Labor Day weekend - a few SUPERGOOD supporters attended Pacific Festival 2012: The Dunes, featuring Mayer Hawthorne, Poolside, Bag Raiders, Capital Cities and many more to vibe out at the Newport Beach Marina. Zach Siegel-Eisman of Before The Bigs brings us his coverage below....
Arriving shortly after 2pm, we snagged media passes and briefly saw Tijuana Panthers rock out before moving onto the Identity Village, which was a dance party on the sand that DJ Metric was getting started. I don't remember much of DJ Metric's set as we snuck into the VIP area and, after getting as many free drinks before security told us to leave, we were on to the next act. (Note to self - get VIP pass next year)
'Stream and download DJ Metric's latest sound cloud mix below.
After Metric, we rushed to the other end of the festival grounds to catch up-and-coming indie/alternative pop band
Wildcat! Wildcat!. However when we got there, we found that the acts from the Camm Stage
were running behind schedule so we went to the Main stage to see
American Royalty.
Los Angeles alternative electronic indie rock band American Royalty has been bubbling on the scene for a hot minute, as Filter Magazine has used the lead singer to DJ many of their parties and the band just finished a residency at The Echo earlier this year. Their mp3's do not give their live music justice as they straight up jam out with various sounds that are easy to get down and dance to. I didn't leave their set remembering any of their songs but left feeling satisfied with how they organically blended on stage, with the lead singer switching from keyboard to guitar and all three members of the band singing and injecting emotion into their songs.
My favorite song because of it's more electronic mixed with
rock appeal is "Lately". Stream that below.
Catching up to Camm Stage - we indulged in the last three songs from Wildcat! Wildcat!.
I love how they have two vocalists, the most interesting instrumentals and great stage attitude. They continue to remind me of MGMT before MGMT went mainstream. They were one of my favorites during the day - stream and download "Mr. Quiche" and "The Chief".
We meandered by Fool's Gold's set
a couple times and I enjoyed the chill alternative beach pop vibes. After checking out their songs
afterwards, the song I most remember enjoying from the festival was
"Surprise Hotel", which has such soothing chill instrumentals. Watch
the video for it below.
Next I saw Mr. Little Jeans
perform. This was the only disappointment of the day. The Swedish artist
performs mostly slow pop songs that generally don't get people dancing and
leave you aching for something more upbeat. After hearing two songs including her
hit "Runaway", I left to grab a bite to eat. Watch the video to
"Runaway" below.
Returning to Camm Stage we found the daytime disco vibes of Tropicool DJing.
Although there was only about 25-50 people in the area, people were still
dancing or bobbing their head while finding a place in the shade to lay down.
Stream Tropicool's latest mix below.
Since Poolside began before Capital Cities, we opted to catch the greatest daytime disco act jam out. On record,
Poolside is composed of the duo of Filip Nikolic
and Jeffrey Paradise. In a live setting the band is a four piece with Nikolic on lead vocals and bass and Paradise on electronics, and the duo is joined
by drummer and percussionist Jason Pipkin and multi-instrumentalist Michael
Gold.
My first introduction to Poolside was at last year's Pacific Festival, in which they DJed before Fred Falke on one of the smaller stages. This year Poolside performed with their full band on the main stage and I couldn't have been happier. Witnessing them as a full band just enhanced the whole experience by creating this groovy dance vibe that anybody can enjoy. They were one of the three best acts I saw at Pacific Festival and can't wait to see them perform next! Since I love all the music from Poolside, here's 9 tracks to stream and mostly download from them. Sit back and relax.
We dipped on Poolside's set early so we could catch the last couple songs from Capital Cities, one of our favorite genre-blending dual vocal bands ever. While I didn't get to catch "Kangaroo Court," we did hear "Safe and Sound" and had the pleasure of hearing a horn solo too. Everybody was dancing and singing along and they were one of my favorites of the day with their electro pop rock dance vibes. Stream "Safe and Sound" below.
In between destinations - we briefly caught Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Hearing them live was great. Although it was brief, I enjoyed everything I heard and recommend catching them live as they sound a little more natural and than listening to their song releases. Watch their latest video, "Simple Girl" below.
We arrived to Bag Raiders set
and immediately noticed it was overcrowded with cigarette-smoking bros and
couples that were complaining about a music festival on a beach! I was still pumped to see their DJ set but completely turned
off by the Newport Beach locals, who all smoked cigarette's and were distracted
by their phones or significant other to enjoy the music. They need to wake up and hear these beats. Stream the latest mix
from Bag Raiders below.
Post Bag Raiders we caught several songs from Steed Lord. Before Pacific Festival, I thought Steed Lord was a couple DJs who created electro house vibes and didn't know it was Steed Lord until after the festival. Upon hearing this synth pop trio (which won my award for best dressed), I've become a huge fan! Steed Lord consists of two DJs (Demo and Mega) and one beautiful lead vocalist (Cali, pictured above). Their blend of electro pop instrumentals with vocals from Cali is spectacular. If you like Empire of the Sun but want a female vocalist, Steed Lord has that kind of vibe but less rock and more dance. Listen to "B4 U Walk Out Of My Life (Steed Lord Diva Edit)" and "Hear Me Now" below.
After Steed Lord, we then caught Sneaky Sound System. I thought Steed Lord was amazing and then once I heard Sneaky Sound System, I knew I redefined what amazing meant! While Steed Lord has a great vibe, Sneaky Sound System was even better; very catchy and easy to sing along to. My favorite was "We Love" which will be on commercials and anywhere else it can get placed if it hasn't already. Watch "We Love" below.
From the catchy performance of Sneaky Sound System it was time from the neo-soul crooning of headliner Mayer Hawthorne and The County. He has such a clean-cut act with the band choreographed dancing and a great set-up with the lighting experience as well. Mayer Hawthorne has this cool personality that reminds me of Justin Timberlake when he does on-air interviews. Overall Mayer Hawthorne didn't disappoint but if you are going to see him, go with somebody you want to hook up with as he has some sweet baby-making vibes that would be a perfect fit if you're on a date. Watch the video to my favorite song below.
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The above review was from Zach S-E of BeforeBigs.com. Follow @BeforeBigs and instagram for more
photos from Pacific Festival.
