San Diego continued to provide beautiful weather with sun and light winds on the second day of KAABOO. SWMRS, an indie-rock band from Oakland, started the day with a rocking good time. Frontman and co-founder Cole Becker sported a white shirt saying Japan with a red dot resembling the Japanese flag. They performed a good amount of songs including “Turn Up” and “Lose It” from their 2016 album Drive North, “Harry Dean,” a cover of David Bowie’s “Modern Love” and their most recently released song “Berkeley’s On Fire.”
While performing, the band’s backdrop featured random clips from different films and TV shows including Eminem’s 8-Mile, an anime film, the National Dog Show put on by the animal food company Purina and an MPAA movie trailer card with a PG-13 rating for “some drug use.” “I like it here, we are gonna play more here, I promise” Becker stated to the crowd, who then tried to smoke a joint on stage, but was unsuccessful as the lighter had a malfunction. The band then performed “Figuring it Out” with Becker hinting that a new album is in the works. While the crowd was a small one, it was impactful as the crowd created a mosh pit, making the band’s set an awesome start to the day.
After rocking out with SWMRS, the crowd was now preparing for pop singer Bebe Rexha. The singer started with her song “I’m A Mess,” featured on her debut solo album Expectations, released earlier this year. Rexha then got more comfortable by taking off her “$40 shoes she got from Downtown LA” she stated to the crowd. While engaging with the crowd, she talked about her breakthrough in the music industry, which happened seven years ago in her home state of New York, revealing that she wrote the song “The Monster,” famously recorded by Eminem and Rihanna. Rexha performed the original version of the song, which was more of a mid-tempo song compared to Eminem’s version. She then took time to talk about the double standard of men and women, mentioning that if women have an opinion of what they want, they are labeled as a bitch. She blazed through her featured EDM songs “Hey Mama” by David Guetta also featuring Nicki Minaj, Cash Cash’s “Take Me Home” and Martin Garrix’s “In The Name Of Love.” Overall, Rexha performed a lively set with an impressive pop music discography.
Shortly after, it was time for Atlanta-based rapper Big Boi, also half of the group Outkast. He opened up with the Outkast song “Rosa Parks,” being accompanied by Sleepy Brown, a longtime friend. They then performed “Kill Jill,” which also features rappers Jeezy and Run The Jewels’ Killer Mike. “How many cool motherfuckers are in here tonight?,” said Big Boi to the energetic crowd. That followed with a medley of Outkast songs including “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson,” which then transitioned to Big Boi’s “In The South,” featuring Pimp C and Gucci Mane, a fellow KAABOO performer. After performing the nostalgic “Shutterbug,” the crowd started to head to Stone Temple Pilots.
The San Diego native rock band showed that they have not lost their touch after many years of rocking out and gaining a new singer Jeff Gutt. The band kicked off their performance with “Crackerman” from their 1992 debut album Core before delving into their hits “Wicked Garden, “Vasoline,” “Plush” and Interstate Love Song,” before concluding with “Sex Type Of Thing.”
Following the rocker trend, it was then time for the legend that is Billy Idol. At 62 years old, Idol is still rocking and is still in great shape. The rock and roller opened with “Shock To The System,” from his 1993 album Cyberpunk. In between songs, guitarist Steve Stevens performed some incredible guitar solos. The solos were mesmerizing to the crowd as they were near 5 minutes long, specifically the solo in between Idol’s songs “Scream” and “Prodigal Blues,” showcasing Stevens’ insanely talented skills with a guitar. Idol did perform more of his oldies but goodies including “Dancing With Myself,” “Don’t Need A Gun” and “Blue Highway,” before concluding with the infamous “White Wedding.”
After two killer rock sets, it was time to delve back into the hip-hop scene, in this case, with N.E.R.D. The group, which includes producer Pharrell Williams, came out with high energy, opening with “Anti-Matter.” Before proceeding on to the next song, Williams tried to get a mosh pit started asking the crowd to open up a circle. The crowd was not compromising, with Williams eventually making his way into the crowd to make one. After a solid five minutes of trying to make one, Williams succeeded a for short-lived amount of time, performing the group’s song “Kill Joy” with the crowd more into taking pictures of Williams than to actually jump around with him and have a good time.
“Y’all are packed in like a can of sardines, open up some space,” he reiterated to the crowd. Williams seemed irritated with the crowd, but still performed with high energy. They then proceeded to perform “Deep Down Body Thurst,” “Spaz,” “Rollinem 7’s” and “1000” before performing a Neptunes-produced medley including “Stir Fry” by Migos, “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg and “APESHIT” by Beyonce and Jay-Z. The group’s set then concluded with their Rihanna-assisted single “Lemon,” leaving ten minutes early from their set. What could have been one of the highlights of the second day ended up not due to a lackluster crowd.
Since N.E.R.D’s set ended earlier than anticipated, it was now time for CAKE. CAKE covered Osvaldo Farres’ “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” following with songs “Sick Of You,” “Walk On By,” “Meanwhile Rick James…” and “Love You Madly” before concluding with a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and his song “The Distance,” with great vocals and awesome band.
Shortly after, Las Vegas’ own Imagine Dragons were set to play, with the crowd filled with loyal fans wearing merchandise from previous tours. The band opened their set with the explosive “Radioactive” and the song that started it all for them, “It’s Time.” They continued with songs “Walking the Wire,” “Shots,” a cover of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and “Start Over.” Before heading into their next song, lead singer Dan Reynolds held up a sign that stated “Destigmatize Mental Health,” as he opened up about suffering from depression. He made a statement to the crowd, saying that if you are suffering from mental health, talk to someone—a therapist, a friend or family, reach out to them and know that you are not alone, which then led into their song “Rise Up.” “Demons,” “Thunder” and “On Top Of The World” were performed before ending the night with the roaring “Believer.”
The second day of KAABOO had both its ups and downs throughout but overall, it was still jam-packed with awesome sets from both new and older musicians.
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