Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival’s Third Year Ends Without a Hitch [Event Review]

Following suit with previous years, the third edition of Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival came without a hitch in 2017. Attendees were once again greeted to two days of fun in the not so hot sun. Similar to 2015 and 2016, Billboard was graced with cool, sunny days that continually land it as the ideal candidate for your August festival. The decor of the entire festival consistently resembles a laid back atmosphere that gives attendees the option to hang out, sit down, and soak in the good music. Migrating between the stages consistently offered us different experience depending on where we ended up. For example, the Beach Stage and Sun Stage resembled set ups that reminded us of an electronic festival. The stages were nothing crazy, however they contained open grounds for fans to spread out and dance. This turned out to be quite the perk in comparison to the Hot 100 Stage which was located in the amphitheater and filled with seats.

Rather than spend most of our time in the seats, we ventured to the smaller stages to experience Billboard in full force. The Sun Stage was located in the same position as last year and hosted acts such as Rick Ross, Phoebe Ryan, Capital Cities, Young Thug, and T-Pain. Our favorite moments from that stage came during punk rock band, We The Kings. Albeit early in the day, the stage was overflowing with fans dying to catch a glimpse at one of their favorite old school punk rock bands. Ending their set with a nice gesture, We The Kings pulled a special fan on stage to help sing their famed track “Check Yes Juliet”. She may not have known how to play the guitar she was handed, however we could tell she was having one hell of a time regardless.

Other acts we caught on the first day included 3lau, Blackbear, Justin Caruso, Zedd, and Party Favor. Zedd took the stage right before Big Sean in the amphitheater throwing down a set comprised mainly of his top hits. The masses seemed to soak it up, however we left rather early to catch some of 3lau to end the night. 3lau definitely caught us by surprise and offered a set that ended Saturday on a good note. Confetti filled the air during his last track and before we knew it a long train ride back to NYC appeared before us.

Sunday’s lineup certainly ventured more into the rap side of things, however that didn’t stop us from catching the best electronic acts of the day. We kicked it off by checking out rising Chicago artist, Whethan. The young producer has been running with the likes of fellow Chicago natives, Louis The Child and will be embarking on his “Good Nights” tour this fall. He mainly played an array of his originals like “Savage”, “When I’m Down”, and “Cant Hide” in addition to the remixes that he originally gained notoriety from.

Some other performances we stopped in from included Echosmith, Sammy Adams, Cash Cash, T-Pain, Major Lazer, and Marshmello. Although he only had a 60 minute set, we were pleasantly surprised with Marshmello throwing down a bevy of his old originals and remixes. His performance was most likely our favorite of the weekend and was not topped by Major Lazer who closed out the festival. For those of you that are yet to catch a Major Lazer set, it’s certainly different to say the least. An odd mix of rap, shouting, and ill conceived drops land it as something that you need to experience in order to fully understand.

This year marks our third consecutive Billboard and it’s unlikely to be our last. Billboard regularly brings in some of the best acts each year and continually displays that they are a premiere music festival in the NYC area. In addition the tone and vibes of the festival attract a certain type of crowd that are simply there to enjoy the music. Billboard, until next year!

Photo 1-3: Brandon Todd
Photo 4-9: Mike Corrado

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