Night Lights Weekend Wrapup July 21-23
Thursday and Friday of this week, I spent covering events for No Suck Fest. The annual DIY punk/indie rock/hardcore concert series is sometimes hit or miss, but thanks to the hard work of the promoters, it’s gotten way more legit (am I allowed to say that about a punk festival?) in its third year and came across as pretty well organized. Not to mention this is the first year that the nonprofit No Suck Fest organization brought in guest bands from the Mainland, which is a good sign for the future of the Fest.
When I first joined the nightlife scene here (I was already over 21), the problem of there not being enough all-ages shows came up frequently among the bands and DJs I hung out with. Now, with almost all of the legit all-ages venues closed or turned 21+ because of the liability for their owners, it seems like the only all-ages events I hear about with any regularity are raves.
But response to No Suck Fest was good. None of the events were packed, but The Mean Jeans and The Dopamines brought in a pretty good crowd, as did some of the local bands.
Here are some pics of Thursday’s pre-party at Mercury Bar and Friday’s show at Anna O’Brien’s:
No Suck Fest 2011
It’s important to remind younger folks that there is live music available to them, even if it is only once a year, and one night out of three was all-ages. Unfortunately, that one all-ages night happened on the same night as Love Fest, also an 18+ event (well, at least technically it is). Hopefully the promoters decide to fix that scheduling issue next year, and bring in even better acts.
Saturday, I woke up excited for Love Fest and spent the entire day in anticipation. I left the house at 7:30 p.m., and then proceeded to spend the next three hours sitting in traffic with over 7,000 other people going to the Wet ‘n’ Wild watermark in Kapolei.
Just to give you some idea, when my car rolled to a stop on the freeway and I began the wait, I was at least a mile away from the actual exit. Still not sure what the holdup was, but I spent the next couple hours, keeping myself amused watching people raving out in their cars or hanging out at the side of the freeway, and chatting on Twitter with other people who were also stuck in traffic, still in town or actually at the fest. Thank god for Twitter.
Miraculously, there was still parking at the water park, perhaps because they were charging $10. Either way, I was a few dollars short and ended up parking for free at the Ross shopping center on the other side of the freeway, just a few minutes’ walk away.
Getting in was slightly more of an ordeal than usual, even though I always make sure I have things arranged beforehand. While I was waiting to be let in, I saw none other than Diplo himself walk in, wearing a tan suit and looking rather peeved.
Once I was in, I headed over to the VIP cabanas at the alternate main stage to say hello to everyone I knew who was there, including Cameron of Odin Works, DJ Reza, Miki Mayhem, Super CW (that guy in the photo with her is guest DJ Tanner Ross, who spun at Indigo but was just hanging out for Love Fest), Maleko and Miko Franconi, the boys from Asylum, Flash (hosting the cabanas) and a ton of other people. Jack Beats from Britain was killing it with a really interesting, edgy glitch, drum & bass and hard house set.
This year was also the first year that the action and headliners weren’t all on the main stage, but a second, alternate stage much closer to the entrance with what seemed like a smaller area for people to pack in and see the DJs.
I was at the water park for about four hours, capturing the interesting sights. Boy, was it crowded!
General consensus that I heard during and after the Fest was that Jack Beats’ set trounced Diplo, the headlining act. I’m generally not too critical, but I’ve never heard a headlining DJ at what is primarily a house music festival play that many mainstream club hits. Sure, he varied it up with house and dubstep remixes, and technically he’s very good at mixing, but the look on peoples’ faces said it all: “If I wanted to hear this stuff, I’d go to Oceans or Pearl.”
What bugged me was partly the fact that Diplo didn’t seem to be enjoying himself. From the time I saw him walk in the park to his set, I don’t think I ever saw him crack a real smile. Even if I don’t like the music, I’ll give a DJ points for enthusiasm if they obviously love what they do… but in this case, something was just missing.
It was for a lot of reasons, but when I walked out of Love Fest this year, I was less than stoked. Maybe it was the huge crowds, at least twice as many as last year, or maybe there was something in the drugs, but it seemed like fewer people were smiling and really enjoying themselves.
Maybe it’s just me, though. I’d be interested in hearing about your experience at Love Fest, if you went.
Well, that pretty much wraps up the weekend; next week kicks off on Thursday with Art & Flea’s first anniversary at Fresh Cafe plus Das Racist at NextDoor, Eat the Street brings out another huge gathering of lunch trucks to Kakaako on Friday, and Apartment3 celebrates its second anniversary on Saturday.
See you around!
