The XLive festival last weekend at Genting’s Outdoor Theme Park showcased some great sounds and excellent live action.

LAST Saturday’s much-anticipated XLive festival may have gotten off to something of a slow start, but in the end, thanks to some of the scintillating live performances and storming deejay sets on display, the event managed to live up to the hype.

With a delayed opening of over an hour and something of a muted atmosphere at the site for a few of the opening acts (probably due to the festival site opening much later than advertised), the XLive festival took a little time to warm up. But as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait and for those that managed to stick around, the reward was a rocking party scene that carried on into the night.

Missy Elliot working the crowd during her performance at the XLive festival in Genting Highlands.

Organised by Pervert Music and presented by Xpax by Celcom, the festival site – the Genting Outdoor Theme Park – was divided into three open-air arenas, the XLive Main Stage, XL-TRONIC and XLR8. Each arena saw international, regional and local artists, deejays and live acts sharing the stage.

Besides being the first outdoor music festival to be held at Genting since 2004, XLive festival was also historical in that it was the first time that a music event of such magnitude was held in its outdoor theme park.

With a venue capacity in excess of 20,000 people and the cool highlands weather, the sprawling XLive festival site was certainly a great location for a massive outdoor party.

Between the three stages, around 15,000 partygoers made the trip to Genting to attend the festival.

For most of these revellers, XLive Main Stage, located at The Avenue of the Stars, was the place to hang with the irresistible Missy Elliot top lining a bill that grooved with a distinct hip-hop and R ’n’B flavour.

Supporting Elliot on the mainstage were two local hip-hop attractions, namely turntablists Stylustiks and Spaceship, featuring DJ Goldfish, Soul-funk band Maliq & D’Essentials and nu-jazz/pop progenitors Parkdrive.

But really, the night was all about one performer – Missy Elliot – and thankfully she did not disappoint.

Missy Elliot appeared on stage sporting an 80s fringe bob hair do and decked out in regulation bling, expensive looking sports wear and black hoodie with a message that read ‘Shake Ya Pom Poms’.

Although the charismatic diva queen of rap’s late, late arrival on stage had threatened to put a slight damper on proceedings, her quirky, entertaining performance turned out to be a truly unforgettable experience.

Any negative thoughts brought about by the energy-sapping wait for the main attraction were instantly banished the minute Elliot – sporting an 80s fringe bob hair do and decked out in regulation bling, expensive looking sports wear and black hoodie with a message that read ‘Shake Ya Pom Poms” – made her usual attention-grabbing appearance on stage.

Appearing suddenly from behind a red curtain having been carried on stage atop a covered sedan chair, the Grammy Award Winner wasted no time in working the crowd with mischievous glee, all while executing her precision rhymes with effortless ease.

Watching her do her thing, there certainly was no doubting just who the star of the show was.

Elliot proved a hugely arresting performer.

Whipping the crowd into frenzy like a seasoned professional, the all-rhyming, all-dancing rap superstar had the punters eating out of her hand.

Elliot’s jaw-dropping show could be best described as over-the-top.

As subtle as a brick through a window, her live act combined all the thrills and adrenaline rush of a slickly choreographed rap party with elements of comedic theatre, making for an aural and visual extravaganza.

There were as many as 14 flamboyant and attractive dancers of both sexes busting moves everywhere on stage, illusionists, plenty of audience interaction from a playful Missy, deafening pyrotechnics, raining confetti, fire sticks, props, costume changes ... and this was only in the opening few songs!

Her in-your-face approach proved hugely popular with the audience as they transformed the main floor of The Arena of the Stars into a heaving mass of grooving bodies.

On the music front, Elliott stuck to familiar territory and rolled out the hits. So what you got was infectiously catchy reworked versions of her hits Work It, Get Ur Freak On and Pass The Dutch.

At regular intervals, the deejay would then grind the music to a halt, allowing Elliott to take centerstage and indulge in some hilarious audience banter and tomfoolery.

Taking off her snazzy, blinged out sneakers and offering it up as a prize for the audience member who could jump the highest at one point during the show, the rapper managed to conjure up some wild scenes on the dance floor.

Away from the main stage, there were also plenty of sonic thrills to be had over at the XLR8 stage where progressive, experimental and edgy dance music was very much the order of the day and the vibe in the crowd extremely cordial, to say the least.

Although big-name headliner Dan The Automater – he of Gorrilaz and Handsome Boy Modelling School fame – had cancelled his scheduled appearance at this arena at the 11th hour, citing illness, there was still enough great music being played here throughout the night.

Local indie stalwarts Twilight Actiongirl set the ball rolling in the right direction with an adventurous set that attempted to fuse hard-hitting electro grooves with the odd indie anthem thrown in for good measure.

The only disappointing thing about their performance was the fact there was hardly a crowd there to enjoy it.

Combining their love for kitschy electro with winsome indie melodies, Indonesian trio Goodnight Electric all proved an excellent live act.

Decked out in matching red Adidas tracksuits and sunglasses, the band definitely had the look, the songs as well as the attitude. In the end, their anthemic Depeche Mode-meets-New Order sound succeeded in drawing more party people to the arena.

Also impressing on the night was local deejay B4C, whose wicked funky combination of clean breakbeats and funky techno turned out to be a winning one. Think The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett and The Propellerheads and you’ll be somewhere in the ballpark as far as B4C’s sound is concerned.

Rounding off the night in rousing fashion was popular nu-rave duo LapSap, featuring Mr Puah and 5ft, who turned in a glorious, celebratory set of thumping techno and electro which managed to get everyone smiling right until the end of the event.

Over at the XL-TRONIC stage – situated way on the other side of the huge festival site – popular Japanese trance guru DJ Yoji seemed to have things well in control during his set, with female fans dancing on stage and the crowd on the floor grooving intently to his hypnotic beat.

Although the XLive festival did experience some teething problems (what new festival doesn’t?), the event turned out to be a truly enjoyable experience with lots of excellent music and live performances to go round.

With the weather holding out nicely and the crowd in good spirits, an excellent time was definitely had by most partygoers who made the effort to attend.

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