There are definitive reasons why the sophomore fest Day For Night 2016, Houston's two-day collision of headlining musicians and immersive art installations, is quickly becoming the must-attend, festival of the future.
Respect for the pioneers, praise for the revolutionaries
Coachella. Austin City Limits. Bonnaroo. New Orleans Jazz and Heritage. These highly-regarded, perennial American cultural events have become permanent entries in the lexicon of modern music festival-going devotees. They are often touted as "festivals you cannot afford to miss." Surprisingly, you can believe most of the hype when it comes to these aforementioned festival Their music performer line-ups are traditionally intriguing (if not downright jaw-dropping) and since each of these fests have been in existence for a least a decade (forty-plus years for the New Orleans J&H) they usually run smoothly and meticulously precise, like well-oiled corporate machines.
A handful of "neophyte" festivals (under the age of 10) have begun to rival the more "matured" granddaddy fests by unabashedly and fearlessly featuring every genre of music, back to back, over the course of one to three days. Therefore, instead of fans and music lovers dishing out hundreds of dollars to spend upwards of 36 hours listening to endless stream of bands that all use the same three chords or electronic music makers sharing the same library of samples, relative newcomers fests such as Gulf Shore, Alabama's Hangout, San Marcos, TX's Float Fest and Houston Free Press Summer Fest have been bucking the "fest" status quo by diversifying the line-ups and integrating countless forms of futuristic art and media into the mix. The most promising of the festival newcomers is Houston's Day for Night Festival, which debuted in December of 2015.
Day For Night 2016: Confessions of a weary, battle-scared festival veteran who, ultimately, saw the light.
Confessions Part One: The Agony...
Okay, time for full disclosure. I am a longtime festival-going veteran, and I must emphasize looooong, not as far back as Woodstock in 1969, but close. Beginning in the early-'80s, as music journalist, I've borne witness to the good, the bad and unbelievably ugliest of music fests. I can count the cool, transcendental and life-altering ones on one hand. Consequently, when I first heard of Day for Night, I set my expectation bar extremely low for its inaugural two-night run. First-timer fest, as a rule, fail, and that's if they are lucky. Even days before Day for Night Numero Uno opened its gates, I would wake up, sweating, from vivid, horrifying nightmares of chaos, anarchy and purveyors of the rampant "head up our asses" syndrome dominating the entire Day for Night proceedings. Regardless, I had to see the iconic New Order, who were headlining the first night of the fest. I had to hear "Bizarre Love Triangle" or "Regret" performed live (for the 15th time), regardless of what indignities I was sure to suffer. Weeks before the big day, I started to hear music fans, all over the Bayou City, reciting this same, strange mantra, "Wow, Day for Night is not just going to be all about like, the music but like a trippy visual experience, too. I can't wait!" At this point, I began to seriously question myself, "Do I really need to see New Order that bad?" THE weekend finally arrived. December 19, 2015. The first "day" of Day for Night, I bravely drove my own vehicle to the event, not knowing what perils might waiting for me once I arrived. To my surprise, though, parking was shockingly hassle free, the lines at the ticket and will call windows moved fast and furiously, the audience members were genuinely enthused and excited (luckily, not of the rambunctious "let's form a mosh pit" ilk) and the festival volunteers and staff were pleasant and (holy hell!) helpfully informative. "Am I really in the right place?" I continually utter to myself, until I began my journey by taking a tour of all the interactive art and media installations. After about 90 seconds, I began to feel myself slowly transforming into a true believer. And, when the music began...well, I ascended.
Confessions Part Two: ...and the Ecstasy.
How else can I say it? Look, I went in thinking it was going to be a complete horror show, and I declared to all of my friends with me, "This is how a festival should run!" I felt incredibly Houston Proud, at the moment. Anyway, I digress. I don't want to bore you with the tedious details of my near-heavenly existential mental realignment or give a complete, song-by-song, review of the performances that occurred on those two miraculous days and nights in December of 2015. But, I have to emphasize that short of Jesus appearing out of the Texas sky to do an encore of "My Sweet Lord," I harbored no expectations of being even vaguely impressed. Minutes before arriving at Day for Night, I had sworn, in my heart of hearts, that I would not spent more than a few hours at the festival. I was just going to see New Order and then I would be done! Consequently, I ended up spending well over 20-plus hours during those days, transfixed by all the mind-blowing music and goings-on at that inaugural Day for Night. The performers were unbelievable, every single one of them (and I was completely sober the whole time). Quite honestly, I was never a big fan of Kendrick Lamar (who headlined Night #2), but he put on such an unforgettable and powerfully dynamic performance, I became an instant fan. Hell, he even had a handful of 80-year-old grandmothers in the crowd shaking their money-makers.
"I really hope there a point to this tale of musical and artistic salvation?" you are probably asking yourself about now.
Yes, in fact, there is. The real moral of this story (and its rather long-winded introduction) is that you'd be a complete (hmm, how do I saw this nicely? Aww, screw it!) IDIOT to miss Year Two of Day for Night, which spans three nights: December 16 - 18 and two full days on Saturday and Sunday. The festival's website declares "we are all about combing headlining musicians with immersive art installations. Day for Night transforms live music production by introducing new sensory experiences to the festival landscape." Hand to God, this is no publicist BS! These folks ain't a lyin'. Last year's event delivered just that and much more. This first-timer festival's bold new experiment approach completely re-circuited this uber-jaded rock journalist's perception of what festivals can really be and what they should be like for passive and hardcore fest fans. Hence, with the line-up and installations scheduled for this year, it would be nearly impossible for the second Day for Night NOT to totally eclipse everything good and mystically groovy festival-goers experienced last December.
Day For Night 2016: December 18-19, Houston, Texas
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WHAT PROMISES TO BE SERIOUS "AHA" MOMENTS AT DAY FOR NIGHT 2016 (So, don't you even think about missing any of these once-in-a-lifetime experiences)!
Friday, December 16 (Preview Party)
Björk Digital:The former singer for Iceland's The Sugarcubes has performed various incarnations of this interactive and immersive exhibition featuring digital and video works mixed with music all across the globe (Tokyo, Sydney and Montreal, to name only a few). In addition to five rooms of Björk’s collaborations with some of the finest visual artists and programmers in the world, the reclusive, enigmatic and reluctant pop star will be performing DJ sets all throughout the evening.
Kam Franklin: Quickly becoming one of the hottest, most critically-acclaimed and universally-loved musical groups to emerge from the Bayou City in the 2000's, The Suffers are riding high on the synergy created from their self-titled debut album, their countless appearances on daytime and nighttime talk shows and their sold-out appearances everywhere from Lexington to Los Angeles. They are successfully turning music lovers, from pole to pole, into devoted disciples of their unique brand of "Gulf Coast Soul." In a rare solo performance, the band's lead singer Kam Franklin, will take to the stage and prove to festival attendees that she is the rightful new leader of the South's true school of R&B/Funk singing divas. Without a shred of a doubt, Kam's smoky and sultry vocals are destined to steal the hearts of the countless bearing witness to her heartfelt, gut-wrenching vocal belting on this night. Seriously, don't miss this H-Town Soul Sista weave her musical magic. She'll have you testifying before the evening is said and done. Everybody say, "AMEN!"
Saturday, December 17
Aphex Twin - Having recorded electronic music for well over a quarter-of-a-decade under a number of musical alias, Richard David James has garnered most of his critical acclaim, fame and popularity under the Aphex Twin moniker. Last appearing live in the United States at Coachella 2008, the prolific ambient eremidite behind such (Eno-esque) paradigm compositions as "Avril 14" and "aisatsana." Since he seemingly never plays the same set twice every performance is an aural surprise. However, rumor has it, James will play tunes from the recent Aphex Twin dance-flavored "Cheetah EP" for the first time live. Honestly, this is one set you cannot afford to miss. It may be another eight years before this ambient madman carts his bank of synthesizers back on the road and saunters down to our neck of the woods.
Welcome To Houston - Although the Bayou City has maintained a thriving rap/hip-hop scene since the late-'80s (remember The Geto Boys?), many feel in the music industry have always felt H-Town rappers have never received the proper props they have long deserved. To dispel any notion that H-Town is not the hometown to some of the best hip-hop freestylers, lyricists, and straight-up hardcore rappers in the world, twelve of the city's best (representing several decades of Houston homies) have united to form the planet's first hip-hop supergroup, Welcome To Houston. The brothers banding together to bring this powerhouse performance together include Z-Ro, Lil’ Flip, Slim Thug, Bun B, Mike Jones, Devin the Dude, Paul Wall, Lil’ Keke, Yungsta, Big T, E.S.G., J Dawg, Lil’ O, Swisha House Click, DJ DMD and DJ Michael Watts. If you caught the early incarnation of Welcome To Houston (with just six Houston hip-hop stars) at 2014's Free Press Summer Fest, you know these cats can throw down. Multiply the power, force and fierceness times two and...it's too crazy to even imagine.
Need More Details About Day For Night 2016?
Check out their website at www.dayfornight.io for the location, directions, complete performer and artist line-ups, passes, prices, rules and regulations (believe me, they are not that Stalin-esque) and everything else you freakin' really need to know.
STAY TUNED...
While I only lightly touched on the performers that will be filling the December sky with divinely euphonious sounds that not even the gods of music could imagine mere mortals could compose and play, stay tuned for upcoming previews of the art and light installations and a whole lot of ramblings of a Day for Night convert.
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