Music Festival B.C.

Everyone knows all about the wild festival that has taken place around the world for centuries. The history and background of the party is essentially explained in the name, Mardi Gras, which translates from French into English directly to “Fat Tuesday”. It is a time to “fatten” up before the religious ritual of Lent, 40 days of contribution or fasting that starts the day before Ash Wednesday and ends on Good Friday before Easter, in Christianity. Yet Mardi Gras as Americans know it has stemmed into something far from anything with religious intent. Every year the city of New Orleans, Louisiana becomes packed to the rafters with party people from around the world to feast, drink, dance, and go absolutely insane.

The free music played and performed during Mardi Gras has a certain identity of its own and typically has a Creole background. Music like that of the band The Wild Magnolias and Olympia Brass Band fill the air as well as many different performances from musicians like New Orleans’ native, rapper Mystikal. Yet the music is just one factor in the wild affair.

The parades during the festivities are most famous. Floats of people that range from young to old, gay to straight, quirky to the extremely abnormal, will all pass you by. These people, if they should feel comfortable enough with their bodies enough, are notorious for shedding clothing and usually donning nudity. Thousands of people participate to accessorize the floats that range in themes I won’t begin to attempt to mention here. You really will see everything under the sun in your time there, if you can last through the Bourbon Street mayhem! Oh yeah, and I shouldn’t really have to tell you to bring beads, right?

If you wanted to see other perspectives on the traditional holiday, other cities in countries around the world are still well known for their events too, including Quebec City and Montreal in Quebec, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Sweden. Don’t forget you can go to other cities across America, almost every major city has some form of celebration, although it may not be what you had hoped for!

Check out this video with some highlights from Mardi Gras in New Orleans:

Not only does March in Miami mean Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music Festival, but it also means the Latin celebration called Calle Ocho, indirectly translating to SW 8th Street, which is the main road it’s held on. The event is also commonly referred to as Carnaval. It’s a celebration more specifically aimed at the Cuban influence in Miami and southern Florida, but embraces and honors all Latin heritages that are represented in the ethnic city.

PItbull

Miami native and hip hop icon Pitbull is always likely to give a performance, as well as T-Pain, Flo-Rida, Sean Paul, and more. There’s also plenty of free music by other local talent for all attendees to enjoy and dance to the sounds of Latin culture. In 1988, Calle Ocho made it into the Guinness World Book of Records for the Longest Conga Line, with 119,969 people! That’s a serious conga train!

Conga

This year’s festival expanded it’s range and made other genres of music available for attendees including funk, jazz, rock, and reggae which was performed in a separate area. Just in case the Hispanic sounds became too overwhelming, or maybe for non-Hispanic goers. Either way, the festival is growing every year and wants to attract all residents of South Florida to come and participate.

If you’ve never been exposed to Latin culture, it’s a great way to get everything at once. You can eat the Argentinian dish churrascos, bacalaitos fritos, and tons more ethnic dishes while jamming out in the conga line to some Cuban music, surrounded by people from all over. This past year’s event was held on the 14th of March, so if you’re in town for the big music events, better get on over to Calle Ocho/Carnaval and see what the real Miami is all about. It’s free, and you might just learn a thing or two.

Here is a video of a past performance given by Pitbull at Calle Ocho:

I told you all that I would sign back in a write a review of the festival post-mayhem. It was everything I had expected and more! Kudos to the teams at Made Event who went the extra mile to make Randall’s Island in New York City explode with music this past weekend.

They had an extraordinary turnout of more than 25,000 people to celebrate the 65+ artists (download free music from the lineup and see what you were missing!) from all over the world. There were four stages; one main stage and three tents. The tents were large and fully equipped with all the right ingredients: awesome lighting, crazy graphics, booming sound system, and some interesting decor (in the Sunday School tent especially, which had trees behind the stage).

There were plenty of food vendors with everything from shaved ice and smoothies to pizza and gyros. Tons of alcohol, although the beer selection of Coors Light and Blue Moon at $8 and $9 respectively put quite a dent in my pocket. They had face and body painting for those who were so inclined, a merchandise booth, girls who you could pay to destroy your shirt (?), and a really cool installation in the middle of everything that lit up at night.

Best performances? Paul Kalkbrenner had a stellar performance and I firmly believe he acquired many new fans this weekend, as several of the people around me had no clue who he was. Rusko, the Dub Set guru from London also rocked the Red Bull Music Academy tent something fierce. I tried to find my friend in there, that was not going to happen! On Sunday the crowd went nutty for Moby, but I was over at Sander van Doorn at the time. People cleared out of the main stage area right in time for us to get up close for Boys Noize, who rocked that place mental. Armin van Buuren blew it up of course, as well as good old English legend John Digweed.

All in all I think most people thoroughly enjoyed it. The crowd was a good mix of old and young, American and European. I will definitely be going next year as well, and I am actually already excited to see the juicy lineup!

Check out this video of Laidback Luke’s set at the main stage:

Last night, ABC broadcast the performances from the Country Music Awards Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee as a three hour special. The gathering of stars, which was hosted by country legend Tim McGraw, included performances by Keith Urban (who sang his rendition of Joe Cocker’s A Little Help From My Friends), Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Uncle Kracker, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, as well as the host himself. If you didn’t see the broadcast, you can download free music from the names you don’t know and see what you missed.

Keith Urban

The actual festival was over four days with a weekender ticket price of $115. It was held at the beginning of June and received a crowd of nearly 200,000 country music faithfuls. Dating back to the seventies, this festival is the biggest country music event in the United States, and therefore the world! It’s known for the hours and hours of performances from the biggest names in the industry, plenty of signings and appearances for photo opportunities from the stars, and of course the filming of the performances which is aired on national television at a later date (as mentioned above).

If you’re into country, this would be the festival of a lifetime. You might want to get your plans in order though, because pre-sale tickets for the 2011 event are already up for sale! If you’re not into country, like myself, check out what one attendee stated after going to last years event (yelp.com):

I did not consider myself a country music fan, but through the three days we were there I found myself singing uncontrollably along with the stars on stage, singing along with the local acts in the bars, meeting and greeting great people from around the country. I’ve never seen so many happy people.

Negative? Considering it’s a four-day long festival, I’m actually shocked they don’t give camping grounds… especially for country music folk! Don’t they like being rugged and outdoors? Anyways, if you are keen to get into Nashville and check out what the country hype is all about, be prepared to spend some beans on a hotel for the duration of your stay.

Check this out, Taylor Swift agreed to do a 13-hour long signing this year- talk about loving your fans!

Below is video of Taylor Swift at the CMA Music Festival signing for fans and performing at the end:

A crazy little, or not so little, festival went down last month in Bridgeport, Connecticut called Gathering of the Vibes. It’s a massive weekender with variety similar to Bonnaroo in Tennessee. It’s been gathering now for 15 years, and took place over four days from July 29th through August 1st, and was held right near the water in Seaside Park. Tickets were a bit costly for the whole event, running at $220-240, but they did sell individual day tickets for those who couldn’t stay for its entirety at around $80 (depending on the day).

The website tells a bit of history and gives honor to the Grateful Dead as a main reason for the festival’s inception. The band’s followers needed a feel-good event to carry on their love for music and having a good time. Just as Grateful Dead had a community following, Gathering of the Vibes has what it likes to call its very own “Vibe Tribe”.

Seaside Park

The venue location is stellar, oceanfront scenic park with much exploring to be had. There were two stages, Main Stage and Green Vibes stage that hosted acts like Furthur (Grateful Dead), Damian Marley & NAS, Primus, The Trapps, Kung Fu, Galactic, Umphrey McGee’s, and so many more. Check out the website for the full list of artists and information on the bands. As I always suggest before heading to a festival, get some free music downloads of the artists in the lineup to see if it tickles your fancy.

A good friend of mine went this year and she had a blast. The crowd was awesome, and most people were camping out for the long haul. With a camper festival, most people will have traveled a ways to get there. You can find people from all over and learn about bands you’d normally never listen to or have never heard of.

Spaceball

What’s more, they had awesome activities for festival goers at no extra cost. She went on a zero-gravity spinning apparatus that is commonly called Spaceball, and let’s just say she had to fight to keep her stomach! There’s also loads of crafts stations and tables with people selling goods, and of course face and body painting galore. Plenty of vendors selling all the cool festival gadgets your heart desires.

All in all she had a great weekend and spoke so highly of it, I might just go next year! If you or anybody you know went, please write to us festival lovers here at Music Fest B.C. and tell us what we missed.

Here’s a video I found from last year’s Gathering of the Vibes:

It’s almost here! New York City’s best electronic dance music event is only just over a week away and the anticipation of all attendees must be reaching an unbearable point, at least it is for me. I haven’t been to a festival in a while and am expected all the bells & whistles at Electric Zoo. Have you taken a look at the lineup? It’s massive! They did a good job at separating the talent over the two days. Now, if you don’t know the names I mention, get online and download music from the artists, then make your selections!

Saturday

Made Event has got The Chemical Brothers as the featured headliner for the first day of the festival, but honestly there are so many others that are on the “definitely” must see list. You’ve got the festival opening its doors at 11am and right off the bat at noon you’ve got Dutch star Joris Voorn,  after that you’ve GOT to stick around the same stage to see German delight Paul Kalkbrenner. If you don’t know who he is, you almost definitely have heard his hit Sky and Sand, and you should rent the movie “Berlin Calling” where he plays himself, a DJ in the Berlin scene. It’s epic beyond epic’s definition.

Paul Kalkbrenner

Problem: Paul Kalkbrenner’s set starts at 1:30. Markus Schulz starts at 1:50 at another stage. Not sure what the heck I’m going to do about this massive dilemma. Kalkbrenner never comes to America, so I should cling to the opportunity to see him. On the other hand who on this green earth would give up a Markus Schulz set? Not I!! I suppose I’ll have to go with the energy of the crowd, which ever stage is feeling it more.

After I’m teched out from Paul or tranced up from Markus, I’m going straight to the main stage to see New York local mega star Boris get the crowd going nutty. I’m sure he’s going to be providing an awesome set and feeling the home-court advantage.

Now depending on your taste in music, at this time of early afternoon there will also be performances by LA Riots, Joachim Garraud, Claude VonStroke, AfroJack, and more. You’ve got to get online and check out the schedule for your preferred acts. After Boris I plan on watching ATB give us some trance flavor, and then perhaps teeter-totter between that stage and Pete Tong going on at 4:30pm. Another tough call that will require crowd assessment.

Benny Benassi

Dirty South, I’ll jam to from 5:30-6:45pm, and then I might have a bit of wandering around to do or select between Chuckie, Rusko, and Major Lazer (whom I don’t know much music of). Definitely hitting up Kaskade and then back to the main stage for another industry favorite Benny Benassi! I predict that even more people will be at the stage by then (8pm) and the crowd will be pumped. Hopefully he brings the old and new, if he rips up Satisfaction you know people will go insane, but he’s also scheduled to release a new album called Spaceship in September that I want to hear. Depending on his set, I might dip out early to go see Axwell (from Swedish House Mafia) who starts his set at 8:30.

I think I’ll end Saturday with a bit of Richie Hawtin, and if I have energy left to see the final set of the night by The Chemical Brothers, I’m sure it’s going to be off the chain.

Sunday

One of the bad things about multiple-day festivals is getting up the next day and finding the strength within you to rage on. Sunday’s lineup is just as riveting so I hope I save myself some energy! If I can wake up earlier enough to get to Randall’s Island by 11:30am, I’ll be keen to see Orchard Lounge for a nice downtempo, techy start to the day. Followed of course by Cosmic Gate and then Funkagenda to get the mood kickin’!

Laidback Luke will be blessing the main stage at 3:30pm, which I’ll enjoy for an hour before heading over to a must see set by Above & Beyond. I can’t wait to hear what they bring out. They’ll take me right up to 6pm, where I’ll stay put for Sander Van Doorn, followed by Chris Lake (can you believe this lineup?!).

Problem: Fedde le Grand starts his set at 7:50, Victor Calderone starts his at 8pm. Nail biting decision… we’ll have to wait and see? So difficult. They’re both great crowd-rockers.

John Digweed

Of course, drop whatever it is that you’re doing and get your arses over to the main stage by 9:10pm to enjoy the always amazing set of Armin van Buuren, a king of trance and progressive house. Then of course I’m confronted by another major complication when British legend John Digweed comes on at another stage at 9:30pm. I have GOT to see what he’s spinning these days it’s been years since I’ve seen Digweed live. Digweed will take me to the close of the night, unless I can get back to main stage at some point to see some of Steve Aoki’s or Bassnectar’s sets.

Just writing all that down made me so excited! Now the complicated part will begin: getting the group of people you’re going with to unanimously agree on a schedule. These complications tend to lead to splitting up of groups, but hey, you never know who you’ll meet that way! For all who are going, I hope you have a blast. It’s not often that NY gets to host an event like this. If you can’t go, stay tuned for after Labor Day Weekend as I’m sure I’ll have LOTS to talk about.

Here is a video recap of last year’s festival:

The Electric Daisy Carnival is pretty important for fans of techno, electronic, and industrial music residing in North America. This is because it has become the largest festival to highlight these genres outside of Europe. Last year it shattered its previous record in attendees; having over 100,000 people attended the Colosseum in Los Angeles, California for the spectacle three day festival which includes Moby, Will.I.Am, and Tiesto, who you have free music online available if you are not familiar with them.

E.D.C is famous not just for its music, but for the array of people it attracts from all across the country. Before the actual performances, fans get together as early as twelve hours before to just hang out. There are raves, numerous light shows, contests, and fashion shows; all governed by the audience of E.D.C. It’s popularity has grown at such a rate that the company who originated the festival, Insomniac Events, now has an Electric Daisy Tour with dates in Colorado, Puerto Rico, and New York. Though in New York it’s called  Electric Zoo, it still attracts practically as many people.

Below is a video of the Electric Daisy Carnival:

Ok, Godskitchen isn’t exactly a festival as it is a traveling party, but I think it belongs here on Music Festival B.C. as it’s more or less the history behind Global Gathering.

Godskitchen was formed at first as a party that would travel to different venues in northern England as well as around the world; at the time Sydney, Australia to be more specific. They toured the UK and Australia with intense parties that promoted to reach record attendances. The Australia tour in 1994 was enormously successful and led Godskitchen to keep coming back. It became a weekly party in Northampton in 1996. Then it moved to The Planet for a bigger capacity. Yet it still wasn’t enough. Although Cream (another international party name) couldn’t fill a 4,000 capacity venue in Milton Keynes, Godskitchen took the challenge and succeeded. Next step, sink the feet in. Thus, Godskitchen at The Sanctuary in Birmingham was born in 1998.

With the realization of their raging success, in 1999 they expanded over to THE party center of the world: Ibiza. And what other venue to host their party than the 5,500 capacity mega club Amnesia. Godskitchen in Birmingham as we know it today has a capacity of 4,000 people. It boasts past residents like Tall Paul, Sasha, Judge Jules, Paul Oakenfold, Seb Fontaine. They also release albums which you can find on online stores or music download websites.

The international tours still continue as well as the famous Global Gathering which has been thumping since 2001 and takes place in Long Marston Airfield every summer with great success and crowds near 35,000. But that’s not all, you can find Godskitchen events in Belarus, Mexico, Turkey, and Croatia as well.

Lollapalooza has been going since the early 90’s and began as an alternative rock festival for fans of the emerging grunge scene to rally together. With over thirty bands at a time providing free music for a crowd of over 40,000, it’s a live experience that can’t possibly rival any concert. Founded by Perry Farrell of Janes Addiction, the lineup was limited to alternative rockers like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and paved the way for larger acts such as Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Woo hoo!

There have been some drastic changes since then as LollaPalooza this past year didn’t limit itself to a genre. In fact, it didn’t limit itself at all. The headliners were so massive that many fans who went said nobody really headlined – it was just the best thing they could’ve possibly went to. Featured this past festival in Chicago were Lady Gaga, Green Day, Arcade Fire, and a newly reunited Soundgarden debuting after nearly thirteen years without playing a single show.

Iggy Pop Rocks The Crowd

As this past tour was by far the most popular of the LollaPalooza’s, it’s a safe bet that they’ll retain a similar model for their future installments. That said, the festival is anywhere from 4-5 days long depending on the line up with at least 5 stages. In addition, there are tents for electronic music; the most popular of these being one held by Perry Farrell, the original founder of the festival. Where LollaPalooza limited its audience before, it has reached an ultimate peak in allowing all the genres to mesh together for an unbelievable live sensation.

It’s held right outside of Chicago in Illinois within the Summer months; anywhere from mid-July to late August. There haven’t been any problems at these shows and the line ups continue to amaze.  Check out some incredible live footage below:

Rage Against The Machine – 2008

Coheed & Cambria – 2009

If ever in Glasgow, Scotland in the beginning of June, try getting over to Coloursfest in Braehead. It’s a one-day festival that will fulfill all your electronic dance music needs and wishes over 10 hours of great music and production. Celebrating its 9th successful season this year, it hosts about 60 DJs and producers with performances in 6 different areas, one being ran by Gatecrasher Summer Sound System. You get a full throttle festival experience with awesome music and great energy from the crowds inside and out.

This year’s lineup includes international superstars like Above & Beyond, Sander Van Doorn, Tall Paul, Technoboy, Mauro Picotto, Seb Fontaine, Anne Savage, Scot Project and many more. Previous years have seen performances from masters of music like Judge Jules, Markus Schulz, Ferry Corsten, and Giuseppe Ottaviani. If you’re unsure, you can download music of these artists and realize how badly you should go to the festival.

Colourfest has sold out of tickets every year for the past 6 years. The crowds are typically around 10,000 strong. If you’re able to get your tickets in advance, you can snag general admission entry for £35 ($53) or pay the full price of £40 ($60). VIP tickets go for £65 ($98). I think this is an awesome price for the amount of talent and production that blesses the 6 stages of this one-dayer.