Photos by Alex Lapenia and Jesse Pizano of Three Card Photography.
North Coast Music Festival 2014 took over Chicago Union Park last weekend as thousands of people came to see some of the world’s best EDM and hip hop acts perform their greatest hits. Labor Day weekend set the perfect stage for festival goers as the 5th Annual North Coast was looking to be a big success. Friday was a beautiful day as the sun came out from the cloudy skies to drench the stages waiting for the likes of Keys N Krates, ProbCause, Showtek, Alesso, Bassnectar, and many more to perform. Saturday and Sunday continued the party with performances from Adventure Club, Nicky Romero, STS9, Talib Kweli, Little Dragon and Kid Cudi on Saturday, and Porn and Chicken, Riff Raff, Ookay, Zeds Dead, and Snoop Dogg closing on Sunday.
Read on as Alex and Jesse share their recap from North Coast Music Festival Day 3.
Ookay
If I had to choose one word to describe Ookay’s set it would be, wow. The young Producer/DJ threw everything at the crowd including the kitchen sink. Ookay really showed that age doesn’t matter in the EDM business and really outperformed a lot of acts. His infectious tunes and fast paced beats really lit up the crowd, and at one point he even remixed the Tatooine Bar Theme song into his set. Ookay is definitely making a name for himself and definitely gained a lot of fans this weekend as he was definitely one of the top 10 acts of the entire festival and trust me, this guy will definitely be headlining in no time. – Alex Lapenia
Wild Belle
Wild Belle was definitely a change of pace group at North Coast Music Festival, lead singer Natalie definitely showed off her chops with her powerful range of notes and mastery of her lower notes, channeling her inner Adele. She seriously was quite the talented and I can see their group blowing up based off of her vocals alone. The group itself is an indie band that also features one of the keyboardists playing a baritone sax, which surprisingly works very well with what the group does, and even featured a Baritone Sax solo to help end their set. If indie rock is your thing definitely check out this group, you won’t be disappointed. – Alex Lapenia
Porn and Chicken
Chants of “Porn and Chicken” erupted as the EDM party group set up and prepared from their hour long performance. Porn and Chicken did not skimp on the action there was grinding electric sparks, crazed dancing, sexy ladies prancing around the stage and of course porn images. It was pure madness chicken dancing all over the stage. Dom blessing the crowd with spurts of champagne then returning to stage to grind hot electric sparks with a female dancer who’s also grinding. A constant flow of EDM tracks bumping beats and rhythms where tearing up the stage. Porn and Chicken ended their performance by making their way to the crowd that sent everyone into a frenzy. In the end the crowd was left wanting more of Porn and Chicken. – Jesse Pizano
Riff Raff
The 630 Stage was the place to be as Riff Raff was about to perform on stage. The crowd didn’t care that he was late after a quick DJ set Riff Raff strolled out on stage with sunglasses and pink hair. Performing “How to be a man” and “Deion Sanders” where the crowd belted out the words and did the hip-hop hand wave. Each number sounded the same as the last, the only difference being Riff Raff. Riff Raff is not just an act. He is weird and crazy wearing colorful outfits and extravagant jewelry. – Jesse Pizano
Snoop Dogg
At 9pm, the DJ began playing songs to get the crowd in the mood for the Doggfather. Young and old, hardcore or newbies flocked to see Snoop Dogg. Snoop steps on stage with a reggae influenced track. He began with rapping several of his guest spots he recently done “P.I.M.P.,” “Wiggle Wiggle,” and Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” The show was full of positive energy and good vibes with Snoop crip walking and reminding us to smoke weed.His presence was on point and his sit list was awesome for those who love his smash hits and old classic. It was fun and a great show from the Doggfather. – Jesse Pizano