Personally, I have experienced previous performances with many of the artists that were on the roster at the North Coast Music Festival (NCMF) and I knew this was going to be a night that many people would never forget. When looking at the line-up my first impression was "wow, this is the Chicago festival that any music fan will enjoy." Groupon posted a discount price on a 3 day pass, and I did not hesitate to pull out my credit card from my wallet and complete the purchase ASAP. I had purchased my Groupon 3 day pass which allowed me the opportunity to attend the festival from beginning to end. Although, due to personal reasons I was only able to attend the first 2 days of the event.
The best way I can describe this festival is by calling it, Chicago's mini version of california's "COACHELLA" festival.
Friday was a fun day to get familiar with the stage locations, the beverage options and get a vibe for what to expect over the weekend. Considering this was a music festival and not a food exhibition event, the food options were pretty good. There is nothing better to do between acts than to hit up a port-o-potty real quick to keep the party going, then walk across a great variety of food to eat to keep your energy level up in order to be able to resume to your musical experience. Unfortunately, the port-o-potty access and beer ticket lines would later become similar to the lines at the DMV (extremely long).
The fun thing about these festivals is that it gives you the ability to cherry pick the artists you personally want to see while giving you leg-room to venture into hearing an artist you never heard of before.
Considering the options there were 2 artists that I was highly anticipating (for Friday). The two artists were
Paul Van Dyk, and the
Chemical Brothers. I had the pleasure of experiencing the amazing musical and visual performance of the Chemical Brothers when they came to Chicago a few years ago and I was just as excited to see them again. Although prior to the Chemical Brothers performing, Paul Van Dyk was scheduled for a one hour set.
Paul van dyk showed up to the stage 30 minutes late so away, I was disappointed. The fact that I was waiting for him to show up on time, and now I only get half of a set than I had anticipated makes my impression of his participation of the festival less than satisfactory. Considering the lack of time he had to get the crowd rockin', he definitely provided all the bangers he had in his music selection and blended them very well. The crowd was jamming out without hesitation as soon as he played his classic track "For an Angel" early in his set. He apologized for the short set when he was done, which in my opinion does make a difference that he would at least acknowledge he may have disappointed some fans for his late arrival. It's OK Paul, just make up for it next time you come to Chicago! :)
Time was passing by fast after the Paul Van Dyk set and I needed to make a bathroom break and wait in line for some more beer. By the time I got back to the North Stage, it wasn't long until the Chemical Bros set was to commence (That's how long the lines were). While waiting for the set to begin, I got a chance to mingle a bit with conversations of the people around me that were also securing their front row spots. I got a chance to meet 2 photographers (One being Lenny). Although unfortunately, due to licensing issues of some sort all of the photographers were essentially pushed to the curb from access to the front of the stage. This was a bit disappointing although, I'm very sure Lenny kept the pictures coming regardless. While having conversations with the people around me at front row, I realized that nobody really had a clue as to what they were going to expect from a Chemical Brothers live set. All I could tell them is that their live performance is BY FAR,
the best live show I have ever got a chance to witness in my entirely life. Many thought I was exaggerating until 15 minutes into the set, those that didn't believe me were tapping my shoulder and showing a facial expression saying "OMG (Oh My God), you were right!"
If you get a chance to see pictures and/or video of this live set...trust me, seeing it live is like NO OTHER live performance when it comes to a musical experience. Tiesto comes close although, the chemical brothers just have so much more of a variety to offer when it comes to their music selection. Their musical performance resulted in body surfing, beach balls and inflatable gators being thrown everywhere during the set, with people throwing and wearing their glow in the dark wristbands. It was just a great outdoor musical experience that had everyone looking forward to the rest of the weekend. The Chemical Brothers definitely set the tone for the rest of the festival and had people excited to what else there was to expect in the next few days.
Saturday was an interesting day to begin with considering the amount of drinks I had on Friday. I'm 26 and the first night of the festival ALREADY has me sore from all the jammin' out, screaming and yelling I was doing. The Pink line trip to the Ashland exit was fine, although finding parking near the train station to head out had me delayed to miss the Two Fresh set I was looking forward to.
I was never a fan of Two Fresh although listening to the North Coast Music Festival music playlist on LAST.FM got me to instantly become a fan of their music. I missed their performance although I'm sure it must have been as great as it seemed.
My 2 picks of the evening to look forward to was
Jay Electronica and
De La Soul. Personally I recently became a fan of Jay Electronica from his mixtape "What the F*** is a Jay Electronica?" He has lyrical skills that are by far unique in this rap game. His original talent is specifically showcased in the song in which he rapped over the movie score to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Jay got the attention of everyone at the event when he decided to allow the crowd on stage. Personally I have never seen a rap artist do this at a festival but this was a great thing to watch. Jay Electronica with a crowd full of fans
on stage with him rapping to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. About a minute into the set, security started pulling people off the stage at which Jay told the Dj to "stop the music" and told the security guard "THEY'RE WITH ME!." His attempt to keep the crowd on stage was not strong enough for security to allow the fans on stage as they kept pulling people away regardless of Jay's demand. The music started playing again and Jay extended his arm defending his fans and continued to rap while staring down the security guard and getting in his way as if saying "you can't take these from me, these people are mine and here to stay!" Personally, never have I seen such a a strong affection from an artist to his fans. His devotion to his fans extended to the point of him deciding to allow 3 fans to get on stage and perform in front of the festival crowd. He stated "I woudn't be up here if someone didn't give me a chance so I will give some people here a chance to show ya'll what they got."
One would assume that unsigned, fans that have no experience performing in front of such a large crowd would possibly end in a disaster or someone being booed off stage. Although, the 3 rappers that got on stage performed decently and got a small applause considering that they had to decide how to perform on the spot.
Next up was De La Soul's performance. For any hip hop fan, this set can't bring disappointment at all. These guys know how to get a place rocking. Their great ability to synchronize each other's ad-libs with perfection while being straight on point with the flow on all of their classic songs is something every hip hop fan should watch. These guys are veterans in the hip hop game and definitely prove it by their great ability to have the crowd remember how fun hip hop should be. Jay Electronica was definitely a great transition of some solid hip hop into the De La Soul performance whom bring out Dres (From black sheep). At that point as soon as he performed "This or That" the crowd went crazy for the classic hip hop that was being presented at the festival.
Saturday was such a fun day for REAL hip hop music in Chicago with the music provided by Jay Electronica followed by De La Soul.
Next up to perform was Moby, although he was not performing live. Moby's performance was going to to be provided via his DJ skills. Personally , I had seen Moby perform at his Area 2 concert in Detroit and was very impressed by his LIVE performance back then. Considering the upbeat and crowd energy that his live performance can provide, his dj set did not keep me intrigued to stay at the festival any longer and I decided to get some good food on the way out and left the festival EXTREMELY pleased with my experience overall.
All in all, I had a great time at this festival regardless of the fact that I was unable to stay for the 3rd day which seems to be the official climax of the event. Chemical Brothers and Jay Electronica definitely were the highlights of my experience of the North Coast Music Festival and I really look forward to having the opportunity to see this happen again next year (assuming that it's a possibility). In Chicago, these kind of events don't come around too often (If you don't count the VERY EXPENSIVE Lollapalooza) so everyone please support these events whenever possible to allow chicago to continue to be recognized as a great city with sports Fanatics, amazing food and fantastic music events.
-Ernesto Rodriguez (www.EssayBeats.com)
