Review & Photos: A Full Friday At Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival
By L. Paul Mann Mar 5, 2016 • 11:28 am PST
Words & Images by: L. Paul Mann
Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival Day Two :: 3.4.16 :: Lake Okeechobee, Florida
View L. Paul’s Day Two photo gallery below his review. Head here for L. Paul’s photos and review of Thursday at Okeechobee.
Friday’s second day of the inaugural Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival began early for many attendees. A brisk overcast start to the day thankfully gave way to bouts of sunshine by mid-morning. Early birds were already performing group yoga exercises by the time that the thumping of EDM bass faded from the live music stages. Long lines developed early for pay showers and coffee stands. As the main stage area prepared to open at 11 a.m., word came down that the first-time festival had officially sold out after reaching a capacity of 30,000.
Aquachobee Beach became the early gathering point for many, taking advantage of the warm Florida sunshine and flocking to the beach by the artificial pond. Bikini clad girls hula-hooped in the sand, while a large number of the most adventurous festivalgoers took a plunge into the brown, swampy water. Most were oblivious to the DJ laying down ambient sounds on the nearby stage.
The main festival area opened just before noon and the most die-hard music fans rushed in to get the best spots in front of the three stages. It turned out there was really no need to arrive early for the 14 hours of music at the three main stages. Crowds were pleasantly light well into the late afternoon as many attendees took advantage of the beautiful weather engulfing the other villages.
Florida’s own Sunbears opened the festivities with a nice neo-psychedelic set of music. The Jacksonville band even had flowers adorning their equipment. The first band to illicit a fanatical response was the Brooklyn trio Moon Hooch. The two horn players and drummer laid down a loud tribal sound that registered well with the young EDM oriented crowd. The Oh Hellos had their crowd in a different dance crazed mode. The duo aided by their animated band brought elements of Arcade Fire and Mumford And Sons to their own distinct Americana sound. This band is fast becoming a festival favorite. Another festival staple band, Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath, brought their Latin sound to the Black Sabbath catalog and are always a fun live band.
Vermont quartet Twiddle provided their own twist on jam rock and also had the afternoon crowd pumped. Speaking of Vermont, Grace Potter was the first veteran act to grace the stage late afternoon and appears to step up her explosive live performance each tour. The animated vixen seems to spend more time on her Flying V guitar than her organ these days, but she plays both equally well. Her intense performance wowed the crowd. She was followed by the most veteran rocker at the festival, Robert Plant. The large crowd watched in almost mystical wonderment as the legendary Led Zeppelin frontman took his phenomenal jam band through the paces. His abbreviated Zeppelin jams were the biggest crowd pleasers. But many of the youngest in the crowd, at least most of the young girls, were at a different stage, literally swooning to the tunes of pop star, Niykee Heaton. As the young girls shrieked, Heaton commented, “Wow I didn’t think anybody would be here with Robert Plant playing over at the other stage. You must really love me.” That illicited an even bigger shriek from the young crowd.
Rapper Lil Dicky was the first bona fide rap star of the day to play in the early evening and judging by the response, the young crowd has a real affinity with the genre. Later, Brooklyn rapper Joey Badass brought the hip-hop sound to another level with a large crowd gyrating and singing along. Classic rockers Hall And Oates attracted a large, multi-generational crowd and pleased the crowd with their guitar skills and campy, classic rock hits. RL Grime was greeted by the first huge EDM crowd at a main stage. At the same time, one of the best performances of the night went largely unnoticed except for the lucky few who entered over to the stage. With the incessant thumping of the EDM bass in the background, from RL Grimes set, Kamasi Washington took the stage. With a brilliant band of seasoned jazz musicians, Washington led the ensemble with his amazing saxophone skills into jazz/rock/jam territory previously uncharted. Reminiscent of great jazz legends like Miles Davis and Billy Cobham, but with a modern twist, this was the most musically talented band of the night and possibly of the whole festival.
As the midnight hour fell, the biggest crowd of the night descended on Bassnectar and his ear-shattering, bass-heavy EDM sound. A spectacular light show lit up the frenzied audience, many looking like metal thrasher fans in the way they fiercely swung their heads to the thick bass beat. The other stages featured late night sets heavy on the jam including on from Alaska’s Portugal. The Man, who played their fierce, rock-laden psych jams. But the set by consulate funk band Lettuce was even more intense, with young EDM fans stumbling over after Bassnectar’s set ended. As the early morning hours wore on, the most hardy EDM fans sauntered over to the jungle for a surreal EDM experience surrounded by an awesomely lit Florida grove.
The Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival continues on Saturday with performances from Dr. Dog, The Soul Rebels, Big Gigantic, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Skrillex, the PoWoW! SuperJam and many others.
