An eager crowd gathered at the Rocky Stage on Saturday night
after a day that included performances by Deadmau5, Phoenix and Public Enemy at
the Budweiser Made in America festival. Bleary-eyed from some combination of
heat exhaustion, dancing and alcohol, the crowd came alive as Beyoncé took the
stage to deliver the final performance of the day.
"Philly! Y'all are at the Mrs. Carter show," she
announced.
Bey opened the 90-minute set with "Run the World
(Girls)" and took her time warming up the crowd with sultry renditions of
"End of Time" and "If I Were a Boy." She made it clear that
she was the commander of this ship and paced the set accordingly with several
outfit changes, including the debut of an embroidered white jumpsuit.
Almost more entertaining than watching the video displays, band
and group of backup dancers supporting Beyoncé was witnessing the effect her
presence alone had on the crowd. Fans did their best to shout, sing and wind at
the waist while she sauntered across the stage, teasing the crowd and demanding
more energy with each song and change of costume. It was here that Beyoncé was
at her best: standing calmly in front of a crowd that capped at 50,000 during
the day as they waited for her next move. You can tell the influence she has
over people; Beyoncé says "jump," and they ask to which song.
The set picked up during "Diva," Naughty Girl" and
"Party," with intermittent interludes showcasing the dancing of
France's Les Twins and pianist Rie Tsuji before slowing down once again during
"1+1" as Beyoncé lay on her back singing from Tsuji's piano before
jumping into "Irreplaceable."
During the second half of the set, Beyoncé fired up the
fierceness. The exhausted crowd gained a second wind after "Love on
Top" followed by "Countdown." "Crazy in Love" was
explosive, but didn't feature the Jay Z performance that had been rumored to
take place. The Jeffersons theme song made for a nice mash-up during
"Single Ladies" and was quickly followed by a cover of "I Will
Always Love You." Beyoncé then closed the festival with "Halo"
as gold confetti drifted over the satisfied crowd.
The long day had started ten hours earlier when Ohio indie
rockers Walk the Moon opened the festival with an incendiary set from their
self-titled debut album. "Quesadilla" made for the perfect opening,
with a thick drum introduction as the band took the stage clad in a combination
of tribal prints, their faces decorated with the band's signature paint in red,
white and blue.
The band slowed things down, but just a little bit, during
"Lisa Baby," as singer Nick Petricca belted "When my baby is a
mess, my baby is a dancing queen," while fans swayed in the warm August
air. "Shiver Shiver" was the high point of the set, as the audience
joined the band in clapping and chanting while Petricca rocked his hips before
ending the half-hour set with "Anna Sun."
"This whole thing is awesome," said bassist Kevin Ray
offstage after the performance, before being rushed by teenage girls eager to
take selfies with him.
deadmau5 2013 made in america philadelphia
Deadmau5 performs at the 2013 Budweiser Made In America Festival
at Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Between Walk The Moon and Queen B came an eclectic array of music
that included rap, EDM and rock. Among the highlights was a 90-minute set by
Joel Zimmerman, a.k.a. Deadmau5. Infusing the Philadelphia night with
experimental techno beats and atmospheric moments, Deadmau5 showed off his full
range of skills as a mixer.
Before his set, Zimmerman sat with Rolling Stone for a bit, right
after chatting with Made In America festival creator Jay-Z. "I like
him," Zimmerman told us. "We have a lot in common. I just booked the
second year of my festival, this is the second year of his festival." Does
that mean Zimmerman picked up some pointers from his appearance in Philly?
"Yeah," he said.
Also excited to be on hand were French alternative darlings
Phoenix. "It’s the first time and quite exciting, we feel it’s a special
event," guitarist Christian Mazzalai told Rolling Stone. He agreed with an
observation that the festival is especially impressive in the way it
incorprates the Philly skyline. "We love that too, change everything,
makes the experience unique, 'cause otherwise festivals can all look the
same."
Phoenix showcased their expertise at ruling a festival crowd
during an hour-long performance that included a stunning light show and some of
the band's most beloved hits. The stage was lambent as Thomas Mars began with
"Entertainment" before jumping right into "Lasso" and
"Lisztomania" in short succession. Fans swayed and joined in chanting
along to the drawn out "Girlfriend," drunk off the romance and the
light of it all, before the band picked up with "Cool."
The heat of the day finally broken, "Love Like A
Sunset" made for a refreshing mid-set soother, and the band thanked the
crowd before ending with "1901."
Maybe the single musical highlight of the day was Empire of the
Sun delivering their superb new radio-friendly single, "Alive." If
ever there was a song meant to be a festival anthem, it was the infectious
future smash that had thousands chanting along before frontman Luke Steele
closed the set and left the stage.
a$ap rocky 2013 made in america philadelphia
A$AP Rocky performs at the 2013 Budweiser Made In America
Festival at Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
Josh Wool
On the hip-hop side of things, A$AP Rocky played an abbreviated
set to fans who had swarmed the stage half an hour before the rapper was set to
appear. "Pardon my tardiness," he said after opening with
"Long.Live.A$AP." All was forgiven, and the rapper dedicated the rest
of his set to weed smoking, then took off his jacket and told the crowd
"It's time to turn the fuck up," before launching into "Wild For
the Night." The rapper closed his set with "Fuckin' Problems,"
and left the stage as quickly as he had taken it.
Public Enemy delighted fans with an hour-long performance that
included "Welcome to the Terrordome," in addition to social messages.
Chuck D and Flavor Flav acknowledged Philadelphia's school system crisis and
pledged to donate $10,000 to the school district, challenging Beyoncé to either
match or surpass their contribution. "We need to work on building more
skills," said Chuck D. The message was followed by "Show 'Em What You
Got," which featured two steppers in the center of the stage and led
straight into "Fight the Power." They mashed up the White Stripes'
"Seven Nation Army" with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen
Spirit" just before Flavor Flav introduced "31 Flavors" and
closed out with "Shut 'Em Down."
Relative newbies to the scene, Imagine Dragons took some time to
soak up the scene before their evening set. "I gotta keep breathing,"
joked lead singer Dan Reynolds. Cast Away references aside, the band has had an
explosive year that's poised to get even larger. "We've been a band for
four years, just making music in Las Vegas – you know, playing to casinos – and
that really taught us how to perform," said guitarist Wayne Sermon. The
band played songs off 2012's Night Visions, including "Every Night,"
"Demons" and the one that started it all, "Hear Me."
Reynolds gazed out at the crowd during the set, as if registering
how far the band has come in their history, before introducing the band's first
big hit, "It's Time."
"This was the first song of ours that was ever played on the
radio," he said. "What we want to show people is an honest
performance – not play to a certain niche, or whatever – but just really give
it all we got."
Imagine Dragons ended their set with a special mash-up of Cold
War Kids' Hang Me Up to Dry and Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," with
Reynolds singing and beat boxing before closing out with
"Radioactive" and the beating of an 8-foot drum on stage.
Made in America continues on Sunday with sets by Gaslight Anthem,
Kendrick Lamar, Nine Inch Nails and more.- By Erin Coulehan
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