September 08, 2015
A large cloud of dust hovers over an endless sea of teenagers rambunctiously bouncing to the untz-untz of EDM at the Freedom Stage tucked away next to the Park Towne condos (talk about juxtaposition). A girl who’s lost her group of friends stumbles into me and shrieks as a medic arrives to cart away her passed-out friend, the beat thumping onward. This was an unavoidable and all-too-common scene at Made in America, the fourth annual Budweiser-sponsored, Jay Z-curated music festival, which sprawled across the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday, Sept. 5, and Sunday, Sept. 6.
Fortunately for you, we did all the heavy lifting at the festival to bring you the highlights in GIF format, like this carousel, which lifted riders high into the sky for an amazing panoramic view of Philly (and also was a personal highlight of the festival).
Many praised Made in America for its diverse musical lineup that catered to all kinds of music fans. It was largely composed of rap, R&B, EDM and rock acts, in that order. This year’s festival featured five stages: the main Rocky Stage positioned in front of the Art Museum; the equally large Liberty Stage; the Freedom Stage for EDM kids; the Skate Stage, which played host to many of the local acts on the bill; and, yes, even a TIDAL Stage. (of course Jay Z never misses a branding opportunity.)
Local favorites Hop Along rocked the Skate Stage with perfection, drawing a local and knowledgeable crowd for their Saturday afternoon performance.
Fool’s Gold Records boss A-Trak, one-half of production duo Duck Sauce (the group who birthed the infectious “Barbra Streisand” track), had the Freedom Stage turnt up.
Seminal conscious hip-hop group De La Soul rocked the afternoon Rocky Stage crowd with a medley of hits from their catalog.
Minnesota indie rockers Hippo Campus turned in a lively performance at the TIDAL Stage, which featured up-and-coming artists.
The Freedom Stage was the kids’ turn-up destination.
Even the event security couldn’t resist raging when "the drop" hit.
The Skate Stage was a great place to get away from the hoards of people, watch local skaters and catch some of the smaller acts on the lineup.
The largest EDM booking of the festival was former Swedish House Mafia members Axwell and Ingrosso, who closed out the large Liberty Stage Saturday with a combination of heavy beats and pyrotechnics.
Kind of looks like one of those old iTunes commercials, right!?
As with pretty much all festivals, Made in America had huge crowds, long lines for expensive food and drink (25-ounce Budweiser cans for $12) and unpleasant bathroom facilities.
Many local food trucks served up grub to hungry festival-goers. The Sum Pig Food Truck even let us inside to capture some of the madness.
While the long lines and crowds are to be expected when you sign up to attend a festival, this year’s iteration of Made in America was different. The festival seemed grossly overcrowded, making it nearly impossible to get close to the main Rocky and Liberty stages, even as a member of the press.
Following our hunch that the festival seemed way more packed than previous years, we confirmed with a source (who wished to remain anonymous) that the event was indeed intentionally over-sold to help mitigate the costs of the production budget running over and exceeding initial cost estimates.
Each of the stages was packed to the brim.
While the festival experience at Made in America was subpar, we still took in plenty of amazing performances.
After seeing Bassnectar, I understand the obsession. Although I don’t like dub-step at all, the volume at which he pumps out bass is truly exhilarating – my chest and teeth were rattling the entire time.
You’d never know that Meek lost the diss battle with Drake based on the hometown crowd’s reaction from his set, where he also brought out his son and girlfriend Nicki Minaj.
The Freedom Stage with all its EDM bookings was definitely a favorite for young festival attendees.
Ecstatic young ravers dancing at the Freedom Stage happily obliged our cameraman.
Many hailed J. Cole’s set as the best of the weekend. His high-energy hits like “Nobody’s Perfect” incited mass sing-alongs.
While my views are certainly my own and do not represent PhillyVoice, I know that my thoughts on the festival definitely echo the sentiment held by countless Philadelphians: Made in America is a sloppy, disruptive corporate commercial disguising itself as a patriotic, egalitarian love-fest. Further, the festival does very little justice in showcasing Philadelphia as the up-and-coming arts and cultural hub that it is.
Turn up, bro!
So what exactly does Philly get in return from hosting Made in America? Another year in the books for Jay Z and company. Another year of grumbles from Fairmount residents, who are also bracing themselves for the arrival of the pope in several short weeks. I think it’s definitely worth a transparent cost-benefit analysis on the city’s part to look into next year’s event.
Did you attend Made in America? If so, what did you think? Will TIDAL still be in business by the time of next year’s festival?
