7 Moments From Panorama Day Two, Ranked
Okay so, while day one of Panorama had a rocky start, it eventually transitioned into something magical and moving by the end of the day. Day two, conversely, was great right from the beginning. Sometimes it just takes a day or so for a new event to get its bearings, and that seemed to be the case for this festival. Though Saturday was also much better attendance-wise, it’s still pretty clear that Panorama was not even close to capacity.
This made for a great consumer experience, but I couldn’t help but wonder… is there staying power for two music festivals at the exact same location mere weeks apart? On Friday I arrived fairly early and was exhausted early, so yesterday I didn’t show up until around 5 PM, which means there’s only seven moments instead of nine. But these moments are all really great ones. Anyway, let’s focus on the real joy of yesterday: the fucking music.
7. Sufjan’s Pitchy, Technicolor Electronic Smash
I definitely don’t want to be writing this right now, because there are few people on this planet who love Sufjan Stevens and his music more than I do, but his set last night was absolutely terrible. And I don’t just say that because it was mostly filled with the Age of Adz-esque insistently garbled songs. The inclusion of plenty of songs of that ilk along with the technicolor neon face paint-and-costume that every member was wearing made the show fairly abrasive, but if that was the worst part I could’ve stood all that relatively well. What was really most disappointing of all was how pitchy and completely at odds with his recorded voice Sufjan sounded. I’m not totally sure what was going on there, but aside from his supernatural ability to write a folk song that breaks your heart and fixes it at the same time, the most compelling thing about Sufjan’s music has always been his pillowy, toffee-crackle voice. Neither pillow fluff nor toffee sweetness were present last night. Last year’s Carrie & Lowell was one of my favorite albums of the year, but I left early to go charge my phone before Kendrick.
6. Bareburger, Too Much Wine Edition
http://www.instagram.com/p/BINCwxCBMdS/?tagged=bareburger
On Friday I was too worried about staying hydrated to do more than drink a single glass of rosé. But by Saturday, I was confident that I’d hydrated enough to consume my fair share of alcoholic beverages. At a certain point though– one I’m sure we’ve all hit–I realized I needed to add some food into the mix. It was right as Kendrick’s set was starting so luckily lines were shorter than they’d been for most of the evening and I was able to step up and grab a cheeseburger from Bareburger in a relatively short amount of time. It wasn’t until I bit into the burger that I realized I had never actually had one before. It was basically like getting slapped in the face with how big a difference organic ingredients make in how things taste. Even while tipsy, I could tell the burger I was eating was of the highest caliber. Drunk or not, you should consider trying this burger if you’re heading to the fest today. Shoutout to Eater for curating some of the best food vendors I’ve ever encountered at a music festival.
5. THE LAB
http://www.instagram.com/p/BIOsIFNBoOD/?taken-by=panoramanyc