Wavefront Music Festival Reviewed

Who would not be in favor of spending a long weekend on a beach with chill people, quality music and great weather? Wavefront was a refreshing break from the typical music festival these days; a respite from dense crowds of aggressive, neon-clad high schoolers and Showtek-style tracks on repeat.

 

Over the course of the weekend, three stages and one tent created a sandy, musical wonderland on Montrose Beach for 72,500 attendees. Sunlight streamed dramatically through the clouds, and high rises could be seen off in the distance throughout the course of the 3-day festival. Each attendee was charged with creating his or her own unique experience, choosing whether to drown in deep house and techno sounds, jump around to prog house and dubstep, ride the waterslide and swings or simply socialize in a VIP cabana.

While you could surely find a couple of pairs of fluffies and some kandi-stacked arms, the majority of attendees came out in relaxed beachwear. The attire aligned perfectly with the mood at The Cube stage, where Magda, Maya Jane Coles, Guy Gerber opened the weekend with beautifully crafted sets. Though Chicago has been clouded with grey skies through April, May, and June, suddenly the lack of summer was forgotten. Meanwhile, Chris Lake and Cedric Gervais riled up the crowd at The Wave stage, the festival’s main stage. Cosmic Gate added the only trance-based set of the weekend, a nice change of pace before a surprise back-to-back set by Chris Lake and TJR. Fans who came out to see James Murphy were not disappointed, as the legend closed the aptly named Legends stage on Friday evening.

  

Though Saturday’s restroom situation left something to be desired, and a noticeably larger crowd made the beach a more bustling scene. With Jacques Lu Cont, Rusko, Guti, Lee Curtiss, and Derrick Carter vs. Mark Farina occupying daytime slots, sunset came far too quickly. Montrose Beach was filled by the sounds of Seth Troxler, Dubfire, Frankie Knuckles, and Jamie Principal until the overly modest end time of 10:00 PM. Fatboy Slim was the perfect choice for the main stage closing spot – the sandy surroundings enhanced his Hawaiian shirt and his banging set, if they weren’t already memorable enough. He triggered “Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat” and mashed it up with various tracks for what seemed to be an eternity, but the crowd ate up every minute of it.

After the second day, it was evident that the easy-going crowd made two aspects of the festival seem out-of-place. First, the VIP cabanas radiated an uncomfortably snooty Miami Beach vibe. But their placement on a platform to the side of the main stage made it non-invasive to the remainder of the crowd. The more unavoidable sight at the main stage was the random sexy photo shoot occurring throughout the weekend. While some attendees may have appreciated admission to a live porno filming being included with their festival tickets, others surely found it shocking, bizarre, and a bit lewd.

On Sunday, the sun came out in full force, as did the youngest, most neon-clad crowd of the weekend. The mainstream lineup at The Wave stage for the day, which included 3LAU, Diplo, and Justice, surely had an influence on the composition of the audience. With the strongest sunshine of the weekend beaming down, Fehrplay’s “Pryda Friends” beats reached a new level. The “go hard” crowd exhausted themselves during 3LAU’s fast-paced set of methodological mashups, and clearly required a couple of hours of relaxation to recuperate before Diplo’s diverse set. Water cannons from the stage kept attendees cool during Sultan + Ned Shepard, Sharam, and Crookers sets. Meanwhile, the remainder of the beach was a symphony of sexy music from Scuba, Benoit & Sergio, Jamie Jones, Crew Love DJs, and Lee Burridge and friends.

Sunday night’s closing slot forced a difficult decision between some of the best sets of the weekend: Nicolas Jaar, Hot Natured, Wolf + Lamb vs. Soul Clap and Justice, amongst others. While Nicolas Jaar’s closing set on Sunday merited much praise from my who attended, I found myself instead at the main stage watching Justice. Their hour and a half of electro house culminated in a throwback of: “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen, “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes, “Time Of My Life” from Dirty Dancing, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” With these sentimental songs streaming from the main stage speakers and fireworks exploding over the whole scene, suddenly the festival felt like the best middle school dance you’d ever been to.

If next year you find yourself looking for an Independence Day weekend get-away, Chicago is the place to be, and Wavefront is the festival to experience. Though only in its second year, it’s got a unique identity that may not come through easily in marketing, but should certainly spread via word of mouth through the city. It was the perfect union of a chill crowd, beautiful setting, proper logistical planning, and even pleasant weather. While there are so many festivals that wear you out, Wavefront was a festival experience to leave you feeling alive and ready to embrace all that summertime offers. 

Check out photos from the weekend on Wavefront’s Facebook page, and watch some of the weekend’s highlights from the Chicago Heritage stage and Cube stage via the Wavefront channel on BE-AT.TV.

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