The Hangout Music Festival stopped as soon as it started on Friday.
As if not being able to hang on the beach for three years due to a pandemic wasn’t enough, thunderstorms forced the early crowd to evacuate within an hour of gates opening. However the music prevailed, and a short hour or two later, the festival was back on schedule for the rest of the day.
This being my first time attending or covering this festival, I feel the need to write a few things up front. My first impression of Hangout is that it’s huge. Not just in crowd size, but in land mass too. The BLANK team and I walked around 14 miles today according to one of our Apple Watches. Despite the massive length of the festival grounds, the beach was about as packed as it could be with around 40,000 visitors. The day was filled with a lot of fun, but let’s take a moment to review a couple of my favorite sets and activities of the day.
Surfaces
The second set I caught on day one was the beach-vibe, sunshine king, Surfaces. The set was short and simple, but the music and energy was a perfect start to the day. The band made a light-hearted statement that turned around the rain cloud mentality left over from the earlier evacuation. Highlighted by several saxophone solos, and a closing performance of their hit song, “Sunday best,” I thoroughly appreciated the atmosphere.
Slip n’ Slide Kickball
One of my favorite sponsor activations this year is the Camp RV ‘Camp Hangout.’ Along with some model RV campers, its main feature is a fairly large kickball court, but rather than chalk, the base lines are slip n’ slides. BLANK photographer Sebastian LaTorre, along with some other festival-goer friends, went through the line several times to get multiple cracks at kicking the ball over the fence. Sebastian succeeded on the first try, I however kicked mine over the wrong fence and into the ocean. This could only happen at Hangout.
Briston Maroney
Being from Knoxville, I am biased in matters relating to Briston Maroney, but he really was a contender for the best set of the day. Coming on in the evening and on the smaller BMI Mermaid stage, the area behind the Hangout restaurant and between the stage was completely full. Maroney started out by leading the audience through some group stretches before absolutely melting their faces off, song after song after song. The power set finished on Maroney’s biggest hit, “Freaking Out on the Interstate,” and he didn’t need to sing a single word – the audience easily had it covered for him.
Zedd
I must confess, I have never seen a large-scale DJ performance before, and I came into this set a little skeptical. Now, I had heard from some friends who are bigger EDM fans than I that Zedd was a top-notch show. And they were right. This was easily one of the most danceable and singable sets of the night. I knew a lot more of his songs than I thought I would, as well. Even though we watched from a distance, I was very surprised by the extended amount of audience interaction, which included clapping, hand waving and probably 30,000 phone flashlights. Overall it lived up to the hype. Zedd may have unlocked an EDM fan inside of me.
Malibu Beach Club
The Malibu Beach Club is too small for how cool it is. As the name describes, this sponsor activation felt exactly like a nightclub on the sand. The experience included a small stage that featured smaller DJ’s, hammocks amongst the palm trees, and a bar selling daiquiris and cocktails. The main tent was packed to the gills with people standing around the tent hoping for a peak inside. Once inside the circular tent, a thumping bass and shiny decorative ceiling make for a stimulating experience.
Post Malone
Post Malone ended day one with a strong, memorable set. The BLANK team decided to camp out for a while in order to get closer to the front for Stoney, and it was worth the wait. Post takes the stage solo, and sings without a backing vocal. In fact, for his song “Stay,” he pulled out an acoustic guitar and stool and sang completely by himself in front of tens of thousands of people, on a stage the size of the resort behind it. It takes a unique type of performer to get up in front of a crowd of this size with no one else or any instruments, and come across as confident and relaxed as Post. Certainly Post Malone filled his hour and a half time slot with almost nothing but chart topping hits. He is a true old-soul musician inside the body of a goofy, Bud Light drinking, tattoo faced, 26-year-old kid.
