On Friday evening, the gates of the 2014 Buku Music & Arts Project opened to the masses. Festival goers occupied Mardi Gras World as the mixture of EDM, hip-hop and indie sounds filled the air.
This year’s Buku Music & Arts Project brought about the resurrection of furry boots, basketball jerseys and glow sticks. The assortment of clothing and those wearing the articles gathered at the festival’s five stages to listen to their favorite artists.
The new Back Alley stage featured much of Friday’s electronic and techno music. Artists, such as Louisiana natives Kid Kamillion and Jesse Slayter, pumped up the crowd with heavy bass and upbeat tempos. The stage sat along the side of the Mississippi River, entertaining cruise ships passing by as well as festival-goers. The addition of the Back Alley stage gave fans a chance to get close to the artist and dance the night away.
A crowd of people swarmed the Float Den stage at 5:45 p.m. to witness Paper Diamond’s performance. Those in attendance were jumping and dancing from the beginning of the set to the end.
The floor of the Float Den vibrated ferociously all night as Kaskade, Zeds Dead and Big Freedia also delivered energetic shows that forced even the stubborn to tap their toes. This is where most of the glow sticks made their appearance. It is almost impossible to be at the Float Den stage for more than ten minutes and not see something that can be best described as trippy.
The most recognizable stage of Buku is the Power Plant stage. Legendary rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony proved that, after 22 years in the music industry, its music remains popular.
To continue the trend of hip-hop greats, New York artist Nas celebrated the 20 year anniversary of his debut album “Illmatic.” Nas performed a few songs from that album before venturing into a medley of tracks from his other records. Fans rapped every word of the rappers hour long set leading Nas to say he should “come back every year.”
Completing the Power Plant lineup was pop star Ellie Goulding. She commanded the stage yielding a crowd that reached the back of the building that housed the Ballroom stage. While most of the day’s performances consisted of acts outside Goulding’s genre, she held her own ground leaving her fans with a proud smile.
The winner of today’s best Buku stage goes to the Ballroom. After entertaining performances from Australian band Miami Horror and indie rock band Wavves, Pusha T introduced himself to his Buku fans. The G.O.O.D. Music signee performed a few songs from his album “My Name is My Name” and songs from his past as a part of Clipse. The crowd reacted most to Pusha T’s section of songs he featured on such as G.O.O.D Music’s “Don’t Like” and Kanye West’s “So Appalled.” He closed his set with a soulful rendition of his song “40 Acres.”
A surprise show by the Gaslamp Killer filled the void until the M.V.P. of Friday’s events took the stage.
Those in attendance to see Chance The Rapper filled the Ballroom, including the second level V.I.P. section. Chance greeted the public in denim overalls which wasn’t surprising for those who listen to the rapper. He performed a handful of songs from “Acid Rap” that the crowd knew word for word. Chance also performed a medley of verses from songs he had featured on. He received a roaring chant for an encore and gladly returned to the stage. The best part about this performance was his use of live band The Social Experiment to bring “Acid Rap” to life. Something about a life trumpet brings a show together.
Live graffiti art consumed the outside wall of the warehouse that holds the Float Den stage. Those same works will be sold via the Buku phone app.
Day one of Buku had a lot to offer those in attendance. However day two’s lineup of artists including ScHoolboy Q, Tyler, the Creator and the festival’s final artist, Danny Brown is what many of the festival goers talked about. Now it’s time to see if Saturday can live up to its own hype.