Mamby On The Beach is a bit odd compared to other music festivals. Unlike React’s Spring Awakening, Mamby isn’t purely an electronic music fest, though the crossover of fans seems pretty high. This year’s lineup brings out a decent amount of rap and electronic artists, but many of them blend the two together. And then you have bands like Animal Collective and Wild Belle that don’t quite fit into those categories at all. For those wiling to give it a chance, there’s a lot of fun to find.

My day started off at the Park Stage with Lany. The crowd was still slowly making their way over, but those that got there early were treated to a dancey set enjoyed by all who saw it. 

​

​
Next up was K Flay, and the Wilmette native crushed a 45-minute set that included songs from her most recent album Life As A Dog as well as tracks from her previous works. The set ended with a rocking contrast to the beat-heavy songs that came before. She said they wanted to try something different and it certainly was. I’d actually like to see a whole set where K Flay and her band just go all out and get loud.

​

​
Kaytranada played right after and the crowd was getting much bigger and ready to dance. Luckily the 23 year old producer has a hit album out right now and gave the crowd what they wanted. The set sampled heavily from classic funk and soul, featuring everything from Parliament Funkadelic to Pusha T. I think 99.9% is a really good album, but at a certain point in the live show it all started to sound the same so it was time to get food.

​

​
Stopped at Puffs Of Doom for a salted caramel and chocolate creme puff. It was fantastic. I see why Rolling Stone named it one of the best things at Lollapalooza last year. Also had a spicy chicken sandwich from Leghorn which wasn’t great, but the seasoned fries were very tasty.

The Beach Stage was an entirely different experience from the Park Stage. The weather was gorgeous all day, but the beach was dusty and it looked like a sandstorm at times. My hair was stiff from all the grit getting stuck in it, but it didn’t really effect the fun.

Wild Belle played a set that was sweet, but didn’t keep everyone’s attention at all times. They ran through songs like “Dreamland” without much fanfare. It wasn’t until they closed the set with a new song about violence (especially in Chicago) that the audience seemed to really respond.

​​

​The last thing I saw was Atmosphere, and they were great. Slug was pumping the crowd full of positivity while still staying in control. He joked with the crowd about knowing he was closer to his home in Minneapolis because people at his shows keep getting uglier. The songs they opened with were politically charged bangers, name-checking Trayvon Martin and the Black Lives Matter movement. It chilled out later, with Slug getting everyone in the crowd to throw two middle fingers up in the air. 

​

​
Didn’t stay for Milky Chance or Animal Collective due to lack of interest. I’ll be staying all night tomorrow to see Santigold headline the Park Stage. Also Gallant and Lupe Fiasco. It should be another beautiful day, so come on out!

No photo pass this time around, so these are just shots from the Leica X1 and iPhone.