Perry Kostidakis

Editor-in-Chief

“I came across this property in Florida, and it's hard to make that change sometimes, to go away from something comfortable and good, but I started feeling like maybe it was time for me to go in my own direction [from Bonnaroo]. So I went and saw this property and after seeing the first one percent of it, I was just so blown away by the natural beauty and breathtaking feel of this property, and I quickly realized that there's never been a live music venue like this. It's unparalleled. And for me it's always been about seeing great music, but if you can see it in a really special place, that makes it infinitely more powerful and special, and that was what I thought we could build here.”

- Paul Peck, co-founder of Okechobee Music and Arts Festival to liveforlivemusic.com

*****

It’s always strange to be the first of something.

This initial impression, this first glance, must set the stage for the future or the first could become the last. This is perhaps a bit hyperbolic, but the first annual Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival (March 3-6) had a big mission during its maiden voyage. If there are expectations, they must be lived up to and if there are none, you must establish them.

The constant standard that Okeechobee will continuously get will be to Bonnaroo, simply because it’s the easiest comparison. Okeechobee co-founder Paul Peck helped book and organize the talent for Bonnaroo. He also served as the mastermind behind Roo’s SuperJam, a high-profile artist jam band concept brought over to Okeechobee in the form of PowWow, one of the many examples of the ideas brought from one to the other.

But comparing the two is like comparing two siblings; you can easily draw the similarities given the heritage, but to hold one to the other’s standards invites an endless debate about the merits of the other. Okeechobee is young and untested, evident in the occasional lapses of organization, but what it showed in its first year shows that there’s a staying power comparable to the established names. When it comes down to it, what Bonnaroo has that Okeechobee doesn’t is an established community, an aura that surrounds the very name of the event.

It’s hard to foster a community when the community doesn’t begin to be formed until the day the festival kicks off. Not to say that they were there in spite of it, but nobody was at Okeechobee simply because it was Okeechobee, they were there because of their friends, or the artists, or some other nefarious purpose. Festivals like Bonnaroo almost cultivate a cult-like following of people, which was evident by the way that those who came to Okeechobee in search of a similar environment talked about it.

The crowd was split into two major factions: those who had experienced Bonnaroo-like festivals and were looking for a springtime equivalent, and then those who had gone to Ultra-like festivals and wanted more out of it. The end result was the most Florida crowd imaginable, which can be interpreted as both a compliment and a detraction. The biggest demographic represented was that of college student, given the convenient overlap of the festival and spring break. A three-minute walk in any direction assured the appearance of at least one Florida State flag or canopy, with the occasional UF, FGCU or UGA apparel making an appearance.

The crowd, of course, was the result of giving Florida its first 24-hour music festival. The Sunshine State has dabbled in festivals for a good amount of time now, the big players being electronic festivals such as the Electric Daisy Carnival in Orlando and Ultra Music Festival in Miami. Tampa’s Big Guava, started in 2012, was Florida’s first attempt at an extravagant music festival, but with low attendance numbers and the arrival of Okeechobee, it opted to skip putting on a festival in 2016.

And so enter Okeechobee, with goals of combining all the elements one would expect, and want, from a festival.

There were offerings for both the hippies and the bassheads, and then everybody in between. Yogachobee, a section of the festival described as “the yin to Okeechobee’s yang,” offered massage and yoga sessions, as well as lectures on topics such as sensory awareness and spiritual awakenings. Jungle 51 served as the non-stop party sector of the festival, surrounded by trees lit-up by multicolored lights and lasers and accompanied by 24-hour live DJ sets. A beach area called Aquachobee featured Corona bars, as well as its own stage. A section called Moonlight Oasis offered a temporary reprieve from the hoopla of the festival, with couches and tables littered along the roped off wooded area.

The main area, The Grove, hosted the festival’s three stages, BE, HERE and NOW. Okeechobee decided to open its doors on Thursday due to an influx of smaller talent and eager campers, but The Grove remained locked away until the festival officially kicked off at 12 p.m on Friday.

The music was a hodgepodge of artists that differs from the lineups of the summer festivals, a result of the seasonal tour schedules. Though a few artists make appearances at other major festivals (Miguel and Ween, for instance, will also be in attendance at Bonnaroo), the first Okeechobee managed, while admittedly leaning slightly more towards electronic music, to cultivate a group of musicians that offered as unique of an experience as it was a crowd.

You’d be hard pressed to find a person let down by a performance at the festival, but there were shows that quite obviously flew above the rest, in terms of both prestige and talent. Each day offered a mix of big names and big crowds, but Saturday was the day that established exactly the potential that Okeechobee has a festival.

Acts like Lotus, SWIMM, Deer Tick and Dr. Dog all brought a festival vibe to the day, helping move the day along until a performance by Mac Miller, the first big act. Running through his latest release GOOD:AM while taking occasional gulps from his red solo cup and acting the damn fool, Miller warmed the crowd up for what was perhaps the best performance of the festival.

Some might recognize Miguel from his 2013 hit “Adorn,” his guest features or remember his ill-fated attempt at a leap during the Billboard Music Awards, but by and large he’s flown as under the radar as a Grammy-nominated artist can and perhaps that played a part into how well-received the performance was. His entrance set the tone, with mind-numbing bass pouring out of the speakers, causing those in the crowd to wonder if they had accidentally wandered to electronic group Big Gigantic’s set instead (or, for those less lucid in the crowd who thought they were at Big Gigantic, it assured them that they were right).

He tore through his latest release, Wildstyle, accompanied by a live band and dizzying visuals, sending the crowd into a dancing frenzy. It was the kind of performance that somebody would cook up when imagining a music festival, a perfect marriage of music and a welcoming crowd. Miguel put every ounce of his being performing, and the crowd returned the energy tenfold. By the end of his performance, the crowd had grown exponentially, a result of the show and the anticipation for the next artist to grace the BE stage, Kendrick Lamar.

The 28 year-old rapper has been having a phenomenal past year, having just won five Grammy’s from his second album To Pimp a Butterfly and establishing himself, along with Drake, as the biggest name in rap. Just two weeks removed from a Grammy performance and day after dropping his surprise album untitled unmastered., Kendrick took the stage with the words GET TOP ON THE PHONE (a phrase mentioned on his latest release and rumoured to be a new album title) emblazoned on the screen behind him.

With the help of his band, he played hits from TPAB, as well as previous hits from good kid, m.a.a.d city such as “Backseat Freestyle” and “Money Trees.” The performance, while great, would have just been another performance if not for a minute into a performance of “u”,a dark song about the complexities of suicide, Kendrick noticing a fan in the front reciting the lyrics along with him.

“You, you come up here,” he said, cutting off mid-chorus.

The fan, who later said he had been waiting 11 hours to see Kendrick, had apparently been reciting the lyrics with such emotion that Kendrick cut the band and the music off to call him onstage. Magnified on the video screen, you could see the emotion on the rapper’s face as the kid made his way up.

“Check it out, the reason I pulled him on stage, because he was singing this s*** with his motherf****** heart out. Suicide is some real motherf****** s*** man, and whoever out there feel that way, let this be the song to know that I understand. This man right here understand about that s***, make some noise for him right now.”

The fan whispered a few words to Kendrick, Kendrick whispered a few words back and then embraced him in a tight hug. He asked for his name (Logan) and asked him to go stand on the side of the stage.

“I can see Logan pouring his motherf****** heart out because he’s gone through real s***, just like I go through. No much how motherf***** money, no much how motherf***** fame, we still hurt. He still hurt! So whenever I make songs like ‘loving you is complicated,’ I think about people with real feelings. We can’t judge him, I can’t judge him. I don’t know what you’re going through. So pray for me to relate, and just like my man right here, how he was singing those motherf****** words, you inspire me to make this album.”

“So one more time, come back out here brother, and y’all make some noise, and don’t stop making noise until I tell you to!”

He motioned the fan over, and then directed his band to start playing more upbeat, and then suddenly, Kendrick Lamar, perhaps the biggest name in rap in the world, and his fan who had been waiting 11 hours simply to see him, were dancing all over the stage as the crowd roared.

Later, after Kendrick had played his last song, the crowd chanted the refrain from TPAB’s “Alright” over and over in hopes of inspiring an encore. At festivals, encores are rare due to tight scheduling windows, but that fact meant nothing to the crowd.

“We gon’ be alright! We gon’ be alright!,” was chanted repeatedly, even as the lights went dim and stagehands began to appear. A man walked out, raised his arms to encourage the chanting to grow louder, and it did. Seconds later, the beginning sounds of “Alright” blared over the crowd, and Kendrick came running back out on stage.

In those two moments, Kendrick established himself even more as the rapper of the people.It’s no coincidence that the two songs that had emphasis placed on them in his performance, “u” and “Alright”, have come to represent social issues (depression and Black Lives Matter) and that each resonated with the crowd in ways that an average Drake song never could.

He’d be followed up by an outstanding performance from Skrillex, who would put on his own dance frenzy of a show, and a Miguel-led PowWow that at one point featured the R&B singer, Win Butler, John Oates and more performing “Rock the Casbah.”

Sunday, between performances by Future, Big Grams and Odesza, served as the perfect wrapup, especially with the festival-concluding act put on by Mumford & Sons. With no other conflicting acts, an enormous crowd gathered around the stage and danced the night away in classic ho-down fashion.

It’s from the emotion and environment brought forth by these performances that Okeechobee will foster its community. Peck was right when he said that the location will serve as an unparalleled environment for live music. The grounds, before being trampled by the sold-out crowd of 30,000, were a beautiful lush green, and the late afternoon sweatshirt and sweatpants weather was a stark difference to the desolate heat that accompanies summer festivals. The crowd was as mixed and diverse and weird as you could hope for.

And, with more stunning displays of artistry from the likes of Miguel and Kendrick, with more insane environments like the ones created by Skrillex and Bassnectar, Okeechobee will continue to offer a wildly unique experience of a festival, a deep dive into humanity that will be difficult to be replicated elsewhere.