The Best Of Panorama Music Festival 2016

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The music festival field is so incredibly crowded. Why would anyone want to introduce yet another weekend that costs hundreds of dollars into the already very congested field? Well, Panorama Music Festival was not phased by the competition and decided to forge ahead with their technology-tinged music festival this past weekend. Did it live up to the hype and is it worth tripping out to the Big Apple around this time next year? Here’s what worked (and a little of what didn’t).

Best: Merciful Shade

I know this isn’t about music specifically, but the first thing anyone who attended Panorama would tell you is that it was incredibly hot for all three days. Thankfully, two of the three stages were under some sort of cover. So, when you’re lucky enough to hear the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, you can thankfully enjoy the sounds of New Orleans without the sun beating down your back. Well, 66 percent of the time anyway.

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Best: Diplo Gave Straight Fire

But then again, sometimes the heat works in favor of the set. Despite some folks’ feelings on EDM or dance music in general at festivals, Major Lazer is readymade for these kinds of things. While I would initially say it was unfortunate that Diplo and co’s set was at the Panorama Stage (a.k.a. the one without any shade), the scorching temperatures actually added to the whole vibe of the set. It was dancehall and pyro and fireworks and twerkers and just all sorts of chaos. I wouldn’t stand in that heat for some weepy slowcore folk act, but I’ll dance in it.

Best: Brittany Howard Is The Real MVP

While watching Alabama Shakes crush their late evening set on Friday as the sun was finally setting, I had a peculiar passing thought: Why is Brittany Howard’s name rarely, if ever, mentioned among the best frontmen in rock right now? As a performer, she’s impossibly soulful and incredibly skilled — her magnetism onstage is unlike any other, and she’s been this way for about half a decade now. There is a very easy and obvious answer to this question, yes, and we do have to battle the scourge of sexism and racism (and every -ism) in the rock canon, but this is something that people can fix right now by treating themselves to an Alabama Shakes show and feeling the Earth move.

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Best: Major Keys

While standing in a packed, person-to-person pop-up parlor, fans started to grow restless while waiting for DJ Khaled after a long and hot first day. Rains of boos came down after being almost 20 minutes late to his set — along with a few failed chants that felt a little more uncomfortable. But as soon as the master motivator appeared, immediately all was forgotten. They didn’t want us to have a good time, so we had a good time. Khaled spent the majority of his set doing what he does best — serve as the ultimate hype man — while special guests like T.I., Fat Joe, and Remy Ma came out to give surprise mini-sets. All the while, Khaled (while shirtless, of course) spewed out affirmations that would help anyone in a time of crisis.

Best: …All A Part Of Your Balanced Festival

For its first outing, it must be mentioned that Panorama did a great job of booking all different genres. Pitchfork Music Festival had unassailable talent, but I was left wanting in terms of some genres like hip-hop and Americana (you know, the two genres that person you don’t want to date hates on their online profile). But Panorama did a fine job of spreading the wealth. There were fantastic rock sets from Silversun Pickups, White Lung, Caveman, The Julie Ruin, The National and a soaring closing set from Arcade Fire, but you also had ScHoolboy Q, A$AP Rocky, Run the Jewels or Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. It felt like there was something for everyone.

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Best: Is There Anything Anderson .Paak Can’t Do?

While I wanted to see Anderson .Paak last week during his Pitchfork set, there was a scheduling conflict with another act, so I had to miss out. I made sure that would not happen again at Panorama and I was handsomely rewarded. Perhaps out of all of the performers in the entire festival, Anderson had the most energy…period. He would effortlessly switch from crooning to rhyming, only to sprint full speed over to a drum-kit to sing and play at the same time. It was a full-on clinic and the set had everybody moving, thinking, and laughing. He was the ultimate showman, and my only regret is that I didn’t see him twice in two weeks.

Best: We Gon’ Be Alright

The chants started before Kendrick even showed up on stage. The expectations for this set were at stratospheric heights, and somehow Cornrow Kenny STILL delivered. In a robust set spanning from early stuff on Section 80 to opening the show with “Untitled 07 (Levitate),” the command Kendrick Lamar had over the crowd of thousands was wildly powerful. The visual element of his performance was also meticulously selected, with clips like footage from the “Malice in the Palace,” newsreels of 2pac, Prince, Muhammad Ali, and the perfectly utilized video of “F*ck it! We’ll do it live!” Bill O’Reilly playing behind “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe.” By the time “Alright” came around, and Kendrick asked the audience to unite in the spirit of the track, the crowd felt weightless.

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Best: Jewels Still Running

Day 3 of Panorama was possibly the hottest of the entire weekend. And after punishing temperatures and just the exhaustion that can come from attending dozens of mini concerts back-to-back, it can be difficult to get a rise out of a crowd during a day set. But luckily, Run the Jewels is the world’s favorite sh*t-starting rap duo, so despite the baked crowd (in more ways than one), Killer Mike and El-P crushed their set with faves like “Close Your Eyes and Count to F*ck,” “Blockbuster Night Pt. 1,” “Banana Clipper” and “Lie, Cheat, Steal.” (The latter was dedicated to the politicians still in the Presidential race, as you could imagine it would be.)

Best: Sia Hidden In Plain Sight

When it was first revealed that Sia would be on the bill in a headlining set, I was curious in how she would perform, given her choice to not show her face much in public. It turns out the answer to that is celebrities! While Sia walked to the side of the stage to a microphone, comedian Tig Notaro walked out on stage to perform in a diamond suit (no, not that diamond suit). But it turns out after a closer inspection, that this was a ruse — video footage was coordinated with actors and dancers to recreate the comic’s previously-filmed performance. The Tig was up (as we learned when a clip leaked earlier this year with Kristen Wiig, when the Wiig was up). But don’t let me give the impression that it was somehow a letdown after that; Sia’s vocal performance was ascendant and the many dancers who acted out the emotions the singer meant to express were evocative and touching. It was a set that sat with me and I had a feeling that those around me weren’t sure if it was art or BS, which is a fair question. But it was definitely something that was emotionally raw enough to confirm for me how brilliant of a work it was.

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Best: But I Was There…

LCD Soundsystem’s reunion garners two stark reactions from fans of the heavily-lauded group: you’re either happy to see them once again because you never caught them live or you shelled out hundreds (maybe thousands) to see one of their last shows and you’re furious. Well, when they took the stage to a hometown audience filled to as far as the eye could see, you couldn’t help but note the feeling of warmth from the crowd. A group like LCD Soundsystem is funny in that they serve sort of translators for dance music. What they do is take all of the great dance music of the past, funnel it through their genius, and spit it back out while listing all of their influences to boot.

I came across two different individuals prior to LCD taking the stage, both of whom were totally psyched to see them and justified in doing so, but also couldn’t be more different. One of which was a young guy, maybe early 20s, who drove from Cleveland specifically to see the band after discovering them when they were near their breakup. He knew all of their songs and told me what he’d hope they would play and how he’s learned so much about music from listening to them and dug deep into the crates. The other fan was a woman in her late 30s I was standing next to right before the show started and she had been an LCD/DFA fan from jump. She was there by herself and was excited to see the group again and relive those times. As she shuffled off to find some assistance to enjoy the show, I couldn’t help but feel these were the two sides to LCD’s classic track “Losing My Edge” — The kids coming up and the originals (who were kids once) giving up their ground. It was a cool feeling, and then they played “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House,” and all thoughts went out the window.

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