If Outlook Festival 2011 confirmed anything, it was that dubstep is this generation's rock & roll. Like grunge, britpop and garage before it, every few years a new kind of music becomes the soundtrack to the young people growing up at that time. A few years ago, barring a few pioneering nights like FWD>> and Subdub, dubstep DJs were mostly confined to the second room at a larger Drum & Bass event, or as a warm up sets for an evening. I think back then most people would've thought the idea of Benga playing out on a Festival's main stage to over 5000 people somewhat ludicrous- but that’s how it turned out at Outlook.

The Outlook site is definitely unique. When it comes to festivals, especially in the UK, we are usually treated to an expanse of flat land with large tents and stages erected around the site as the organisers see fit. Outlook takes place in Fort Punta Christa and the surrounding area. Just outside of Pula the fort dates back to the 1800s and although slightly worn out over the years, is in surprisingly good nick. If this site was in the UK it would certainly be a listed building and probably under the care of the National Trust. Luckily for us the Croatian authorities don't seem to mind a load of English folk turning up with improbably large soundsystems and turning it into Europe's largest Bass Music festival.

As has become the norm for daytime entertainment at European festivals, Outlook commandeered a whole fleet of boats for some high seas partying, all kicking off on Thursday afternoon with the Hit & Run boat party, featuring an awesome lineup of Indigo & Synkro, Chimpo, Versa, The Steppahs and Rich Reason. Everyone was superb and the atmosphere electric- a fitting start to the proceedings- topped off by a quadruple rewind of Chimpo's anthem 'Gaza' - keep an eye out for the True Tiger Remix, a heavy rework of an already weighty tune!

In previous years the festival took place exclusively at the fort. There was an expanse of land down by the harbour but this was only used for the docking of the aforementioned boat parties. This year saw that land utilised to create 2 new enormous 'festival-style' stages, which turned out to be the main two for the event. The fort's limited capacity clearly not large enough for the ambitious promoters. On the huge main stage, we were treated to a mixture of live acts and big DJs. Things kicked off in the best possible style with reggae legend David Rodigan doing what he does best stirring the immense crowd to a fever pitch with his unique banter and huge dubplates. Following on from him I caught Jamie XX much later in the night, supported by Manchester’s own Broke 'n £nglish on the mics. As a DJ, Jamie is getting better and better and his climax of Gil Scott Heron collaboration 'Far Nearer' was a crescendo to the opening night. In between these two, I caught our own First Lady of Drum & Bass, Jenna G, performing on the Moat stage. The Moat was exactly what it sounds like: a stage constructed at one end of a large channel which used to be the fort's moat- resulting in a high sided, long arena with excellent sound reinforcement, and Jenna made it her own performing all her classic tracks and new material.

By Friday the festival was in full swing. To keep everybody happy in the daytime Outlook has a beach stage which played out to the sunbathing masses each afternoon. Friday afternoon saw a set from Example favourite Chimpo, with partner in rhyme Strategy on the mic. Its testament to their local and growing national reputation that they gathered the biggest audience seen on the beach all weekend with big party tunes and Strats' impeccable freestyling. This was followed up by J-Star & Shepdog a.k.a. Nice Up Soundsytem. Their reggae/hip hop mash-ups were perfect for the sunny afternoon, be sure to track down their stunning reggae rework of 'Show Me Love'.

Friday night saw the 'second' Dock Stage taken over for the night by the mighty DMZ crew. I arrived to the funky sounds of Quest & Silkie who, as early as they were on, were a real highlight, only really matched by Mala's set later on. Throughout the festival, the quality of the line-up was such that there was always about 3 people on worth watching at any one time, making seeing everything you wanted difficult at times, but that’s nothing to complain about really! Friday saw what was once the festival's main arena in the fort playing host to an Autonomic showcase. It’s great to see the minimal, experimental styles championed by labels such as Mindset, Exit and Blackout, gaining such increasing popularity. I also managed to catch one of the best Drum & Bass producer and DJs of the moment in S.P.Y. playing to a packed out moat- in fact security had to limit the capacity of the venue to keep it safe for everyone. Smash hits 'By Your Side' and his remix of 'Terminator' had everyone skanking to full effect, it was a show which would take some beating!

By Saturday night, the legs were tiring, and the dust kicked up by trekking around the site was clearly taking it's toll on the festival-goers, with many donning surgical masks and hankerchiefs to ward it off. The line up, however, was relentless in its quality and consistency and so we soldiered on! There was an unofficial Manchester takeover of the Ballroom and Dungeon stages early on, featuring Bastian & Swede, Dom Hz and The Steppahs all playing out early on, with a later set from Biome, which was as dark and heavyweight as we've come to expect from him- cementing his reputation to a wider audience. Biome certainly deserves a lot more recognition on the dubstep circuit. Before Biome though there was the small matter of a festival headliner...

Pharoahe Monch, an absolute legend on the hip hop scene for years now, made what mustve been the biggest surprise of the festival's line up. Everyone expected the biggest names in dubstep but this was a rare treat. A dark warning of the future played out and Pharoahe emerged to a huge crowd him and his band wearing gas masks. He whipped it off and launched straight into his intro tune. The following hour was a superb mix of both his older, more gangsta material like ‘Fuck You’ and later soulful cuts such as ‘Desire’ and ‘Push’. The real highlight came towards the end of the set with a tribute to Nate Dogg culminating in his part of ‘Oh No’, undoubtedly one of the greatest hip hop tunes of all time, followed by his breakthrough smash ‘Simon Says’ to finish- truly epic. Foreign Beggars had a big act to follow but their energetic style and sublime lyricism kept everyone happy. In need of more energy, a quick wander to the dock stage provided a DJ set from Spectrasoul and a perfect demonstration of everything good about shogun audio. Following the aforementioned Biome there was just enough time to catch Benga on the main stage before a special guest. Speculation had ran all day and id heard it was every one from Rusko to De la Soul who would be playing. As it turned out it was Adam F, probably the only let down of the festival. It went down well with many but I just see it as a disappointment when the man who wrote 'Colours', one of the most sublime and influential drum and bass records of all time, resorting to making and playing out really generic dubstep.

On Sunday, the sea was calling again so I managed to get on the Tectonic boat party- featuring Pinch, Jack Sparrow, Addison Groove and Distance b2b Cyrus this was definitely one of the most forward thinking boat line-ups. Of particular note was Jack Sparrows new material which was surprisingly heavy and dark ala Biome, but as well produced as you would expect from JS. I also have to shout out the MC Juakali who got comically drunk as the boat progressed, proceeding to get the crowd to shout Addison Groove’s real name (Tony) until the mic was prised from his hands by Dread MC, much to Distance’s relief!

Back on dry land and the last night of the festival had crept up far too quickly. Thoughts of an impending journey back to Manchester and reality were creeping into mind. It was time to make the most of the time we had left! Sunday afternoon and evening saw some intermittent but heavy rain showers come down upon the site, but although it managed to dampen the dust down it didn’t dampen the raver’s spirits. The temperature was still comfortably warm and anyone who has attended a UK festival would’ve experienced much worse weather! 

So we danced in the rain to Shy FX and the Digital Soundboy Crew, mixing dubstep and drum & bass in the most party conscious way. A final trip to the fort to check out Mungo’s Hifi Arena- a room in the fort kitted out with the infamous Mungo’s Soundsystem. This system is both beautifully constructed and sonically perfect, although do try and get some earplugs if you’re ever going to get up close to it- loud is an understatement where Mungo’s is concerned. Escaping from the rain, I delved to the dungeon for a rave. North Base’s Prophecy was playing out his new 140 rave music. Rain and sweat was dripping from the ceiling as the North Base remix of Ms Dynamite’s ‘Neva Soft’ smashed it and more North Base releases are in the pipeline which are well worth looking out for. 

As a final outing of the night, I headed to see MJ Cole but unfortunately he hadn’t turned up. I wasn’t too concerned as to why though because his set was taken by a surprise back to back show from Skream and Hatcha, with Chunky on the mic. Everyone was suitably excited by this and the crowd gave one last surge of energy. The icing on the cake was an exclusive first listen to a Skream & Redlight collaboration which should be huge once released.

Outlook 2011 was at an end, the festival goer thoughts turned to the journey home and the following week saw my Facebook news feed swamped by endless moaning about wanting to be back: clearly it had made a great impression. It is a festival which will only get bigger as the music it champions forces itself into the mainstream media’s playlists. I know many have booked for next year already and I for one can’t wait to do so either. Outlook 2012 has some serious standards to live up to, but, somehow, I think they will be able to manage it.