I arrived just in time to catch the end of The Wes Coast's set, their first ever performance at a festival. Loved the meld of blues and classic/surf rock I heard as they were wrapping up their session. Next up was Sarah Reich's Tap Music Project, an awesome combination of talented tap dancers doing highly-skilled performances to jazz and hip-hop music. The best part of Tap Music Project's performance was the immediate influence it had on the young children in attendance with their families. Instantly, you saw kids in the play areas and designated aisles channeling their inner Savion Glover. It was the perfect segue for Georgia Anne Muldrow to take stage, who brought her entire family onstage with her, including mother Rickie Byars-Beckwith and five-year-old son, Dudley Jr.. Immediately, Georgia went into a stirring, soulful performance that kept the audience captivated throughout her entire set -- like a quick church session in festival form. The best part of her set however, was the announcement of new music and speaking on her upcoming EP, Ms. One.
Georgia ended her wonderful performance and stepped off stage while The Internet began loading gear for their set. Grooving though favorites like "Dontcha" and "Fastlane," Syd tha Kid also pulled off an impressive cover of Gap Band's "Outstanding" that instantly threw festival-goers into a full two-step groove. Next on deck was Aloe Blacc and attendance swelled significantly -- almost doubling in size -- for his set and instantly upon taking the stage it was apparent why. Ripping through favorites like "I Need A Dollar," "You Make Me Smile" and NBA commercial favorite "The Man," Aloe's dynamic presence and marvelous vocal performance left the crowd absolutely enthralled and literally screaming for more. As the audience cheered for encores and Aloe completed the crowd's requests, Snoop entered the theoretical building. Thus, the party had begun.
At this point, all the blankets and camping gear were stashed into backpacks and bags in anticipation of Snoop's arrival. The crowd now swelled to a few thousand (it was standing room only at this point), and all were incredibly eager for the show to begin. Once Snoop hit the stage, he wasted no time getting the theoretical party completely started. Beginning with new tracks from his Reincarnated project, Snoop gifted fans with an hour+ long set that covered all the hits, touched on his appearances with Katy Perry and Wiz Khalifa and spanned as far back as the early days with Dr. Dre by his side.
