While people were recovering from day one and day two of the festival, things kicked of slowly in kilker park. The major acts of the Sunday schedule included Spoon, Zedd, Chromeo, Calvin Harris, and Pearl Jam.
Starting off the day at the Austin Ventures Stage was Miniature Tigers. They began with their song “Dream Girl.” For a Sunday morning the crowd was pretty small, and not many people were moving around. However, the band tried to keep things peppy and encouraged the crowd to move their bodies to the beat. They continued to play “Sadistic Kisses” and “The Wolf.” Their performance was entertaining for the hour, and they sounded decent live. The audience as a whole seemed pretty bored, but when they played more popular songs like “Sex on the Regular,” “SwimmingPool Blues” and “Cannibal Queen” towards the end of their set it got a few fans moving around. Even some of the staff on stage were boogieing.
At the Samsung Stage, Kongos was drawing in multiple festival fans. The heat was atrocious, but that didn’t stop people from squeezing past each other to get to the front. They opened with “Hey, I Don’t Know.” Throughout their set they would ask fans to sing along. They continued to play “Sex On the Radio,” “Kids These Days” and “Take Me Back.” The way Kongos incorporates the accordion into their rock sound is extremely appealing. It gives them a fun and unique sound. Their stage presence was energetic enough to get people to sway their bodies in the excruciating heat. They closed with their most popular song “Come With Me Now” which had audience members in the back two stepping and rocking out.
Across the field at the RetailMeNot stage was Jhene Aiko. One of her opening songs was “Bed Peace.” Jhene has a very beautiful voice which mixed seeminglessly with the heavy bass in her songs. Her crowd was very into her music, and they definitely showed the type of love any artist would want to see. After playing “Stay Ready” and “The Worst” the fans almost had Jhene in tears with all their affection. She really wow’d her fans, and it was definitely a showcase of the day to remember. If given the opportunity to see her again, I wouldn’t doubt it for a minute. She closed with her part in Drake’s popular single “From Time.”
Next at the Sculpture Stage was Imelda May. First things first, this should have been the place to be all weekend. The stage was under a tent! Imelda May was rocking out for sure. Her voice, stage presence, sound, and fans were all absolutely incredible. She played “Wicked Way” and “It’s Good To Be Alive.” The trumpet definitely added to the jammin vibe happening under the tent. People of all ages were dancing in circles, foot stomping, and clapping along. It was awesome. Imelda May has a way with her crowd, and got them singing along during songs “Your Sister Can’t Twist” and “I’m Alive.” The reaction from the audience was highly positive, and I give props to the performance as a whole.
Over at the Miller Lite stage Phantogram was gearing up to perform. Their set wasn’t really anything special even though they drew in a fairly large crowd. The most exciting point of the set for the audience was when they played their two popular songs “Don’t Move” and “Fall In Love.” Although they put on a pretty dull show, their sound is pretty great. They continued their set and ended with one of their songs written about Texas, “Howling At The Moon.” Overall the set was just okay.
Next to the Miller Lite stage, Spoon was getting ready to play the Honda Stage. They drew in a big crowd and seemed pretty stoked to be there. They opened with “Knock Knock Knock” and sounded really good. People were dancing all the way to the back, and swaying back and forth for songs like “Do You.” The set was entertaining, but also pretty mellow. Their sound doesn’t give off a ‘lets go crazy vibe’ but people got about as hyped as you can for Spoon. When they started the beat to “The Underdog” the whole crowd sang along. They have an infectious sound, and the set was very enjoyable.
Back at the RetailMeNot Stage, Chromeo was taking over the stage. They crowd chanted the band on stage as they opened with “Night By Night.” The beats were sick, and I don’t think there were that many people dancing at one stage all weekend. Chromeo owned the set. Their stage presence with the light up girl legs, purple lights, and funky lights were all around exciting. The heavy beats in their songs “Tenderoni” and “Side By Side” had people going crazy. For “Over Your Shoulder” they encouraged as many girls as they could to get on someones shoulders. Overall this set was one of the best out of the whole weekend. Their stage presence is different, and it really works for them. On top of everyone having an amazing time, their sound is compelling. It was irresistible not to dance.
Across the festival another large dance party was about to break out for Calvin Harris. The light show in itself was enough to give the lasting impression of an incredible performance. He really has a way with making the crowd go crazy. By saying one word ‘jump’ and a drop of heavy bass, the whole crowd did exactly that. To say the crowd went nuts is an understatement. He played all his big hits including “Sweet Nothing,” “Feel So Close,” “I Need Your Love” and “Summer.” He also performed his newest single “Blame” and had the whole crowd sing along. The performance was impeccable.
Across the field Pearl Jam was closing out the festival. The first half of their set was a lot more upbeat than the second half. With a lot of fans merging from the Calvin Harris show, it was a good transition from upbeat, to a more relaxed sound. Their ‘encore’ consisted of about 8 songs, including a cover of “Imagine” by John Lennon. It was absolutely beautiful. The whole crowd became one at that moment while people held up their phones and lighters and sang along. They also played their popular songs “Reveiwmirror” and “Mind Your Manners.” For having such a long career in music, their audience had members of all ages. Even though they’ve been around forever, they still put on a pretty rockin’ show. Their performance was the ideal way to end the weekend. They closed out the festival with a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World.”
Leave a Comment