North Coast 2011 Excels Despite Iffy Lineup

By Jake Guidry in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 6, 2011 7:20PM

After North Coast Music Festival's inaugural run in 2010, we showed considerable excitement for where we perceived the festival to be headed. We noted its attention to music segments largely skipped over by the other big Chicago festivals, with notable artists including Flying Lotus, Jay Electronica, Boys Noize, De La Soul, and Chemical Brothers. Finally, a music festival with a focus on hip-hop and electronic, and a healthy blend at that. We envisioned huge things for 2011: artists big and small, with many burgeoning subgenres represented. Instead, what we got was a whole lot of homogenized dubstep, electro, and jam bands. But, despite whatever criticism we may have towards North Coast's lineup decisions, one thing was certain: everyone had a lot of fun.

Whichever the artist playing at North Coast, the vibe was consistently positive. And though happy pills may have played a strong role in the festival's general atmosphere, it was clear that people sincerely enjoyed the music being played. People revered each and every bass drop, their hands in the air amidst a frenzy of synchronized hopping. David Guetta, Rusko, Bassnectar, Benny Benassi, et al: these men relentlessly banged the crowd with fierce chainsaw synthesizers and white noise that often drowned other stages' sound. And everyone loved it. Particular highlights for us were SBTRKT and Wiz Khalifa, the former whose garage and UK funky was distinctly the most different music you were going to hear all weekend (we hope to see more booking like this in the future). Wiz Khalifa's set was loud and bassy, most notably during mixtape favorites "Taylor Gang" and "Cabin Fever". We were disappointed with Little Dragon and Thievery Corporation, the both of which sounded thin and entirely too jammy. We understand going with the festival's vibe, but breaking that monotony would have certainly been welcome.

Overall, North Coast seemed to enjoy another successful year. And why not? This festival is going heavy on very trendy sounds - sounds that continue to usher today's youth through their high school and college years in constant party mode. After all, that's what young people do, and this is just the soundtrack for it. But, we will continue to ask this of every festival deciding to go this route: how can and will you grow once these sounds become obsolete cultural artifacts? If North Coast wants to be a continually growing festival, can it continue to go all-in on sounds that will become stale and dated by 2013? Last year showed us they were willing to take chances and book more forward-thinking acts, but 2011 all but abandoned this strategy (SBTRKT was an exception). Can North Coast sustain itself once the electro and dubstep bubbles bust? We think they'll need to start integrating the sounds of tomorrow if they want to.