew finish up,’ AJ said. ‘We’ve got a few hours until we launch, so I say we get changed and go and explore the festival.’
‘I was hoping you’d suggest that, AJ,’ I said, grabbing Ella’s hand. ‘Let’s go and get a taste of the VIP experience.’
By mid-afternoon the place was alive and full of noise as even more people poured through the gates. As we weaved our way in and out of the crowd, heading towards the main stage, I felt as if the warm sand under my feet was vibrating with the thump of distant music like some tribal signal. As far as dress code went, there seemed to be no limits. From girls in nothing but cut-off denim shorts and bikini tops to people with the most elaborate face paint and freaky fancy dress, it was a case of anything goes: native American headdresses, Mexican death mask make-up, feathers, fur, a full-length coat like a mirrored disco ball, scrap-metal warriors and giant-winged fairies.
Closer to the main stage, giant sculptures rose out of the ground and towered above us, while below them people danced and ate and drank while they waited for their favourite artists to come on. And while Ella and the girls cooed in amazement over a giant multicoloured moving butterfly, Sai, Austin and I stood in awe underneath a forty-foot-tall LED-illuminated dancer made of stainless-steel rods, cable and mesh. Looming in front of us was the main stage, where Ariana Grande, Major Lazer and Disclosure, amongst others, were due to appear that day, and blinking into the sunlight to the left of me I could see rows of palm trees overshadowed by a giant Ferris wheel. It was spectacular.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’ Ella said, doing a 360 twirl. ‘It makes some of the music festivals I’ve been to back home look like car-boot sales.’
She looked incredible at that moment, dressed in a lacy off-the-shoulder top, a flowing burnt-orange skirt and a gold-and-silver Aztec-style necklace, topped off with a garland of flowers in her hair. With her trademark silver rings and her nose hoop, she was like some beautiful hippy goddess. Man, I was going to be the envy of half the male population at that festival – I just knew it.
‘I feel like I’ve landed on another planet,’ I said, grabbing her hand. ‘It’s utterly crazy.’
‘I feel a bit underdressed actually,’ Sai said, pulling a face.
‘I know what you mean,’ Austin agreed.
Us boys were all in cut-off denim shorts and T-shirts plus Aviators and matching black and white bandanas. Except AJ, that is, who was in his customary summer attire of cream linen suit and pale blue shirt. We thought we’d nailed festival chic, but looking around, I sort of wished that I’d thought to pack a giant metal spider outfit and some glitter.
‘I think you guys all look very sexy,’ Ava said, without a hint of sarcasm.
‘Which is a massive compliment, coming from her,’ Suki said, laughing. Suki herself was radiating cool, as she always did, in some sort of dark-gold sheath dress and flicked-out gold liquid eyeliner. I could see Ava giving her subtle approving glances every so often, when she thought no one else was looking.
‘Cool but understated. That’s the GenNext way, right?’ Ella said.
‘Exactly,’ AJ smiled.
‘So should I go with the rhinestone G-string tonight or not?’ Sai said, his eyebrows moving up and down quickly.
‘Not!’ I said. ‘I know you like to get your muscles out, Sai, but nobody’s ready for that; not even this crowd.’
We headed across the site to the left of the main stage, where Steve Aoki was whipping the crowd up into a frenzy, and were directed into the VIP hospitality area at the back of the stage.
‘Oh yes, boys and girls,’ I smiled. ‘AAA is most definitely the way forward.’
Sai looked puzzled. ‘What’s that then?’
‘Access all areas, baby,’ Suki laughed. ‘That’s what this is.’
Within the enclosure there were a couple of bars, including one sponsored by and exclusively serving Cristal champagne, plus several stands serving everything from sushi to South American street food. It was already pretty busy, even though it was relatively early in the day, and in one brief scan around the main seating area, which languished under fairy-lit Bedouin-style tents scattered with plush white-cushioned couches, giant beanbags and seagrass coffee tables, I spotted Cara Delevingne chatting to Gigi Hadid along with Calvin Harris, who was due to play a set later that evening. The vibe was very definitely upscale festival chic; almost everyone I looked at either was, or surely could have been, a model or a rock star or some type of industry hotshot.
‘I think I want to stay here forever,’ I heard Sai say dreamily.
‘Yeah, I’ll second that,’ echoed Ava.
I turned my attention back to our group to find that Jason Croft, one of the festival’s big guns, had joined us. He seemed like a pretty cool bloke.
‘It’s good, huh?’ he smiled. ‘Are you vibing, gang?’
‘We are very definitely vibing, Jason,’ Ava said with a grin. ‘It’s actually a shame we have to work, because I’d quite like to hang out here with the celebs.’
Jason put his arm around her shoulder. ‘Don’t you worry, honey; remember you guys have your own VIP hospitality area right next to the Total Youth stage.’
‘God, we’ve been so busy we haven’t even had a chance to check it out since it’s all been set up,’ Ella said. ‘Is it anything like this?’
‘Not exactly like this, but there’s a bar and a couple of great food vendors, including a Mighty Quinn’s BBQ,
which is frickin’ awesome. We’ve called your hospitality area the Gen Pen. Get it? Gen as in GenNext?’
‘Amazing,’ Ava said, clearly unimpressed.
‘I’m happy with a bar and barbecue,’ I said, laughing. ‘Just make sure you steer Cara and Gigi over there at some point, will you?’
Ella shot me a look, which I returned with a wink. Then I spotted Austin, standing a few feet away from the rest of the group, looking around the VIP area on his own.
‘You OK, mate?’ I said.
He looked startled, as if he was surprised to hear my voice. ‘Oh yeah, J, I’m fine. I was just thinking about getting something to drink at the bar.’
‘Cool, I’ll go with you and get a round in,’ I said.
I was eager to grab a moment alone with Austin. He wasn’t himself and I wanted to know why. Once we’d reached the bar, he folded his arms on the counter top and rested his chin on them.
‘I’ll just have a water,’ I said to the bartender.
‘Party animal,’ Austin said, lifting his head, and I thought I almost saw a smile.
‘What are you having?’ I asked.
He shrugged. ‘Maybe I’ll join you in that water.’
Once our drinks had been served, I turned to him. ‘You sure you’re all right, mate?’
‘Yeah, why?’
‘’Cause you’ve been, like, really quiet and un-Austin-like the last few days. What’s going on?’ I said.
Austin sucked in a long breath of air and then puffed it out slowly. ‘Er … if I’m being really honest with you, J, I’ve been feeling a bit down about the whole Jess situation.’
‘OK …’ I said, waiting for him to continue. He was silent again for a couple of moments.
‘I mean, Jess is Jess,’ he said eventually. ‘I literally can’t do anything right and it’s not been great for a while. Still, I thought coming away to the festival would help me think a bit more clearly about everything, but …’
‘What? You can tell me, mate.’
For a moment his eyes glazed over and I thought he might cry.