Last weekend’s BUKU Music and Arts Festival in New Orleans was a perfectly legitimate reason to concentrate so many humans in one area. It’s been a minute since I’ve seen so many wide-eyed faces in one place.
The already colorful aesthetic of Mardi Gras world was enhanced by a sea of shiny face paint and patterned costumes. BUKU is Louisiana’s only electronic and hip-hop centered festival (and a rather small one in comparison to other major festivals). Consequently, people seemed well-prepared for the weekend.
Lido was the first artist I saw. A friend of mine recently told me Lido was his favorite producer, so I wanted to at least dignify his choice with my presence at Lido’s performance. As we approached the main stage, I began to understand. Lido’s energy and stage awareness kept a large audience hyped despite a large amount of people who were likely unfamiliar with his work. Lido’s use of drums was refreshing and rather unexpected.
Young Thug was set to play the main stage after Lido, but he disappointed many when he canceled due to a “family emergency.” Luckily, BUKU staff quickly contacted Juvenile, who showed up and delivered a fun, impromptu set to the surprise of everyone. Major props to this New Orleans legend for coming to the rescue.
While my colleague watched Sophie, I went to the Ballroom stage to see the man I was most excited to see: Thundercat. I have been a fan of this musician for a few years now. Following the release of a new album entitled “Drunk” a few weeks ago, I knew Thundercat would put on a fresh and exciting show.
He delivered 45 solid minutes of harmony, melody, and straight funk difficult to hear anywhere else these days. His voice sounded surprisingly close to the vocal performance on his recordings, which was nice.
Appearing with only an impressive drummer and a piano player, Thundercat stood out from the other acts for several reasons. The group showed off its improvisational ability, complexity of percussion, group chemistry and all around good vibes during the performance. Thundercat played old favorites like “Tron Song”, “Them Changes”, and “Oh Sheit It’s X,” as well as new favorites “Bus In These Streets” and “Friend Zone.” To me, It really couldn’t have been any better.
Afterward, I chilled out for a while and bought some pretty expensive food. I only had five dollars left after foolishly buying a nine-dollar tequila drink, but a good Samaritan came to my aid with a dollar so I could put some jambalaya in my stomach.
Next, Sleigh Bells impressed me with their singer, two guitar players and eight Marshall stacks. They didn’t hold my attention as well as I had hoped, however, so I shot over to Clams Casino in the Back Alley. This stage was the smallest but also one of the most fun. Its intimate nature and surprisingly loud speakers kept the crowd going all weekend. After, we decided to go home and rest up for day two..
The second day was no less exciting than the first. It seemed as though there were even more people in attendance on the day two. Caddywompus, a two-man band from New Orleans, opened the day on the main stage, followed closely by Minnesota and Space Jesus in the Float Den.
Tycho was my favorite set of the day. Their full, rich sound filled the space while beautiful visuals of canyons and desert plains appeared on screen. Tycho’s drummer was insane and made me think, “Wow, every one of the bands here has an amazing drummer. That’s probably a big reason why they’re here.”
Other notable acts of the day included local acts sfam and AF the Naysayer, who we got to chat with for a bit. Both were super nice and welcoming. Oshi, Rezz, Sunsquabi and the Floozies all did their thing and had the crowds going. Lastly, Deadmau5 and Vince Staples made the night for me (especially Vince).
All in all, Buku was a great experience. Everyone who I came in contact with was really friendly, from the musicians I met and traded information with to the people attempting to sell me psychedelics. Everyone was there to have a good time and I believe that was accomplished. I’m thankful.
