Exit the modern world and walk down a lane filled with life-sized dinosaurs, molten volcanos, and prehistoric waterfalls into a land before time.
Lost Lands, also fondly referred to by its patrons as “Dubstep Disneyland,” is located just outside of Columbus in a small town named Thornville, Ohio. A Mecca of bass music, festival goers gather from across the country to catch the largest names in bass music and to discover the rising stars of our scene.
When it comes to evolving the festival experience at Lost Lands, Excision and his team did not take “baby steps” making big changes. Once a two-stage, 500,000 watts of bass hub of dubstep, Lost Lands in its fifth year back is now home to seven unique stages, bass music encompasses multiple sub genres, and so many watts of bass that they had to stop counting.
The Venue
Everywhere you walk in Legend Valley, there is something to see, interact with, and experience. Dinosaur rangers instructing you on a quest, giant mushrooms, fire-emitting metal sculptures, hammock-filled trees and life-sized dinosaurs as far as the eye can see. The options for festival adventures could easily take up an entire day if you can manage to stay away from all the phenomenal sets playing around you.
The Music
Artists like Space Laces, Troyboi, Subtronics, and Excision himself smacked us with bass at the massive main stage, the Prehistoric Evolution, while other big names like Kai Wachi, Kill the Noise, Black Tiger Sex Machine, and Illenium threw down at Wompy Woods, the second main stage. Guests got to switch it up amongst the LED lit trees at the Forest Stage with DnB and bass house sets from the likes of Downlink, Modestep, Dr. Fresch, and Stumpi (Wooli’s new house project). Once just used as a bar, SoDown, DirtySnatcha, and Ruvlo (literally) brought the heat at the flame-engulfed Asteroid stage. While at the Subsidia stage, guests were able to catch sets from Excision’s own record label started in 2020 featuring artists like RZRKT, Stoned Level, and Freaky.
The changes this year were most notably found in the space between the main stage, the Prehistoric Evolution Stage, and the secondary main stage, the Wompy Woods. Trees that once lined the sides of the Wompy Woods requiring guests to enter in from one direction were cleared out between the two main stages allowing more space for the crowd at Wompy and a more streamlined path to bounce between sets when the inevitable time conflict arose. The long needed sound bleeding issue between the two stages was also addressed this year allowing guests to be fully immersed into the set they were attending.
Features
A chapel made from dinosaur bones appeared as the new heart of the village marketplace in the campgrounds this year. It was surrounded by vendors selling flow toys, festival gear and drool-worthy bites, and centered on a stage large enough to be used in the main festival grounds where the pre-preparty started as early as Wednesday night.
The Sound Camps also improved this year, both in the stages where the artists got to perform and, most noticeably, in the increased volume attendants got to experience “after hours.” Guests were treated to sets by artists like Muerte, Bandlez, Wodd, and Emorfik as the days wound to a close each night.
The Vibe
Lost Lands is easily my favorite festival in the world and my fourth year back this year only set it more into stone. If you are a lover of bass music or even think you could get into it, a visit to the Dubstep Disneyland is a must. The vibes of the attendees are hands down the most immaculate out of the countless festivals I’ve attended. We are all one tribe, as the stones placed carefully throughout the venue like to remind us.
This is a festival where lifelong friendships are made with strangers from across the country. This is where we gift one another with toy babies, finger puppets, and dinosaurs. This is where being freely you is not only accepted, but celebrated.
This is Lost Lands.
This is my home.
