As temperatures fall and real life responsibilities begin to reappear, Summer\’s Last Stand in Union Park remains a lasting memory for all the Coasties who were lucky enough to spread the love at the 6th edition of North Coast Music Festival. Although the size of Lollapalooza and flashy lineup of Spring Awakening seem to overshadow the Chicago festival scene, North Coast sets itself apart by bringing raw talent from the top to the bottom of its lineup and by providing the most positive vibrations in the Chicago festival scene.
Despite legendary lineups and a beautiful venue in Grant Park, Lollapalooza is an every crew for themselves kind of festival with virtually no vibes. With an excessive amount of people in attendance, getting around is hard, and even harder when you have to walk twenty minutes from each stage. North Coast eliminates these problems with a properly sized venue and a proportionate crowd population. Too many people can make festivals feel like a clusterf$%*, but at North Coast the stages are spacious and spaced so that attendants can be at their desired proximity without having to rub sweaty parts with every passerby. While Spring Awakening doesn\’t necessarily have this problem, their true dilemma is their extremely poor artist selection. SAMF seems to be choosing from the same pool of mainstream artists such as Tiesto, Hardwell, Afrojack and more of the same, while North Coast has been producing eclectic lineups since its conception. The 2015 North Coast lineup was riddled with hidden gems and musically satisfying sets.
The first day of North Coast was by far the least stacked but turned out to be quite an enjoyable day. The day began at the basketball court or 847 stage with Thibault, who filled the same stage last year with heavy bass and hard drops. This year, the North Coast veteran brought more deep, bouncy house to a thinner crowd of Coasties that eventually grew larger as his set concluded. It was then time for Salva and boy did he bring it. This innovator of trap from LA brought some heavy glitched trap beats for a loving crowd and also showed some love to Chicago with his remix of All Day by Kanye. After Salva, the funk lovers were appeased when Exmag, one of the hottest Lowtemp groups, delivered that smooth electronic soul through their three-piece act. Unfortunately another electronic trio began their set in the middle of the Exmag\’s and they were The Glitch Mob. Coming off hot from a monster show in Atlanta the week before, the LA based live act took control of the heavily tree\’d 630 stage with their bass producing Blade. The intensity of this group and their passion for live shows makes for an invigorating musical experience. Up next was Knife Party and the duo out of London replaced their heavy bass vibes with house. Knife Party\’s set seemed like a more fun, uptempo version of Deadmau5 and stood in contrast to sets such as Lollapalooza 2013, which annihilated those in attendance with a constant stream of filthy bass. Although they didn\’t sound exactly like the old Knife Party, the set was still enjoyable and wowed the crowd with classics such as \’Internet Friends.\’ The first night of North Coast concluded and everyone was itching for more.
The next day was a doozy and it started early. Sweater Beats began the day with some future bass and delightful trap at the 630 stage. In the middle of his set, Michal Menert began his at the 312 stage and brought the funk levels to extreme peaks. Menert graced the Coastie crowd with remixes of classics such as \’Spirit in the Sky\’ and even laid down some slick rhymes to top it off. After about 30 minutes of righteous PLM representation, I wandered back to the 630 stage to experience the future house pioneer, Jauz. Having already seen the young producer perform massive sets at Camp Bisco and Summer Set, there were ruminating doubts that he couldn’t top his previous sets, but he did. During the set, Vogel revealed that Chicago was a second home to him and he treated the crowd with a myriad of new, unreleased tracks. Much sweat was spilt during Jauz. After a short, much needed lull, Booka Shade occupied the 312 stage while Chicago\’s own Manic Focus took over the 630. The Chicago funk fiend played to a lively crowd and dropped some hot new track such as his new remix for Griz. The set ended with a surprise appearance from ProbCause who made the crowd erupt with his sharp rhymes. Shouts soon turned to gasps as Simon Posford took the stage in the form of Sphongle. The vibrant visuals added to the displacement of consciousness during his set and left many confused or in search of their brains. As Posford vanished from the stage, the vibes went from freaky to fantastical with a stellar performance from Porter Robinson. Porter\’s live show was brimming with vibrations of love that filled everyone in attendance with a liberating sense of life, a lot of \’L\’ words could be dropped to describe Porter\’s set. After Porter unleashed his loving fury, it was time for some more feel-good vibes from Wave Racer at the 847 stage. All the electronic lovers who didn\’t want cake thrown in their face were in attendance at the basketball court for a fun, dancey set from Wave Racer. Unfortunately, I only caught some of the set before I had to make my way to Concord Music Hall for the Disco Biscuits after show. Having only seen the Biscuits at Camp Bisco, I didn\’t know how this quintessential quintet would perform in a small bar/venue. The result was nothing short of magnificence. As thick lasers flashed across the stage, the twang of guitars and oozing synthesizers bounced of the Concord walls and straight into the ear drums of a crowd that varied in age. Die hard Disco Biscuits fans who have hundreds of sets under their belts shared beers with young kids who were just seeing them for their first time, shattering any generational gap that was present before. Everybody left the show after almost four hours of heavenly jams with a smile on their face, knowing they\’d see them again the next day.
North Coast\’s last day lineup this year dragged people out of their beds early. The good tunes began with Chicago based, grammy-winning producer Stefan Ponce who laid down some ill beats for his hometown at the 847 stage, while also providing a great segue to SoySauce. The D.C. based producer has been blowing up since the release of his \’LUNCH MONEY\’ EP and his set justified his rising fame. After some jersey club from Trippy Turtle it was time for the noise to be killed. Kill the Noise, otherwise known as Jake, showed off new tracks from his album during his set, including his dolphin collaboration with Dillon Francis that gained a false, copying accusation. The noise was dead and it was time for all of the Chicago house heads to get their dance on. Green Velvet and Twin Shadow played at the 630 stage and 773 stage, respectively, bringing the 4×4 beats that everyone craves at some point. During the same slot Haywyre occupied the basketball court and played the piano to accompany his wonderful electronic melodies. Then there was Goldfish, the South African duo who brought the happy house vibes which were paired well with the dipping sun. As it grew darker, it was time for Tycho and the group from California chilled the Chicago crowd with their smooth, slowed sounds. More electronic rock fusion followed with Until the Ribbon Breaks at the 847 stage and then it was time for the closing slot of the weekend with Snails, The Chemical Brothers and The Disco Biscuits. I first had to experience elite electronic brotherhood of chemicals that conquered the electronic world in their prime. The UK-based duo made sure to impress the Chicago crowd with unbelievable stage production accompanied by boisterous beats. After fulfilling my classic electronic quota, I headed over to the Disco Biscuits to end an amazing weekend.
The festival grounds at Union Park this year were by far exceptional. Inviting lounges for seemingly all of North Coast\’s partners were spread across the grounds and made for awesome eye candy. North Coast also demonstrated a dedication to art, which became obvious by the end of the weekend. The Living Art Gallery featured spray paint masterpieces that was created before your very eyes and more art was scattered around the park in the form of painted rhinos or intricate gateways. North Coast also had a good number of quality water stations that stayed functional all weekend, they also gave out free Coca Cola and Starbucks by the 630 stage throughout the weekend, keeping everyone cool. Through their luscious lineup and fire festival grounds, the folks at North Coast have created an environment that defintely fosters the most positive vibrations in the Chicago festival scene. And as past years have shown North Coast is only getting better, see you in 2016!
Check out some photos here.
