Tag: panorama 2017

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Culture Music

Panorama Recap: Highlights From The Festival

Panorama Stage, MGMT

Another NYC music festival has come and gone. This one was packed with excellent sets from some of music’s biggest names – Solange, Tame Impala, Nine Inch Nails and A Tribe Called Quest all treated us to performances on Panorama’s biggest stage, which featured stunning visuals displayed on a screen that stretched a whopping 170 feet. Local New York City restaurants, like Roberta’s, Eggloo and Salvation Taco, kept attendees full and satisfied throughout the three days of jamming. The elusive Frank Ocean also performed on Friday night one of only a handful of live shows since 2014. His performances are rare, but they give us just a glimpse into the breadth of his musical knack.

Frank Ocean‘s set tops our list of the best of Panorama, but his wasn’t the only impressive performance. Check out our full list of favorites below.

Frank Ocean

As mentioned above, Frank Ocean’s performances are rare, but they are a glorious treat. Instead of performing on the main stage, he performed his entire Friday night show on an extended leg that jutted straight out into the middle of the audience. Accompanied by the recently acclaimed instrumentalist (Sandy) Alex G on guitar, Frank Ocean made a festival crowd of thousands feel like an intimate gathering of friends at an indie show. He paced the skinny stage leg and performed hits like “Solo”and  “Nikes” from his 2016 record “Blonde.” While he was a bit soft-spoken when interacting with the audience, that did not diminish his mastery as a musician. His performance was gripping from start to finish.

Solange

Panorama Stage, Solange

Solange’s performance was without a doubt the most visually stunning of the festival. Reddish light bathed the stage as Solange and her troop of musicians, all appropriately clad in completely red or orange outfits, executed flawless choreography. While Solange is the definitely the master of her stage, the whole performance felt more like a shared story between herself, the musicians and the backup singers, rather than just a solo act. At two different points during the show, around 20 or 30 horn players also joined the magic on the stage.  Her set was full of hope and joy, and the Panorama stage and screen offered a sensational scape for her show. She performed older favorites like “Losing You” and “T.O.N.Y” as well as her newer songs like “Cranes in the Sky.”

Tame Impala

Tame Impala are the masterminds behind the 2015 revelation “Currents,”  one of three albums released by the Australian group, all of which were named “Best New Album” on Pitchfork. Few bands can boast such an achievement critically, but Tame Impala can, and without losing ground or losing themselves. Their Saturday night Panorama show was a spectacle, featuring psychedelic projections and acutely synthy beats. Their set, and their songs, were nothing short of musical perfection. They even performed a song from “Currents” for the first time ever live – “Love/Paranoia,” a treat for longtime fans.

Pinegrove

The subject of one of our Panorama previews (read the feature here), rock band Pinegrove gave an impassioned performance early Saturday on the main Panorama stage. Lead singer Evan Stephens Hall humbly and repeatedly thanked the audience for spending time at their set, one that needed no convincing for us to stick around for its entirety. Hall is a spirited lead singer, and Pinegrove lyrics are ardent in their storytelling. They’re a must-see for live shows, and thankfully they just announced another leg of their tour, so you still have many more chances to catch them on the road.

Mitski

Mitski, The Pavilion

While at first her music comes across as angsty, Mitski’s critically acclaimed songs are actually compilations of deep and moving stories. Some are indeed fraught with pain and anxiety, but the songwriter is a heroine of self-discovery and acceptance in the end. Her Saturday performance was passionate and dynamic. At one point during the set, Mitski took center stage to play a few songs alone, which encompassed some of her best moments musically. Her song “Your Best American Girl” is an honest sentiment describing her being torn between her immigrant heritage and wanting to be who others want her to be.

Future Islands

Future Islands, Panorama Stage

Future Islands lead singer Samuel Herring is a raucous romp on stage. He beats his chest, rolls on the floor and growls lyrics into the microphone. And it all makes for one of the most entertaining sets at Panorama this year. They released a new album this year called “The Far Field,” which is a telling name as that’s exactly where they are. Their music definitely swings somewhere stage left, but it’s wonderful in its uniqueness. They stand alone in the synth-pop genre because no one else sounds quite like them.

Tyler, The Creator

It’s only just August, but 2017 has already welcomed many of its best albums into the musical cosmos, one of which is thanks to Tyler, The Creator. “Flower Boy” was released last month and has seen rave reviews from both crisis and listeners. The rapper treated Panorama audiences to a lively performance on Friday evening. A vista of sunflowers served as background to his set. Only one other rapper joined him on stage, but they made use of the whole space. Tyler, The Creator is a performance pro and had the whole room jumping.

Photos courtesy of Panorama NYC

 

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Culture Music

Panorama Kicks Off Today With Music and Vendors

One of the summer’s most eclectic and varied festival lineups is coming to New York City this weekend. Festival gates are swinging open today at Randall’s Island Park.

Back for its second year, Panorama Music Festival kicks off today with music, attractions, food and drink.

Some passes still remain for the festival and can be purchased here.

Photo courtesy of Panorama

Solange and Frank Ocean are headlining today’s lineup with performances at 8 p.m. and 9:35 p.m., respectively. But the two megastars aren’t the only noteworthy aspects of the weekend’s festivities. Hosts of indie rockers, up-and-coming rappers and DJs, cult electronic groups and singer-songwriters will be taking over the four stages – the Panorama, Pavilion, Parlor and Point – over the next three days.

Other headlining artists include Tame Impala, Nine Inch Nails and A Tribe Called Quest. Glass Animals, Spoon, Future Islands and Tyler, The Creator are among other noteworthy acts throughout the festival. For a complete lineup and set times, visit panorama’s website.

If those names don’t mean anything to you, or if you’re just in it for Solange’s sure-to-slay set, there’s still more to Panorama, too. Even if you’re gung-ho for the music, you should still make an effort to get to the festival early. Don’t miss out on all your pass has to offer.

Several New York City favorites make up a food lineup that’s almost as impressive as the artist lineup. With vendors like Roberta’s, 2nd City, Ice & Vice, Salvation Taco and Eggloo serving up their best, you could find one of your NYC favorites inside Panorama gates.

Hungry for more? Panorama boasts a slew of other attractions. Record store Rough Trade will have a special Panorama pop-up store, Macy’s is hosting a pool party, and HP is sponsoring an interactive art lounge. Some of your other favorite brands are involved too: Bud Light, Sephora, Califia and Deep Eddy Vodka will all be on site.

Food, entertainment and great music? Check, check and check. Get to the festival early for the full experience, and check out the Panorama website for more information including the lineup, travel tips and set times.

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Culture Events Music

NYC Group Sofi Tukker Talks Panorama and Hometown Performances

Musical duos are few-and-far-between in indie genres. There’s Matt and Kim, Grouplove and Shovels & Rope, to name a few, but the duo structure is certainly not the most widespread for an indie group. Even rarer is an indie house duo.

So when one comes along, we must take note; especially if they’re from New York City, and they’re playing Panorama Music Festival this weekend. This pair is Sofi Tukker, comprised of singer/songwriter/percussionist Sophie Hawley-Weld and producer Tucker Halpern. They met while in school at Brown University and soon after released “Drinkee,” which received a Grammy nomination.

Now they have a new single out, and they’re playing Panorama this weekend. Originally hailing from New York, the musicians are thrilled to be playing a home show. This fall, they’re touring with ODESZA. Read our interview with Sophie and Tucker for the full scoop.

How did you two first start making music together? Did you always know your music would have this electronic, danceable sound that channels tropical house music, or did it just evolve that way?

Sofi Tukker: We started making music together when we were still at college. At first, Sophie was making bossa-nova inspired acoustic music and Tucker was DJing house music. It wasn’t until we collaborated and made something from scratch together that we found our sound! We still don’t know how to define it (nor do we want to), we just make what we want to hear! And yeah dancing is a favorite activity for both of us, so I think that will always have a strong place in the music we make.

How did you guys decide to remix “Dark Days” by Local Natives? Were you fans of the band before?

ST: They reached out and when we heard the song, we were really inspired. It’s such a beautiful song already. And the guys in the band are the nicest! We got to perform the song with them at Coachella. Love them and their music.

Who are your biggest influences?

ST: We are each influenced by totally different people. We are both really inspired by artists such as Stromae, our experiences, family, friends. Anything can inspire us really. Our shows and festivals play a big part in inspiring lots of the new music we have been making.

 Your first EP’s title was inspired by a Mary Oliver poem. Why did you decide to call it “Soft Animals?” Does literature often influence you?

ST: She has this beautiful line that goes: “You don’t have to be good… You just have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” Soph is really into literature and always gets inspired by different authors and poets’ turns of phrases! Poetry plays a large role in our songs too because the Portuguese songs are all collaborations with Brazilian poets.

Having received a Grammy nomination so early in your career (for the hit “Drinkee”), how does that affect you going forward?

ST: It doesn’t really affect us much. We are still a young band making music and building out our live performance! There are more people that see what we are doing as legitimate now though, which is always nice! It was a huge unexpected honor, but we know we have such a long way to go and hopefully we can get back there one day!

You guys are from New York, so what does it mean to you to play a festival here? How are you feeling in the days leading up to your Panorama set?

ST: We loooove being at home! We could not be more excited. Last time we played in New York was in April and we have been excited to come back home and play ever since! We don’t get too much time at home

What’s your favorite song to perform live?

ST: We really love performing all our songs!! At the moment, our unreleased song “Batshit” is one of our favorites because we get to go especially Batshit Crazy!

What have been some of your favorite memories from touring?

ST: We have such a good time on the road. We travel with a small group and we spend most of the time laughing. One of our favorite memories was going to Brazil for the first time and getting to speak Portuguese to the audience and everyone knowing all the lyrics–probably better than we did!! Coachella was a standout couple shows as well. We love the small headline shows we’ve done as well!! Anytime people come to see us we feel excited and grateful!

For more info about Sofi Tukker, visit their Facebook page.

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Culture Music

Glass Animals Will Share Colorful Set at Panorama

While Arcade Fire are toiling in the wake of a rumored ban on certain apparel at tomorrow’s Brooklyn show, it’s a particular produce that’s taboo at some Glass Animals shows this summer (or is it?).

The British group, whose sound is so uncommon it’s been categorized as indietronica and shiver pop, too, is touring North America and parts of Europe this summer, and their fierce fans are relentless in showing their devotions to the group. They’ve established a symbol all their own, a golden calf of sorts to show their support for the band; a pineapple serves as the token item.

Heaps and oodles of pineapples are being smuggled into Glass Animals shows, at festivals like Glastonbury and at their headlining concerts, too. Some of the venues have banned the tropical fruit, complying with their rules on prohibiting outside food and drink inside the gates, but fans are still finding a way to get them inside. The band shared on Facebook a screenshot of such a rule, saying “ten points to everyone who manages to sneak in a pineapple anyway.”

“Every festival and show that we do there’s always a huge pile of confiscated pineapples at the entrance,” said Dave Bayley, lead vocalist and lyricist for Glass Animals, in an interview with Downtown. “But people still manage to sneak some in anyways no matter what. I don’t know how they do it.”

The pineapple frenzy is inspired by the pineapple design on the group’s first album cover, for the record ZABA, which was released in 2014. Will fans be able to sneak pineapples into Panorama Fest this weekend, where Glass Animals will play on Sunday? It’s unclear. But you can bet they will try.

Band members Bayley, guitarist/keyboardist Drew MacFarlane, drummer Joe Seaward and bassist/keyboardist Edmund Irwin-Singer formed their band at university in 2010. Their most recent album, “How To Be A Human Being,” has entranced listeners since its release in August of last year. A trippy, kaleidoscopic sonic whirlwind, the record packs a distinct range of sounds and instrumentation into 11 songs. Listeners who are just in it for the auditory aspect and melodies will receive a musical thrill, but there’s more to hear and discover below the surface.

Each of the 11 songs represents a different character. These characters, who are depicted in the album cover art and each have their own website (see for yourself on their website), were created and compiled by Bayley as the band was touring. Bayley recorded people’s stories on his phone, and then he wrote the characters to include many of those chronicles, as well as fictional attributes and experiences from his own life.

“When I started doing this, listening to these stories and initially writing the words, I didn’t really know if it would turn into an album,” Bayley said. “I kind of realized after I started writing words. I was like ‘Oh, I could put this to music and it would work.’ But when I first had the idea I didn’t know what it was going to be.”

It turns out the stories were meant to be songs. The album is perfectly enjoyable without paying attention to the characters and their tales, but dig deeper if you want, Bayley said. There’s something to be discovered in each.

“There’s probably a little bit of me in all the characters, a flavor,” Bayley said. “And hopefully there’s a little bit that everyone can relate to in all the characters, a touch of it. That’s kind of the idea.”

The songwriting came easy as the characters took shape in Bayley’s mind.

“It’s kind of like writing a theme song for someone,” he said.

Listeners may find they relate to the romanticism of “Poplar St” or the lust for adventure in “The Other Side of Paradise.” But one song has a special meaning for Bayley. “Agnes” is as poignant as it is heartbreaking, and Bayley said recently on Facebook that it’s probably the “saddest song i will ever write.” An outpouring of love for the song has been shown by fans since the release of radio edit last month.

From playing in some kid’s garage in Salt Lake City about four years back (there was no bar or lighting system: just a cooler that said “water $1”) to rocking Panorama and Red Rocks this summer, the band has seen a journey to popularity and their share of great live performances. They’ll be back to New York City in October, to play Radio City Music Hall.

“I’ve heard about so many legendary concerts that have happened there and I think it’s gonna be special,” Bayley said. “A lot of people say it’s their favorite venue in the world to play so I am really looking forward to it.”

First, they take Panorama. Don’t miss their set this weekend.

For more information about Panorama and tickets, visit their website.
For Glass Animals’ touring schedule, visit their Facebook page.

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Culture Music

Pinegrove Frontman Talks Panorama Fest and Songwriting

In the world exists a staggering amount of love songs. Yet within that abundance, very few modern songs are about non-romantic love. There’s a gap where the music about familial love, platonic love and friendships should be. Pinegrove‘s frontman Evan Stephens Hall noticed this inconsistency too.

“I didn’t have any songs I could listen to that could comfort me about topics like that, so I made them myself,” Hall said.

Pinegrove’s 2016 album “Cardinal” is bookended by two such songs: “Old Friends” and “New Friends,” yet the themes of brotherly love are laced throughout the record.

Following their 2015 compilation “Everything so Far,” the band, consisting of Hall, Zack Levine, Nick Levine, Sam Skinner, Nandi Rose Plunkett, David Mitchell, Josh Marre and Adan Carlo, released “Cardinal” last year to the tune of praise from some of music’s harshest critics.

NPR Music offered up a fitting description for Pinegrove and their musings on friendship and love, calling them “fresh and scrappy at the same time.” Pitchfork said the detailed record deeply focuses on one of the most important aspects of life: “how to make our friendships really matter.”

Riding this wave of success, Pinegrove’s been gaining fans and gaining ground. Now they’re set to play at Panorama Music Festival at Randall’s Island Park on Saturday, July 29, another opportunity for the group to enrapture a new audience, and maybe even initiate the wave.

“People are always so down to do the wave,” Hall said of music festival audiences. “But also I think there’s more a sense that we are playing to persuade some people. I like the challenge of trying to persuade someone that we’re worth checking out until the end of the song, and then persuading them to check out the next song and just measure by measure making it interesting enough for them and emotional enough for them to say ‘Oh I should stay here’ instead of checking out any of the bands they could be listening to instead.”

This opportunity cost is, for many Pinegrove fans, of no concern. The band’s current tour, which includes cities in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., has fans making the trip to see Pinegrove perform at headlining shows and festivals alike, and they linger for the whole set, too.

Much of Pinegrove’s appeal is due to their approachable lyrics and sublime songwriting. While their music has pleased both listeners and critics, the first person Hall must please is himself. At the core of the songwriting process is his own little shindig, but as listeners, we’ve all secured invitations.

“It’s exciting to have a wider listenership than ever before, but it doesn’t really change the process,” Hall said. “These songs have been really helpful to me and they’ve become an irreplaceable part of my emotional process. They’re a universe I’ve created for myself, but everybody’s invited.”

While it’s personal for Hall, he takes a simple approach to songwriting.

“I think inherently it’s a process of simplifying the complex experience it is to be human,” he said. “It’s my philosophy that the more direct the better. And even though we might be trying to explore some sort of complex emotional moods or positions or even just ideas, I try to leave out any extraneous substance.”

Hall studied literature and English in college, which has given him extra insight into language and perhaps inspired the conversational tone of “Cardinal.”

“Studying literature helped me realize that there are melodies in dialogue and when we talk to each other we also sing to each other,” Hall said.

The band is currently recording a new album in an old house outside of rural Hudson, New York. Expect a lot natural and integrated sounds on their next work. They also just finished collaborating on a compilation of Green Day covers, all the proceeds of which will be donated to an environmental advocacy group.

“We’re going to put it out when September ends,” Hall joked.

Aside their projects as a band, the musicians who make up Pinegrove are busy in their own right as well. They push each other forward creatively and professionally.

“There are certainly a lot of contemporaries, not least of all my band members who are writing incredible songs and I find myself listening to them almost the most and being inspired by them,” Hall said. “It pushes me to do better.”

For passes to Panorama, visit the festival’s site. For Pinegrove’s tour schedule, visit their Facebook page.