The Music Pt. II
After a nap-filled Saturday repairing and stretching our limbs for two more days of Shambhala, we were prepared for the day in which we planned on doing the most stage-hopping. Beautiful weather meant beginning over at the Living Room, where Jittabug, Kermode, and Val Kilmer and the New Coke were the perfect compliment to a day on the Salmo River with some of the best people on the planet.
Our Saturday night festivities began, as any good day at Shambhala, at the Village with Stylust Beats’ second set of the festival. Playing to his bass-heavy dark-side, Stylust Beats set at the Village was exactly what we needed to jump-start our Saturday.
From there, it was off to the Fractal Forest for a set from one of the most interesting bookings of the festival, Questlove. Never afraid to place an incredible artist in the creative environment of Shambhala, the stage curators at the Fractal Forest hit a home run with this booking. His accolades and resume’, as impressive as they are, couldn’t have prepared us for the masterful hour of music we were treated to Saturday night at Shambhala. Seamlessly blending soul, funk, disco, hip-hop, and everything in-between, Questlove stole the show and put together one of the best performances of the weekend.
The Grove – Photo Credit: Joffrey Middleton-Hope
After consuming as much of Autograf, Subscura, and Cut Chemist as we could, we were back at the Village for Subvert. Always creating a unique set for the Village, the stage curator out-did himself this summer, throwing down a fantastic hour-long set Saturday night. We were quickly on the move once again, though, getting weird at the Grove with Truth between trips to catch chunks of Beats Antique at the Pagoda, and Z-Trip and A.Skillz at the Fractal Forest. The diversity in sights and sounds throughout these hours of Shambhala is another aspect of the festival that can’t be matched by others, with unparalleled ease of stage-to-stage movement.
Then, it was time for REZZ. One of the sets we were looking forward to most all weekend, the up-and-coming Niagra Falls-native was living out a life-long dream right in front of us at the Pagoda. The energy emitted by the thousands in attendance at 2 a.m. was matched, built, and played-with beautifully by the Mau5trap artist, who is just as stoked on her performance as we are. The 90-minute set was one of the best of the festival, and has many (us included), begging for REZZ’s return next summer.
REZZ at the Pagoda – Photo Credit: Joffrey Middleton-Hope
Heading into the final day of the festival, we were on fumes. The aches from Thursday’s fun had only multiplied, and the amount of bruising with unknown causes hadn’t exactly decreased. But, Sunday had the tunes. We warmed up over at the Fractal Funk Jam, a can’t miss for all Shambhala-attendees. Then, we did some final-day stage-hopping, taking in as much of the festival as we could on the final full day of music. Checking out chunks of Skiitour in the Fractal Forest, Haywyre at the Village, JPod the Beat Chef at the Grove, and The M Machine at the Pagoda all before 10 p.m. was the perfect way to take-in Sunday evening at Shambhala.
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