Arkells performing at The Meadows Music and Art Festival in Queens. (Amar Batra/The Daily Campus)
Sunday Sept. 17th marked the end of the second annual Meadows Music and Arts Festival in Queens and the event ended as sweaty and glitter-coated as it began on Friday.
The headliners for Sunday included the Red-Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, Nas, Ghostface Killah and DREAMERS.
The action began early with DREAMERS playing from 12:45 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. The final act of the day was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, ending the weekend with a bang.
Saturday’s lineup brought a slew of surprise acts and guest performers.
Future had Yo Gotti and Nicki Minaj join him to sing their hit “Rake It Up.” Young Thug soon joined as well singing “Lifestyle.”
Future’s most popular songs “Mask Off,” “Where Ya At” and “Low Life” brought a raucous applause.
The crowd surrounding the rapper was drug fueled and enthusiastic, “making the performance quite the spectacle.”
Tory Lanez brought a surprise guest as well, the legendary Busta Rhymes. After performing “Controlla” and his hits “Say It” and “LUV,” Busta joined the stage to serenade the crowd with some classic reggae.
At the start of his performance, Lanez did a roll call, telling the audience to “raise your hand if you have no STDs!”
Earlier in the day, LL Cool J offered classic hip hop, straight out of the 90s. However, during his set he threw it back to your mother’s era by bringing DMC (from the renowned trio Run-DMC), A Tribe Called Quest, and The Furious Five.
M.I.A. brought a prison themed production, dancing along a wall of “bars” and wearing orange attire. In her first performance in New York in three years, she danced and gyrated across the stage with enthusiasm.
Gorillaz ended the evening with an hour and a half long set, including guest performances by Pusha T, Bootie Brown, Peven Everett, D.R.A.M., Jamie Principle, Little Simz, Jenny Beth, Mos Def and Del the Funky Homosapien.
Sunday, the final day of the three-day festival, featured the most packed set yet.
DREAMERS performed on The Meadows Stage, flying in from LA that morning.
The LA based band had previously lived in New York for upwards of ten years and was open to questions regarding their rise to fame.
The difference between a large festival and a small venue is drastic, but drummer Jacob Lee Wick says he does not prefer either.
“I like small venues that are capped at 75,” Wick elaborated. “There’s something special that happens between the audience and the band. But, there’s also something about hearing thousands of people scream your lyrics.”
He found his love of music through small venues. When Lee Wick began performing in his hometown, his intention was only a small impact on those close to him.
“[Music] is a really powerful thing and all I cared about was affecting my town,” Wick said.
DREAMERS’ humble beginnings were a shared experience. Two of the three band members had similar experiences prior to their start.
“I lived in my practice space with all my equipment because that was all I wanted,” Wick said in discussion of his bandmate Nick’s writing experiences. “It makes you very focused on your passion but you could get lost in it.”
Getting lost in music seems to be what DREAMERS are all about. The root of their band name comes from an obsession with “the idea of what a dream is.”
“It’s coping, problem solving, and inclusive. Everyone can dream,” Lee Wick said.
According to Wick, their style is much like their music and title: eclectic, trendy and grungy.
“We love fashion, but I love a little mustard on my shirt too. There’s your quote,” Wick said.
Following DREAMERS, Ghostface Killah performed in the afternoon, combining classic rap, hip hop and Wu Tang love.
“Wu Tang Clan ain’t nothing to fuck with” was the anthem of the hour while Killah was performing.
Foster the People offered a politically fueled performance. Prior to the final two songs, one of which was the infamous “Pumped Up Kicks,” a song about a school shooting, the lead singer Mark Foster spoke out.
Foster discussed the idea of homogeny and said “If no one ever challenged you on your ideas, how boring would life be?”
“We made this record in the spirit of joy because joy is the best weapon against oppression and depression. And music is one of the most unifying things on planet earth, if not the most unifying thing. The things that make us different are the things that make us beautiful,” Foster continued.
“Whether you’re black, brown or white. Muslim, Jewish, Christian. Male, female, gay or straight. If you came up having a lot or you came up having a little, that makes you who you are and that makes life fucking beautiful. I am so happy that you are who you are. I would never want to change you.”
Weezer performed shortly following Killah, singing hits such as “Beverly Hills,” “My Name is Jonas” and “Island in the Sun.”
Red-Hot Chili Peppers ended the festival with a long and heavily attended set.
The Meadows was three days packed with insanely talented musical acts, heavy drug use from the crowd, marijuana-filled air, loads of litter and, most importantly, unity through shared love of good music and pure joy.
Abby Brone is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at abigail.brone@uconn.edu.