Summer means festival season and with no desire to be left out in the cold (or in this case, the blistering heat), the city of Fort Lauderdale partnered with Donahue Entertainment and AEG Live to throw the third annual installment of Lauderdale Live over the weekend.
“Who’s playing” is usually the first questions asked, followed by “when?” and “how much?” and at first glance, you might be able to pick out a few names coming to Lauderdale Live. While not mind-blowing, the solid lineup promised familiar groups and the potential for discovering some newer and more obscure musicians.
Rather than roast while the sun was at its peak, I got to Huizenga Plaza downtown around five on Saturday in time to catch Kris Allen’s set. Despite having just put out his fourth studio album back in August and winning a season of American Idol, I’d never heard of him, which doesn’t mean anything other than I’d never heard of him. I was pleasantly surprised. Kris Allen had a great voice live and his band was super talented and had a great chemistry. After their set they came out to take pictures with fans and were even hanging out in the general admission area by the sound booth for a bit.
Drew Holcomb and the neighbors were up next. Another group I hadn’t heard of, but was impressed by to the point I looked them up and give them a listen later on. Holcomb has been around for a while and I’d best describe his sound as folksy, wholesome music a la modest mouse merged with Mumford & sons with. He and his gorgeous wife Ellie (also in the band, although not at this show) hail from Nashville, where they make music with love as a central theme. He and his band were also great – tight instrumentally, great voices and harmonies and awesome guitar solos. Try and make it through this ridiculous video of his without cracking a smile.
Ben Rector followed. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who I’d sounds like Ben Folds mixed with Postal Service. He’s been performing for the past eight years and was his impressive covers of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin”, where he plays and loops every instrument himself, helped his career gain the momentum to take him to the next level. He seemed nice and did a great job of interacting with the crowd.
Phillip Phillips closed out Saturday and was another multi-release-having, American Idol winning, multi-million-youtube-view-generating act I hadn’t heard of. As soon as he took the stage, people flooded into the pit area down in front and everyone’s camera phones came out. He carried himself like a headliner and had the band to back it up.
Sunday was another ninety degree scorcher. I got there around five again in the midst of Dumstaphunk, an eight piece funk band out of New Orleans. Definitely worth checking out – incredibly tight, thumping bass riffs and a blaring horn section who all played in lock-step with one another and were reminiscent of George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic.
Sister Hazel was next. Anyone who made it through the 90’s knows their song “All For You”, which debuted in 97 – practically 20 years ago. The Gainesville-based band has aged just as much, with a pair of kids on stage, a bald front man and some dad bods, but they’re still actively gigging and sounded great. They even mentioned a new album in the works. Hazel played all the favorites you’d expect like “Change your Mind”, “Champagne High” and of closed with – you guessed it – “All for You”. Theirs was a fun set that everyone still seemed to know most of the words to.
O.A.R. closed out the festival and the best was indeed saved for last. Their name is an abbreviation for Of a Revolution and they’ve been around for a good twenty years or so as well, having got their start playing frat houses at The Ohio State University. Years or playing and touring later, their sound has shifted from what was an earlier reggae/ska/punk/Dave Matthewsy vibe to something a little poppier and more radio-friendly. O.A.R. definitely brought the biggest crowd out, which was nearly double the day before and even earlier that day.
While the overall turnout was a little lacking, a few hundred people showed up each day with more trickling in the later it got. At $40 for a day or $70 for both, the value is there for the experience. It’s safe to assume Lauderdale Live will be returning next year and if there’s anyone playing it you’re even remotely interested in seeing, grab a blanket and some lawn chairs and come check out some good live music.