When we heard that Donald Glover aka. Childish Gambino was holding his mysterious annual “festival-event” Pharos in New Zealand this year (and New Zealand only), we knew we had to get tickets. The show which happened between 23-24 November 2018 was mysterious from the outset with information drip fed slowly since tickets were released. The hype was effective and I have been asked non-stop questions about what it was like. With very few photos taken, I thought it easiest to write a quick and honest review of Pharos NZ. It was a mixed bag. Heres my experience.
Build-Up
Tickets were released back in February and at $200 per person, they were not cheap. But hey this was going to be a one-off event like no other so we splashed the cash! You had to download the Pharos app on to your phone to buy a ticket and this was shown at the entrance when we went into the festival site. A little bit contradictory to the whole “no phones vibe” that was required when entering the huge inflatable dome on the site where Gambino performed.
No Phones
The no phones in the dome was good though. This really got you immersed in what was going on on stage as well as staring upwards to look at the amazing projections on the roof of the dome. The projections were nature vibes and filled the entire dome, it was cool – I haven’t seen a move impressive light show before.
Wondering what happened to our phones? We put them in a little pouched that locked with a magnet type thing and kept them in our bags during the performance. When we left the dome this pouch was unlocked and returned to the ushers.
The Dome
Within the huge (difficult to describe) dome igloo tent thing, Gambino performed on a circular stage in the centre with his band and dancers. Make no bones about it, he was spectacular as a performer. He performed some new songs as well as all the hits. His voice is incredible and his energy infectious. I would go so far to say as he is one of the best performers I have ever seen live. The dancers and backing singers were also incredible.
Despite this world-class performance, the part that didn’t quite work for me was the circular stage. Gambino had to constantly rotate around the stage by pretty much running to make sure all sides of the dome got to watch him. This meant that quite a lot of the time, you were waiting for him to come round to your bit – I’m sure this was justified by the fact that you could see the amazing projections the whole time – but personally, I wanted to see more of him.
Getting into the dome was a bit hectic as there was a double door system and only ten could go in at a time. This meant that there was a very long queue leading up to performance time at 9 o’clock. Luckily we had had some advice from friends who had been the night before, not to join the queue as there were no “good spots” in the dome. This was definitely the case and we were glad to be some of the last inside the dome. Although this felt contrary to every other concert ever so felt a bit strange!
I did read that some had complained about the fact that the noise was too much inside the dome and that there wasn’t any water in the tent. I could imagine you would miss water if you had been inside first, but it was easy to slip in and out of the tent during the performance if you needed those things. No bar, no queuing and no phones inside the dome made it WAY better in my opinion.
The Festival
Only Childish Gambino performed in the dome, all the other artists performed outside on a stage. There was one stage with a lineup of DJs. Great for a dance but I had been quietly hoping for some famous guests!
The festival itself was fairly lacklustre. The site was pretty damn muddy cos of all the rain and there weren’t a whole lot of cool areas to chill. Mainly it was food stalls and bars. There was one screen showing films and a couple of “immersive art” rooms including a meditation space that we tried. however, it wasn’t easy to meditate when you could only have two minutes due to the huge queue.
Not being allowed any of our own food and drink into the site was a bit disappointing considering the cost of things there but then people need to make money I suppose! It just missed a little festival chill vibe – although I was grateful for this when I managed to get an almost full night sleep in our little tent at the campsite.
Arriving was pretty easy, but we left at 6 am the next morning as we knew that some serious rainstorms were coming and we wanted to avoid the mud-fest! The location Tapapakanga Regional Park was stunning, Donald Glover definitely chose a great place to perform. I was wondering why he chose NZ out of all the places in the world he could have chosen, but I think he just chose it because he wanted to visit. And why wouldn’t he!
Frequency Colour
The “frequency colour” was Green. This was quite fun as it gave me an excuse to wear a green antique gown of my Grandma’s that I’ve never had a chance to wear before. It was also nice to see everyone wearing the same colour – sort of unifying in a weird way. A little bit cheesy maybe!
My Thoughts
So, I hope this post hasn’t sounded too negative or complain-y but I just wanted to share what it was like for those who want to know! As with most things, I’m sure others would have had a really different experience, so I’d love to hear what you thought if you were there too.
All in all, it was an AMAZING show with some pretty magical aspects. I loved the lack of phones, bar and distractions during the performance and the sweet projections. I think if I saw him again though, I’d rather see him in a regular concert venue and lose all the extras. Maybe I’m just too stuck in my ways these days!
P.S Sorry my photos aren’t great. I wasn’t preoccupied with taking them!
Thanks for reading and come back soon!
Feel free to have a look at some of my other posts:
A Buy Local Wellington Gift Guide
16 Fun Date Ideas in Wellington
My Top 5 Wellington Cheap Eats
You can follow me for updates on Instagram @lostinsilverfern Twitter @lostsilverfern and Facebook @lostinsilverfern and subscribe using the form below.
Josie x
[mc4wp_form id=”1562″]