Houston, despite being a few million people bigger, often plays second fiddle to its northern neighbor Austin. They got to be the state capital; they get to say they’re weird; they get all the cool music festivals. Well, no more (except for that capital bit)! Houston, over the last few years, has attempted to carve out its own music festival niche, with the lovely people at Free Press Houston forging the way. We don’t have an answer to South by Southwest yet (thank God), but Free Press Summer Fest looks to eventually be in competition with Austin City Limits.
Day for Night, however, isn’t quite sure what it wants to be yet. That’s not surprising, considering its in its first year (even the first few years for FPSF felt unfocused), but it had a great amount of promise and, more importantly, weirdness.
This was certainly one of the stranger festivals I’ve been to. The outdoor area in front of the main stage was covered in carpet, allowing some sleepy fans to take long naps while waiting for the next act. Day for Night also promised art, and they did not disappoint. A sizable chunk of the studios were focused on art work, less in the painted sense and more in the light show or hung installation. I can’t claim that I “got” all of it, but it was wonderful to see some work by local Houston artists and firework-like displays that offered a brilliant distraction, so long as you didn’t have epilepsy.
It was clear that Day for Night’s organizers wanted the art installations to be just as important as the music. That may happen one day in the future, but when you had Kendrick Lamar, New Order and Janelle Monae headlining, the art never really stood a chance.
Aside from all the light shows, Day for Night was also trying to distance itself from most “major” music festivals. The lineup was much more in step with, say, MOOG Fest than even FPSF (which the Flaming Lips seem to play every year). The majority of acts were electronic based musicians with lots of visuals to back them up. Even the big rockish bands that played (Battles, HEALTH, New Order) have electronics in their DNA. It was wonderfully refreshing. When ACL seems to be closed out by either My Morning Jacket, Jack White or another rock n’ roll stand in, Day for Night’s buffet of acts that are often brushed under the rug in a live setting was amazing.
That’s not to say Day for Night couldn’t rock. Battles is still, quite possibly, the best live rock band on the planet, and HEALTH smashed my eardrums with glee; outside of maybe Shellac, I’ve never heard a louder show. Still, Day for Night was owned by hip-hop and dance music and was all the better for it.
Janelle Monae
The Queen Android herself was the big draw of day one. Carried on Hannibal Lecter style by the hypest hypeman of all time, Monae was electrifying from the first second her voice soared over the soundsystem. Her crack backing band, all dress in crisp white suits, made a strong backbone of funk and soul for Monae to dance all across. Within a few songs, I was convinced she is some sort of Frankenstein fashioned from the DNA of Grace Jones, Michael Jackson and James Brown. And that was before she covered the Jackson Five and Brown! While she moonwalked all across the stage, she preformed “I Want You Back” and “I Feel Good.” Those songs, for the record, are not easy to pull off, but she played them like she wrote them, even getting the entire crowd to shout along on the choruses.
As for her own songs, it was clear that even the brilliant The ArchAndroid was meant to be heard live and not in studio. She pulled evenly from her debut and The Electric Lady, with the obvious standouts being “Cold War” and “Tightrope.” “Tightrope” was the proper dance party that every Monae show promises, but “Cold War” had Monae shouting a fierce call to action against racism, sexism and Trumpism before the rollicking drums kicked in. She’s a national treasure, make no mistake.
Battles
Look, I don’t know how many more times I have to say this, but Battles are the best live rock band touring right now. Their set was almost identical to their show when I saw them in Portland, but they mutated it properly, so that each song turned into an active experiment. Turns out that it was the 13th anniversary of the first show they ever played and, in honor, they played another flawless set, highlighting the insanely good La Di Da Di and pulling out old favorites “Ice Cream” and “Atlas” that raged liked wounded animals.
HEALTH
After catching a great set from local garage rock weirdos Hearts of Animal, HEALTH proceeded to blast my ears wide open. I had to walk back to my car during the set, and I could still hear the mutated, screaming guitar sounds from a good half-mile away like the stereosystem was propped up right next to my ears. Earplugs were a must.
Their set further enforced just how jarring Jake Duzsik’s pretty-boy vocals are when placed over the unholy noise. Get Color highlight “Die Slow” was played early, and I’m not sure if it created a rave or a moshpit—or something in between. Much like Battles, it’s hard to say when the electronic act starts and the rock band ends, but the sheer volume of it all made it meaningless. All I had to do was get bombarded.
Death Grips
Speaking of being bombarded, Death Grips actually showed up and proceeded to destroy what little left of my hearing I had.
Despite all the non-music shenanigans, Death Grips live have been remarkably consistent. You’ll get a full hour and a half of bruising rap-punk that draws evenly between their albums, with absolutely no breaks. It’s still completely uncompromising, but it’s nice to have one thing that has a semblance of stability in Death Grips central. They pulled out a few live staples (“No Love,” “The Fever (Aye Aye),” “Get Got”), but they also produced surprises, starting with set opener “Come Up and Get Me.” With NO LOVE DEEP WEB seeming to have been demoted to the red-headed step child of the Death Grips cannon, it’s nice to see them giving it some love live. The thumping “Anne Boney” also came out to play, giving the low end a nice work out.
But the staples are staples for a reason, and I’m hard pressed to recall a crowd that shouted along with more vigor. The audience became an additional instrument on “Guillotine” (“It goes, it goes, it goes GUILLOTIIIIIIIINE”), “I’ve Seen Footage” and, of course, “Takyon (Death Yon).” They closed the show out perfectly with the sweaty, speedy madness of “I Break Mirrors With My Face in the United States.” After Zack Hill was done murdering his drum set, ringleader MC Ride muttered “Thank you,” and Death Grips disappeared. Shine on you crazy diamonds.
Dan Deacon
Day for Night blessedly avoided terrible set conflicts for the most part, but this one was maddening. Flying Lotus and Dan Deacon at the same time. Two production wizards known for spectacular lightshows overlapping each other? For shame, Day for Night. For shame. I ended up catching pieces of both sets, though Deacon was the clear winner. Fly Lo went a little too heavy on the DJ side, even though a trap flavored remix of the Thundercat featuring “Descent into Madness” was electrifying. Things got much more interesting when he popped out from behind the boards and started rapping as his Captain Murphy persona.
Deacon, on the other hand, was just madness throughout his set. After telling the crowd to inhale all the anxiety and exhale its opposite (“cool beans”) he launched into “When I Was Done Dying” from his newest record Gliss Riffer. Some of his usual antics didn’t work out with so many people watching the show (the interpretive dance part broke down pretty quickly), but, as with all of his shows, there was a cathartic energy that no one but Deacon can deliver.
Kendrick Lamar
Let’s face it, this is why a good chunk of the festival goers were here. King Kendrick, in the wake of the all-conquering To Pimp a Butterfly, didn’t roll out the usual world tour victory lap, so seeing a brand new music fest snag him seemed like an insane stroke of luck. That being said, Lamar does have a massive fan base in Houston. I saw him on the Good Kid m.A.A.d City tour (still one of the best rap shows I’ve ever been to), and the H-Town crowd was hanging on his every word.
His crack backing band opened with an Earth, Wind and Fire medley as the backing screen flashed “Never trust a n*gga with cornrows.” Lamar, with his cornrows in tow, came out with a bemused look as he scanned the screen. I couldn’t tell if he was laughing or thinking “I really need to fire my manager.” After the disco backing faded away, Lamar and Co. launched into the raucous “For Free?” setting the tone for the hyperbolic energy level that would dominate the set.
Though much of the noise around Butterfly (rightly) focused on the political connotations, it should be noted that Lamar is a hell of a showman. I didn’t quite catch Butterfly fever like every other music critic on the planet and hearing half of TPAB live convinced me that Lamar’s natural habitat is on the stage, not the studio.
Though most of the tracks came from Butterfly, Lamar knew there were m.A.A.d City acolytes aplenty in the crowd and reminded all of us that he had the banger of the decade with “Backseat Freestyle” when that cling-clang beat came on. Even Death Grips didn’t whip the audience into a bloodlust like this. He slowed things down with “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “The Art of Peer Pressure” swinging into the set later on, but he peaked the energy again with “m.A.A.d City.” It was utter pandemonium and only got crazier when Lamar brought up a few fans to rap along. The gimmick might have gone on for too long, but one Houstonian he brought on not only knew every word to “m.A.A.d City,” but also had an excellent stage presence, bouncing and screaming, amping his fellow Texans up. Even Lamar looked impressed and gave him a hug. If homeboy has a Soundcloud, I need to hear it.
Lamar bowed out after the harsh optimism of “i,” but the crowd wasn’t done with him. Over a thousand people started chanting those words that Black Lives Matters protesters have been shouting all year: “WE GONNA BE ALRIGHT.” There was no goading from Lamar, just a thousand music lovers speaking as one. Lamar returned with a massive smile and who could blame him? He preformed an extended version of “Alright” (and you better believe the crowd almost drowned out everything else) before he closed with “A.D.H.D” off of Section 80.
The Future
I have no clue where Day for Night goes from here. If you get Kendrick fucking Lamar the first year of your existence, who’s next? Or maybe that doesn’t matter. Day for Night might not be entirely sure of its identity, but it’s already staked a claim as something different in a sea of rock dominated fests. Day for Night’s gonna be alright.