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 Calexico |
 Luna Aura |
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Review and photos by Frances Sealy The freshman Dusk Festival's entertainment seemed to be a tale of two halves. The festival's music started during the day at a toasty 2 p.m. During the first two hours the field was almost devoid of fans. As dusk approached, the grounds started to fill by the time DJ A-Trak took the stage. Here's how it went down...Luna Aura took the stage first and she did not seem to be daunted by the scant crowd in front of her. She is promoting her latest release Madhouse. It was obvious during the performance that she followed her instincts on stage. Luna is a self-professed Hip-Hop Indie pop star from the cosmos that we will be hearing more from in the future. Guatemalan singer-songwriter, Gaby Moreno, provided a set of her sweet, soulful vocals to the stage. The music was very tame when compared to whar was to come later in the day. Gaby easily fluctuated between English and Spanish during her set. Songs "Nobody To Love," "Love Is Gone," and "Pale Bright Lights" were performed from her latest album release, Illusion. Wild Belle, consisting of siblings Elliot and Natalie Bergman, rocked the fans next with their songs from their latest album, Dreamland. Natalie seemed to be the driving force as she fronted the band while her brother played saxophone and keyboards as both are multi-instrumentalists. Natalie's raw vocals and rock star swagger was intoxicating. Calexico and friends had the fans dancing to the rhythms of their alt-country, mariachi influenced rock music. The members of the band took the stage and everyone seemed to sparkle. Their music was accentuated with trumpets, synths, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, and acoustic and electric bass. It was a seamless set filled with energy and vibrance. DJ A-Trak began his set at 7 p.m. and the festival transformed to something totally different. The shows became an EDM and Hip-Hop extravaganza. Danny Brown and Matt and Kim were the exceptions to the EDM lineup. The packed crowd stretched to the back of the field and they were ready to rock. Live bands were turned over to bass-heavy turntables. A-Trak played and danced to his hip-hop favorites. He seemed to be enjoying himself as much as the fans. DJ Mustard took over and his video show was superlative along with his turntables. He started the set ordering the crowd to "get down." The super record producer seemed to have the motto "more is better" which was evidenced by more bass, more volume, and more repetition. All that the crowd needed was more earplugs. Danny Brown broke the monotony of EDM with his set. The rapper has been on fire this year and this set was no exception. His latest album is the critically acclaimed, Atrocity Exhibition, and it was the source of much of the set's material. His mission was to keep the energy escalated and he did just that. It was a crowd pleasing, adrenaline-pumping set. Matt and Kim kept the energy flowing as they interacted with the fans. The stage was set with oversized beach balls and blow up dolls. The front of the stage was modestly set with a small band stand donned with a drum set and keyboards that served as the springboard for this bouncy duo. The duo had the large crowd in the palms of their hands from the beginning to the end of their set. The final set of the night was DJ RL Grime. The set was fast paced and had much less repetition. Even though RL is a 'trap' legend, the crowd started thinning out at a very rapid rate. It remains to be seen if the Dusk Festival will be an annual event. It will be interesting to see the lessons learned from this event as a whole. It appeared that having the lineup consistent with the tastes of the younger crowd would have attendance levels more even all day. |
 Dusk Festival crowd |
 Calexico |
 Calexico |
 Calexico |
 Luna Aura |
 Luna Aura |
 Luna Aura |
 Danny Brown |
 Luna Aura |
 Danny Brown |
 Danny Brown |
 DJ RL Grime |
 Wild Belle |
 Wild Belle |
 Wild Belle |
 Wild Belle |
 DJ Mustard |
 DJ Mustard |
 DJ A-Trak |
 Gaby Morenok |
 Gaby Morenok |
 Gaby Morenok |
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