06 May Saturday Highlights: 311 + Grouplove
SunFest, you are so beautiful! I can’t believe how beautiful West Palm Beach was yesterday— a warm breezy, sun rays for days. I caught so many people just beaming from ear-to-ear between stages or waiting for a beer.
There were so many fantastic sounds to see inside the gates, and all are worthy of a novel. Here are a few of my Saturday highlights:
Grouplove
Los Angeles’ Grouplove took the JetBlue Stage early, drawing a crowd that rivaled Girl Talk’s dance party. Performing under a gruesome set of rainbow paint-splattered teeth, the wild musicians played long-loved hits and new tracks, including “Itchin’ on a Photograph,” “Standing Next to Me,” and “Shark Attack.”
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Grouplove’s shrill, scream-a-long indie pop performed around Austin, Austin City Limits, and even Coachella in 2014. I can confirm that their music sounds best by the salty Intracoastal.
Drummer Benjamin Homola is originally from Florida, which the band proudly called out to their flower-crown wearing fans. The band joked about haircuts (Christian Zucconi recently shaved his head, guitarist Andrew’s curls are safe), and unspeakable swordfish attacks (“Shark Attack).
“Sweaty spaghetti,” Hannah Hooper mused. “You want to play the first song we ever wrote as a band back in Greece in 2010?” The band launched into “Don’t Say Oh Well.”
The biggest treat Hooper shared that the band just finished writing an album and is headed to the studio to record. They launched into “This Is The End,” a new, slower track that has only been debuted a few times this year. I hope you caught it live!
311:
Headlining the Ford Stage last night was Nebraska’s 311— a band that has contributed to the soundtrack of our lives for the past 29 years. Think about that for a moment!
Nick Hexum, Doug “SA” Martinez, Aaron “P-Nut” Wills, Tim Mahoney, and Chad Sexton have shared an overwhelming amount of music with us in that time, including 12 studio albums, two live albums, four compilations, and and four EPs. SunFest fans were treated to some of their most beloved hits on Saturday, as well as a refreshing, full band drum solo.
311 opened with their 1997 hit “Beautiful Disaster” and then took us further down a road trip to their 1991 track “Do You Right.”
They also made sure to treat fans to “Come Original,” “Extension,” their beloved Cure cover “Lovesong.” During “Applied Science,” the band moved to the back of the stage for an all-hands percussion extravaganza. Fans were treated to “Amber” well before their encore of “You Wouldn’t Believe” and “Creatures.”
This veteran band needs no insane gimmicks or silly props to impress their loyal fanbase. Their relaxing, timeless magic was perfect to close out our third day of SunFest!