Las Vegas' inaugural Day N' Vegas provided one of the most stacked hip-hop lineups in recent years. What everyone thought initially was a fake lineup, came to life at the Las Vegas Festival Fairgrounds near Downtown. Much like the Day N Night Festival in Orange County, CA., Vegas' was put on by Goldenvoice, the same company in charge of Coachella. While the festival did provide the good vibes, cold weather and great performances, there happened to be many technical difficulties and delayed set times, which killed the buzz.
Performances: Each performance had high energy, mosh pits and all. Headliner wise J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar were incredible as usual with Cole announcing a new album called "The Fall Off" releasing next year. His set had campaign posters that were props and giving them to die-hards in the front row. It began with a mock presidential campaign video then blazing into "Middlechild." What ended being a greatest hits set essentially, Cole did bring out most of the Dreamville crew and performed a couple of tracks off of the recently released Revenge of the Dreamers III. Cole then ended his set with No Role Modelz" with fireworks.
Kendrick also put on a great performance in a cowboy hat and shades. Could that be a hint to his net era. While many fans speculated that new music, or at least a new single would come from K dot, but that was not the case. Lamar ended up performing his DAMN/Championship tour setlist, kicking off the show with "DNA." While the performance was awesome, he rarely interacted with the fans or his energy was lackluster compared to other shows. maybe it was too cold? After ending his set, he did say that he "will be back," leaving fans wondering when "back" will be?
Other great acts were Mac Ayres, Tyler, the Creator, Rico Nasty, 6lack, YBN Cordae. However, one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend, Summer Walker, was disappointing and it was not even her fault. Walker was given a 30 minute time slot (b t dubbs, that is not enough time for a high charting R&B superstar) and due to technical difficulties, she was only to get two songs in as there was another coming on as soon as she got off.
Merch: Three merch tents appeared at the festival, one had all festival related merchandise with hoodies and shirts, with the other being festival/artist merchandise and one pop-up from Footaction x Chinatown and Dreamville, including exclusive gear during the festival. Tyler, the Creator also had a "pop-up" as well but was just an addition to the artist merchandise tent. No other exclusive merchandise was there. if Travis still headlined, that would've been it.
Crowd: The crowd was a wide mix of adults and kids, but not as immature as what i witnessed at Austin City Limits. Many mosh pits, good people, and vibes all around for the three-day weekend.
Day N' Vegas is a promising festival with a stacked lineup, and great energy from everyone. If the festival becomes an annual thing, I would suggest better time slots/ duration of sets for the next year. It has the potential to be THAT hip-hop festival to attend every year.
(Mac Ayres)
(Kendrick Lamar)