North Coast Music Festival Sat Sep 05 2015

North Coast: Day One in Review

North Coast Music Festival 2015 (photos by Rena Naltsas)

North Coast Music Festival brought about an eclectic variety of musical acts amid the sweltering heat in Union Park for its first of its three-day reign. From the helter-skelter light shows of EDM sets, to a bit of funk, to standout hip-hop acts, the first day of North Coast presented festgoers with some stellar offerings, with much more to come throughout the remainder of this glorious Labor Day weekend celebration.

North Coast Music Festival 2015 (photos by Rena Naltsas)

Dirty Dozen Brass Band

I had a feeling NCMF is more of a late night crowd, so I was unsurprised but nonetheless disappointed at the small crowd at the beginning of Dirty Dozen Brass Band's set. The band has so much history and is near the top of the people I think of when New Orleans jazz. However small the crowd, which towards the end became a little bigger, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band put it all on stage and got the day started with some danceable tunes.

Throughout the set there were a few issues with one of the trumpet mics, especially Efrem Towns', but luckily they were on when Towns played both his trumpet and flugelhorn at the same time in a glorious presentation. Renditions and jams of the Temptation's "Papa was a Rollin' Stone" and James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" were utterly great, brightening up the already grooving crowd. One of the biggest highlights occurred about halfway through their set. The band dispersed one by one, giving each member a small moment to shine including Takeshi Shimmura whose guitar skills were impeccable Ultimately drummer Julian Addison was left alone on stage where he gave a monstrous drum solo that was pure magic, carrying the crowd with his lightning quick movements.

While Kirk Joseph strutted at the back of the stage with his sousaphone, Kevin Harris and Gregory Davis brought out women from backstage. They used their names to get a call and response going which actually worked quite well despite the size of the crowd. They ended their set with Roger Lewis taking the lead on "Dirty Old Man", taking the song to heart and having fun dancing with the women from backstage.
-Julian Ramirez

North Coast Music Festival 2015 (photos by Rena Naltsas)

Wale

I have to admit, part of the reason I like Wale to this day is riding on his initial mixtape releases. The Mixtape About Nothing and Back to the Feature were fantastic introductions that lead into "proper" albums that never quite lived up to the magic he had in his beginnings. However, I'm glad I listened on and made my way to his set, because it was the highlight of day one.

After an incredibly short intro to set the show up, Wale ran out to the stage so full of energy that the stage simply couldn't hold him. Seriously, Wale couldn't stage on stage throughout the show as he jumped in the crowd multiple times, never letting his furious flow drop. Between his ventures out into the audience, Wale moonwalked and dashed back and forth on stage, getting the crowed hyped up incredibly easily. His call of "turn the fuck up" was great with more than eager response. I think the biggest reason his set was so good was the combination of a DJ and live band backing Wale. Songs like "Girls on Drugs" and "Lacefrontin'"had a fuller sound thanks to the bass guitar and two drum sets.

Wale returned for his what more or less would be his encore riding a handleless Segway with a white leather Intercontinental title on his shoulder. It was the nerdiest and most fitting entrance for the rapper who references Seinfeld episodes at the drop of hat. He tore through "The White Shoes" and "The Guilty Pleasure" with the same drive he had at the beginning of the set, reminding me why I still listen to Wale and will undoubtedly continue to do so.
-Julian Ramirez

Exmag

As I was making a lap around Union Park, taking in the sights of stilt walkers and countless hula hoop dancers, I stumbled across the 847 stage while Exmag were playing. I wasn't particularly familiar with them, but after seeing them I really wouldn't mind hearing more.
When I first encountered their sound I was taken aback by the dark and almost brooding nature of the songs, not exactly what you'd expect the NCMF crowd to be bumping to. But within moments I was hooked by the surprising complexity of Exmag. They embrace the modern electronic aesthetic without being redundant. The mixture of guitar and keys underlined by some very heavy and sometimes funky production never gets too repetitive or boring. At times it feels like R&B before twisting into dark rock and then settling on hip hop vibes. Some of the tracks laden with rap verses left me a little cold, but the more atmospheric and ambient moments had the crowd reeling for more.

This being my first NCMF, I was completely unprepared for the intensity of the light shows and sound bleed I would be experiencing. The latter of Exmag's set was rife with the two and honestly almost knocked me out for the night. Luckily I was able to continue on.
-Julian Ramirez

North Coast Music Festival 2015 (photos by Rena Naltsas)

Widespread Panic

As I crossed Lake Street and headed towards the main entrance to North Coast on Ashland Avenue I encountered all the typical trappings of a Widespread Panic concert. Ashland Avenue smelled like a head shop and wafts of patchouli and shwag stung my nose and overwhelmed my lungs. I coughed like I had just taken my first hit. I could hear Widespread Panic's famous drawn out jams long before I arrived at the gate and was amused by the sporadic bass drops from the next stage over that interrupted the aging hippies set. "Let the culture wars (EDM vs. Jam) begin!" I thought to myself.

As someone who doesn't care much for EDM or jam music, my primary function on this opening evening was merely to observe and I chose to post up at Widespread. I've seen Widespread Panic a few times (as all good Southern stoners do) and this was by far the smallest crowd I'd ever seen them attract. Perhaps my favorite overheard statement came from a teenager in a bucket hat who turned to his friend and said, "I don't like this sh*t at all!" as they fled the stage and headed over to Knife Party.

There's something unsettling about seeing Widespread Panic at a "come one come all"- type festival. Widespread Panic isn't a band, it's a culture and a history replete with many of its own traditions. Which is why their shows work best when there are no distractions and the like-minded fans can be amongst themselves. When a Widespread Panic show is flanked by monster bass drops, some of the magic is lost and the insular culture is shattered - an effect that many of the fans and the members of Widespread Panic seemed to notice as well. The band gave it their best effort though and played straight through their as-promised 2 and 1/2 hour set, packed with plenty of an awesome solos and a stellar 25 minute drum off, but it was still a shrunken performance.
-Abigail Covington