photo by Jason Koerner

The sold out III Points Music, Arts, and Tech Festival in Miami this year was a new adventure for me. Everything about this festival had me so curious and extremely excited to attend. After taking a 4 month break from festing; the tech, the art, the people ready and eager to party after Irma, and the music made for a perfect welcome back. Although there certainly wasn’t as much art/technology as I thought (from looking at pictures of past III Points), the installations were still really cool. Daydream v.4 by Nonotak Studio was by far the most entrancing thing I have ever experienced. If I had time to kill in between sets, I would sit for hours in front of this. Excuse the poor iPhone quality, but just to give you a feel of what I’m taking about:

Trippy, right? Other interesting installations included THE SHIP by Brian Eno, Ayiti Mountains by Miguel Pyrpchan, METROPOLIS by Jason Boogie, and the #teampixel Wall Aqua by Aileen Quintana. As captivating as these installations were, I feel like music definitely deserves a spotlight. Here are my top three performances from this year’s III Points:

Hundred Waters

I’ll be honest, I only knew of Hundred Waters from ads. Their song, “Show Me Love,” has been featured in ads like the Coca Cola #MakeItHappy Super Bowl Ad…

…and the Skrillex remix of “Show Me Love,” (featuring Chance the Rapper, Moses Sumney, and Robin Hannibal) was also featured in a “Love Has No Labels,” video from Ad Council:

These “Love Has No Labels,” videos from Ad Council already make me want to cry, but paired with this song? It made me shed a few too many tears. I was so in love with “Show Me Love” at first, I would listen to it on repeat for hours and hours. I’m glad one song was enough for me to power through the exhaustion and stay for Hundred Waters’ angelic set at III Points. Beautiful giant balloons, the wind, Nicole’s giant fluffy coat (that must have been way too hot to be wearing in Florida), and people letting the balloons go at the end of the set. Either I was way too tired, or that set was like a dream.

Mark Ronson vs. Kevin Parker

This was one that I decided to check out of pure curiosity. I knew who Kevin Parker was and was quite fond of Tame Impala, but I wasn’t familiar with Ronson or what the two versus each other meant.

photo by Philip Cosores

Let’s just say it was a dance party. It was the most fun I had all weekend. Ronson and Parker gave the crowd more energy in one hour than I saw the entire weekend. Mixing some of their own sounds, throwing in some crowd favorites, and even performing “The Less I Know The Better,” I’m really glad I was able to catch this one.

Gorillaz

You should’ve seen this one coming. To say this performance was life changing is an understatement. My jaw dropped within the first ten seconds of this set, and I don’t think it ever went back. It started with a “Hello, hello, is anyone there?” and it was all uphill from there. For me, visuals are everything during performances. Even if you sound like a dying cat, if you have some sick lights and cool backgrounds, I will still give the set a thumbs up. Thankfully, the cats were alive and well during this one. Having 2D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel dancing, shooting, and doing whatever it is Gorillaz do on the big screen was everything my heart could as for (even if I was crossing my fingers for holograms or something like that).

photo from Gorillaz Official Facebook Page

Kali Uchis, Kilo Kish, Peven Everett, and Zebra Katz even made appearances as well. The crowd was left slightly shocked and waiting for more when Albarn and the rest of the gang exited the stage without performing hits like “Dirty Harry,” “DARE,” or “Feel Good Inc.” Even without the hits though, it was still one of the best shows I’ve been to. Thanks to the guy who was behind me, you can watch the full performance here!

Hundred Waters, Mark Ronson vs Kevin Parker, and Gorillaz are all just a small taste of that weekend. III Points was a perfect way to warm up for the rest of the festivals for 2017. Looking forward to seeing all you beautiful people back in Miami next year for III Points 2018!