The enthusiastic early arrivals quickly learned that the in-and-out privileges were not just nice but a much-needed necessity because the dining options left much to be desired. Day one of the festival saw multiple stages marred with technical issues. Allan Rayman‘s set perhaps took most of these issues with constant mic feedback and the tech crew fiddling around with on-stage amplifiers throughout his set. 

Despite the tech issues and the sparse crowd, Rayman’s performance persevered all that was stacked up against his early set. Decked out in a white t-shirt branded after his latest record release, The All Allan Hour, he worked through a series of songs from his latest record and a handful of early fan favourites like “Madhouse,” “Tennessee,” and “13“. Rayman’s performances are very animated and tend to draw you into the narrative, so to no surprise by the second half of his set the grassy patches were packed with the nodding crowds who followed the sound from across the park and past the still inactive brand booths.

Sudan Archives was next on this mid-sized stage and by now the sound issues have been mostly resolved. Accompanied by her violin and dressed in a striking, skin-tight, one-piece bodysuit Brittney Denise Parks gave a captivating midday set. Sudan Archives, who effortlessly blends experimental R&B with traditional African music, energetically performed some of her most popular music from the Athena and Natural Brown Prom Queen albums. 

As the afternoon wore on, T-Pain, who had just arrived at the festival 20 minutes before his set due to travel issues, brought his blend of autotune, R&B, and hip-hop to one of the two main stages. The singer and rapper began his set performing a string of his features before shifting into songs from his discography, such as “Buy You A Drank, “I’m In Love With A Stripper” and “I’m Sprung“. Known for his dancing abilities and playful stage presence, the talented artist gave one of the more memorable performances this Friday.

The constant flow of electronic music at Wonderfront can always be found at the BMP Sessions Electric Lounge. Tucked away behind various activations the stage was fully walled off from the rest of the festival. Attendees lounged on couches, bean bags, and rugs spread around the area all directed up at the tropically themed stage with the DJ set deep into the weeds. Mer Bear and Loesch were the dance highlights sampling the old house classics and remixing the radio favourites (like “Sweet Disposition”).

As the sun began its descent the festival grounds buzzed with anticipation for Brooklyn native Joey Bada$$. From the beginning of his hour-long set to the end, fans rapped along, word-for-word, to the likes of “Temptation” and “Paper Trail”. Despite his mic and sound being too low, Joey Bada$$ effortlessly reminded everyone why he is a critically acclaimed lyricist. 

Taking to the stage immediately following Joey Bada$$ was JID, who proceeded to give a lyrical masterclass with his intricate wordplay and blend of the hip-hop sound of “old” and “new”. JID’s lyrical finesse was so poignant and expressive that I unconsciously found myself frowned up – in a good way – and yelling, “That man is spittin’!” during his performances of “Crack Sandwich,” “Dance Now,” and “Workin’ Out”. 

Producer, songwriter, and DJ extraordinaire Kaytranada was set to close out the festival Friday. Elevated above the stage with a multitude of bright lights spotlighting the artist this performance looked promising to the eye. Sadly, the tech issues continued through his set, and with the record-breaking attendance of mixed-age fans chatting up a storm it was impossible to hear Kaytranada unless you were standing in the moshpit by the stage. His set sounded low and isolated, like a mutated YouTube performance in the other room.  Typically, Kaytranada’s music makes one want to dance and sing along but today through no fault of his own Kaytranada’s set was hard to enjoy.

But with the new day came a new set of performances and a new set of fans. Legendary reggae band Steel Pulse has the ability to connect with audiences across generations through their music and these fans came out on Saturday ready to play. The hot afternoon sun made an appearance creating an ideal atmosphere for a reggae performance. Steel Pulse took to the stage ten minutes later than scheduled due to a few more technical issues but once the music started flowing it didn’t stop. Performing some of their most timeless songs like,  “Your House,” “Steppin’ Out,” and “Rally Round,” Steel Pulse reminded attendees how influential music is in bringing people together, uplifting positivity, and speaking out against injustice. Steel Pulse was a deeply appreciated segway into The Roots. 

To no surprise, The Roots delivered perhaps the best performance of the entire weekend – with Steel Pulse coming in a close second, of course. The band is notorious for not shortchanging fans during live shows as they perform the entirety of any given song, not a shortened version like many artists do. Their hour-long set included the likes of “The Next Movement,” “The Seed,” and “You’ve Got Me” – all performed in their entirety and some even extended versions. The latter of which the lead singing vocals were sung by guitarist Captain Kirk who interweaved covers of Sade, Donna Summer, Led Zeppelin, and Ini Kamoze into the song along with his guitar solo extending the song to nearly ten minutes. 

The Roots are storytellers by nature. Each instrument, including Black Thoughts’ lyrical prowess, tells its own story that, in turn, contributes holistically to the broader story. Each instrumentalist was given an opportunity to shine in the spotlight through various solos and each story (song)  transitioned to the next effortlessly and smoothly, with no breaks. Performing for 60 minutes under the warm California sun, The Roots set celebrated the music that laid their foundation: jazz, hip hop, R&B, soul, blues, and funk. 

BMP Sessions Electric Lounge continued the good vibes rolling throughout the weekend with rhythmic sets by Lincoln Jesser and the non-stop dance tracks by Future is Golor Takeover featuring DJ Xica Soul and Luen.

While on one side of the park, folks were singing along to Beck for many the weekend came to a blissful end with a chill set by Norway’s Orions Belte who lulled us into the evening with their instrumental performance.

Looking back at Wonderfront Music Festival the lineup was certainly the biggest highlight, but the way the festival grounds became too tight for the people present on day one immediately took away from the experience. Paired with the technical issues that came and went with different acts, some sets felt completely lost in the noise.

And then, of course, there was the food that was somehow under and over cooked all at the same time; no shade to the vendors as they did not seem set up for success. However, the astronomical price markup of these quick meals did not stand a chance to what was available in the nearby restaurants.

Wonderfront came with high promises and expectations but somehow failed to live up to most of them. So, here is to hoping that next year the focus will be as strong on ensuring quality sound and guest experience as it was on taking the attendees for their hard-earned money.

The post The highs and lows of Wonderfront Music and Arts Festival appeared first on Quip Magazine.

The lineup alone will showcase some of the hottest breakout artists and established industry names across rock, hip-hop, EDM, pop, Americana, and reggae, to name a few of the genres. Throughout this three-day festival concert goers will feast their eyes on the likes of Keytranada, Channel Tres, T-Pain, Milky Chance, Dayglow, Beck, MK, Joey Bada$$, Sudan Archives, Dominic Fike, Poolside, The Roots, and Action Bronson with Dr. Bachlava & the Human Growth Hormone. These few names make up hardly half of the complete festival lineup.

But Wonderfront is not just a music festival, according to its founders this event is a complete lifestyle experience. The afterparty events will spread across multiple in venues in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter and Little Italy. The attendees will also have the option to opt in for a few exclusive excursions including yacht parties, cruises, and sunset sails while enjoying local culinary bites and craft beers.

The upgraded VIP experience will have lounge areas next to the main stage, access to a VIP Limo Boat for harbor party cruises with a front-row view of both main stages, and VIP Hideaway Lounge space inside a new EDM Dance Club for an exclusive open-air club.

In anticipation of the event we had a few questions for the Wonderfront CEO, Paul Thornton, lets get into it!

Quip: How did Wonderfront begin, what was the initial spark? 

Paul Thornton: I attended the Univ of San Diego and always had an affinity for creating unique events in this great city. Ernie Hahn was a San Diego native who never left and ran the Arena which his family owned. Brad Raulston was another long-time friend and San Diego native who joined forces to help open the right doors. Together at industry functions the conversations began, then the dream turned into planning, then researching and outreach to find the right venue, then finally having found the perfect spot it was negotiating with the Port of San Diego for the use of their beautiful waterfront park. And from there it was off to the races to make it happen.

At the time [we] started this quest there was no true large-scale San Diego festival, and [we] believed it was well past time to change that – but it had to be a venue experience that captured San Diego, not just another stadium, or field that didn’t truly represent the unique features and culture that is San Diego.

Q: What can people expect from the after-parties and club shows?

PT: Wonderfront has some great iconic venue partners in the market, including The Belly Up, The Music Box, and The Casbah – all have been wonderful supporters and partners in making Wonderfront happen – and as part of Wonderfront their venues host some great after parties where fans can continue their night and get up close and personal in these great venues with some of the big names on the festival.

Q: How will the craft beer and culinary experiences be integrated into the festival?

PT: Wonderfront has a craft beer village setup featuring some great craft brands, and the setting is amazing when you grab a great craft beer and sit at a picnic table within feet of the water with an amazing view of the harbor and North Island. The setting is spectacular, you literally watch the massive Navy ships come by the park shores so close you look up and feel like you can touch them.  The festival also brings in local restaurant owners to feature different specialty food options, and of course, it wouldn’t be a San Diego festival if we didn’t have a great Tacos & Tequila setup.

Q: Yacht parties, cruises, and sunset sails – this all sounds fantastic! When will they be taking place and how can people book those experiences?

PT: We have more intimate party boat experiences this year, with a VIP limo boat and other party catboats that take short harbor cruises around the main stages, with featured cocktail concoctions, and the sunset tours are special. Plus, we have great discount deals for any of the days that folks are in town to work with our partners at Flagship Cruises for brunch and sunset cruises, and the amazingly fun Seals land & sea cruise.

Q: Do you have any favourite stories from the past editions of Wonderfront? 

PT: The Crew party at the end is amazing because this is such a short window we are allowed to set up for this event and load out by, then it takes a truly dedicated team to make this event happen, it is a very complex setup being on the waterfront in the heart of downtown San Diego that is already so busy.  So when the crew gets to take that final breath of relief and have a drink and some fun, they dance for hours on their adrenaline fumes buzz… It’s pretty special to be part of such a great team [cover image].

Another story is we laughed (after the fact, was very stressful when it was happening) about how we marketed how nice it is to have the airport and train stops so close, literally the airport one mile away and the train stops two blocks from our entrance gates. So easy for people to come to the festival…. but in 2019 we had a big performer who was stuck with travel delays and we weren’t informed until it was late in the afternoon, we were scrambling to figure out what we could do for that hour thinking he wouldn’t make it in time, but at the same time, we had a police car and driver at the airport ready for an escort to the venue… The artist literally landed and came out of the airport at the same time he was supposed to be on stage, there was a packed crowd ready to see him! The car and police escort rushed him over, and he walked on stage only 7 minutes late from his start time and gave an amazing show.  It sure was nice to have that airport so close or that never would have worked out.

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More info and tickets on wonderfrontfestival.com.

The post Learning about California’s Wonderfront Music Festival from its founders appeared first on Quip Magazine.