mexico, feral, 2 shows & a FIFA WIN.

we didn't clock we were flying into a world cup.

we landed on the tuesday, and that same night mexico played ecuador at the azteca — in the city we'd just touched down in. they won 2-0. their first knockout-stage win at a world cup in forty years. four decades of waiting, ended the night we landed.

the city went feral. horns, flags, strangers hugging strangers. we stood in the middle of it jetlagged and grinning. the bar for the week was set before we'd even seen a dj booth.

night one: mexico city

brutal mx. what got me first wasn't a drop or a light rig. it was the dance floor at 10pm, doors barely open, moving exactly like it was at 2am when DARK MATTER took the peak. no warm-up hour of people standing around with drinks. mexico arrives ready.

"english"

i don't speak spanish. didn't matter once, either night. someone would come up to talk and i'd say "sorry english", out came the phones, translation apps up, full conversations passing a screen back and forth. some of my favourite memories of the whole trip were made with people i didn't share a single word of language with.

before we flew, my mum gave me the classic "you have to be careful out there." but i'll say it plainly: i've rarely felt so safe, and never felt so welcome.

night two: guadalajara

my favourite night, and it wasn't close.

what ENVY built was simple but so effective — scaffolding and light, our FERAL neon sign in the middle of it. no LED-wall arms race. just a room built by someone who gets what a rave is supposed to feel like.

and this is the detail that says everything: there was no backstage. none. you dance where you want to dance — on the floor, on the platforms, on the tables. no VIP pen. one big family, and the family goes all night.

the receipts

i have never in my life taken photos of dj decks to ID tracks. in guadalajara i took a dozen — of lex digital's and nvxrrx's screens — because holy shit.

their sets aren't setlists, they're storylines. hard techno as the spine, then bounce, groove, even schranz woven through, and it never once felt choppy. lex played something like 80% his own tracks.

my phone album is literally called IDS.

coming back

none of this happens without navarro: nvxrrx on the lineup, the artist and owner behind ENVY, and the reason FERAL was in mexico at all. their bio says NEVER FAKE IT. after two nights, i can confirm they don't

we're coming back, i promise. see you at the next one 🤍