Thousands packed Mardi Gras World in New Orleans this weekend for Buku Music + Art Project, two days of throbbing bass lines and memorable performances. Artists like Kid Cudi, Passion Pit and Kendrick Lamar rocked crowds at three stages on the riverfront.
FRIDAY
Despite a running theme of electro-pop and DJ sets, Friday night headliners at the Buku Project bridged the gap among genres with everything from garage rock to SoCal pop.
If the overall theme of Buku Music + Art Project was electronic dance music, Flux Pavillion was the centerpiece. Performing to a large crowd at Buku’s main stage, the Power Plant, Flux Pavillion made the crowd move with an abundance of heavy electronic remixes and a light show that reached halfway across Mardi Gras World.
Kid Cudi, in an attempt to meld into the electro-pop vibe of the festival, incorporated electronic beats to many of his songs. The opening of “Pursuit of Happiness” erupted in a chorus of dance-worthy beats, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Like many of the acts at Buku, Kid Cudi made a point to thank the crowd for being so receptive. Cudi said many times he could feel the energy.
Japandroids, a two-piece band from Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, brought a different flavor to the Buku crowd at the Ballroom stage. Playing primarily garage rock tunes with heavy percussion, Japandroids was a definite split from the many electronic and DJ sets of the night.
Although Japandroids is a relatively new band on the scene, it has gained recognition in the short time it has been active. In 2012, it won Spin Magazine’s award for Band of the Year, earning a top spot on many indie playlists.
Judging by the crowd, Japandroids was a clear favorite — the sparse crowd near the beginning of its set quickly filled out as the raging sound of guitar licks and bass hits wore on.
The veteran Primus took a different approach to showmanship with its set in 3-D.
Incorporating a three-dimensional backdrop featuring videos of explosions and a quadraphonic sound system that took the bass level up a few notches, the crowd was pleased with Primus’ efforts to set itself apart from other acts at the festival.
Best Coast, a duo consisting of Bethany Consentino and Bobb Bruno, brought a distinct SoCal pop vibe to Buku.
Playing crowd favorites “Our Deal” and “The Only Place,” Best Coast was well-received by an audience that sang along to Consentino’s signature bubblegum pop lyrics.
At one point, sections of the crowd began chanting a resounding “Boyfriend,” to which Consentino replied, “Don’t you guys know any other songs?”
With an opening tease by Flying Lotus, Earl Sweatshirt, rapper and member of the group Odd Future, brought the crowd to its feet for his set. The crowd, full of Earl Sweatshirt superfans, was the largest at the Ballroom stage that night. The up-and-coming rapper played favorites including the notable “Hive.” He also performed a number of new songs that will be on his upcoming album “Doris.”
Overall, Friday night at Buku brought a wave of energetic artists, both old and new.
SATURDAY
Saturday brought even crazier crowds and bigger names to Mardi Gras World for the second and final day of Buku.
Artists kept up the love for New Orleans all day, whether it was UK native Alt-J pulling a local brass band onstage to jam or Icona Pop toasting cans of Heineken to their journey from a couch in Sweden to a stage in Louisiana.
“I’m from a city called Compton, California, but every time I come up in this mother****er, I know y’all feel me,” headlining rapper Kendrick Lamar told his screaming crowd at the Power Plant stage.
The festival certainly did feel him during his evening set. Old school rap legends Chuck D and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy had already built up the energy by the time Lamar took the mic, and Lamar’s set was less of a performance and more of a shout-along session — in Lamar’s words: “This isn’t a Kendrick Lamar concert. It’s a party.”
The rapper pulled out all of his classics and worked the stage as his own hype man, at one point dedicating “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” to a member of the crowd he felt wasn’t partying hard enough. The audience fed off Lamar’s confidence with manic enthusiasm, and the sound of thousands of hoarse voices screaming every word into Lamar’s extended microphone made the show unforgettable.
Kendrick Lamar wasn’t the only act getting people to put their glowsticks and drinks in the air Saturday. Passion Pit delivered a more performance-heavy set, but it received just as much of a response with strong renditions of fan favorites. Across the festival grounds, the screams for the opening notes of “Sleepyhead” were deafening.
In the Ballroom, Icona Pop pounded out one of the highlights of the day. The duo seemed to be having the time of their lives as they jumped on the barricades and bumped fists over their turntables. Stompy classics thrilled fans while extended remixes worked for those who just came to dance, and “I Love It” closed the set with a bang.
A wall-to-wall crush of people jumped and grooved their way through the nighttime lineup in the Ballroom. Despite a 45-minute delay, Alt-J played a solid set before passing it off to Trinidad Jame$, who packed even the VIP section with his festival-friendly songs about Molly. Dragonette commanded the room with swagger, and its electrifying rendition of “Hello” made even the people halfway passed out behind the bar pay attention.
Saturday was also a day for weirdness, however, from the flailing, glitter-soaked crowd in the Float Den for STS9’s dual sets to the one intrepid concertgoer who stripped and danced stark naked through Passion Pit before Buku officials forced clothes back onto him.
Major Lazer bounced and rolled over its fans in giant inflatable balls, STRFKR’s set featured a crowd-surfing astronaut and a man in a bunny suit, and Action Bronson rapped half of his set from inside the audience.
Buku ended in a haze of smoke and lasers, streaks of body paint and bass still echoing over the river. Mardi Gras World will stay quiet until next year, when New Orleans will prove itself as a home for great music once again.
