This past weekend, I made the trek to Bangor, Maine (not without a little help from my friends, of course) for the KahBang Festival Arriving on Friday, August 11th, I arrived at the Bangor Waterfront to a scene unlike other festival I had been to. Rainy and cloudy (but humid…it’s still summer on the east coast), the crowd was sparse, but what was a unpromising first impression turned into a great day. A line up with several key highlights started with some of my favorite rockers out of Long Island, Lights Resolve, who boosted my energy for the weekend. A lot of milling around resulted in catching bits and pieces of sets by indie bluegrass/rock outfit, Darlingside, funk-infused hip-hop act, Bad Rabbits, and rapper, Wale, before the big moment we had all been waiting for finally happened: Deftones. I had maneuvered my way up to the front and with each surge in the music, the audience did the same. Suffice to say, with all the body crushing and shouting along to a lot my personal favorite, the audience bonded pretty quickly, and it was an incredibly fun show that made the downpour mid-set worthwhile.
The following day maintained both the gloomy weather and excited mood, as I got back in the KahBang game with synth-pop trio, The Bynars, Brooklyn’s quirky Pearl and the Beard, Bangor’s bluesy rock duo, When Particles Collide, and back to back dancable and standout Brooklynites, My Pet Dragon, Black Taxi, and The Gay Blades. As dusk fell upon the festival, Minneapolis rapper (he looked more like a Guess jeans model) Astronautalis took most of his set up raving about headliner, Bassnectar. The music progressively became less instrumental and more gadget-based, as DJ, Paper Diamond, and electro-pop group,Penguin Prison, primed the stage for Dubstep’s hitmaker, Bassnectar, who put the sound and light systems to the test.
Finishing off the night in New York spirit, Black Taxi offered the crowded Sea Dog Brewing Company a Saturday night set alright for dancing to, and kept the energy high until it was time to say our farewells to “Vacationland.”
Lights Resolve
Deftones
Black Taxi
Bassnectar
Rocker Stalker 