The Hangout Beach, Music and Arts Festival in Gulf Shores, AL recently added Sam Smith, Joey BadA$$, Tove Lo, Sylvan Esso, Deap Vally, Jeff the Brotherhoos, SNBRN, Natural child, Floating Action, Firekid and Elliot Root to its weekend lineup with the Thursday Pre-Party lineup still to be unveiled (The Word is the only act announced to perform on Thursday at this time).
The top line of the poster for the sixth annual Hangout Festival features the Foo Fighters (in the band’s only North American festival appearance of 2015), Beck, Zac Brown Band and the aforementioned Sam Smith, who was announced just after winning big at this year’s Grammy Awards. Along with Vance Joy, Paramore and Foster the People, Smith is a Hangout act that one could hear on pop radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv5ekzTubwU
While the card features a myriad of acts from every vein of music culture, the 2015 installment boasts perhaps Hangout’s most extensively indie lineup. My Morning Jacket will be returning for the first time since a 2011 performance that is regarded as one of the finest sets in Hangout’s history. You’ll find more indie sounds from TV on the Radio, Spoon, Phantogram, Future Islands, Father John Misty, Sylvan Esso, Rubblebucket, Houndmouth, Deap Vally, Cold War Kids, St. Lucia, J Roddy Walston and the Business, Strand of Oaks, Kopecky, The Mowgli’s, Colony House, The Districts and Knox Hamilton, to name a few.
JEFF the Brotherhood currently resides as the hardest rocking act on the bill and should appease those looking to rage and/or throw down.
Don’t Sleep on: Any of the acts listed, really, as this is the thickest group, but you won’t want to miss Phantogram, J Roddy Walston or Future Islands in a live setting. Ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ee4bfu_t3c
The Boom Boom Room (AKA the XBOX tent) will most likely house electronic acts like Major Lazer, Beats Antique, Toro Y Moi, Griz and Gramatik as in years past, though the top DJ on the bill, Skrillex, will reportedly perform on one of the beach stages (perhaps in the Bassnectar, Chevy Stage slot from 2013). Other electronic acts on the bill include Krewella, Adventure Club, ODESZA, Robert Delong, SNBRN, Joywave and Saint Pepsi, among several others.
Don’t Sleep on: Beats Antique. With performance influences from all over the world, a live Beats Antique show is a party, through and through.
Together with Lupe Fiasco and Young Fathers, Joey BadA$$ completes a trinity of refreshing hip hop that, in many ways, goes against the grain of the genre. See for yourself below.
For those who enjoy Americana and Realbilly; Trampled By Turtles, Jenny Lewis, Drive By Truckers, The Lone Bellow and Lake Street Dive will grace the beaches of Gulf Shores this May.
Don’ Sleep on: Lake Street Dive. Led by Rachel Price, this outfit is likely to become a household name in the near future.
Jazz, Funk and Soul performers are peppered throughout the lineup as well in the forms of Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, Vintage Trouble, Charles Bradley and the Extraordinarines and Xavier Rudd and The United Nations, Floating Action and The Suffers.
Don’t Sleep on: The Suffers
What kind of beach party would it be if Hangout didn’t book any Reggae? While it’s not in plentiful supply, one of the genre’s best champions, Damion “Jr. Gong” Marley, will be performing. The Dirty Heads and Iration will be soothing the bathing suit-clad masses over the weekend as well.
Last but not least is the Jam. Umphrey’s McGee are the first jam band on the bill and are followed by Galactic featuring Macy Gray. The amount of Jam that Hangout books varies from year to year, though the festival seems to have taken a turn away from this vein more and more in recent years. This is the case with most major festivals in the US market, other than Jam festivals, of course. If you’re only going to book a small number of solo-stretching bands, these two acts are as good as any on tour in 2015.
Tickets to Hangout can be purchased here.
For more information on all things Hangout, visit The Boogie Board.
