20,000 electrified fest-heads daily + 5,000 acres of freedom + One Outkast Homecoming Reunion = A legendary rager. Following the heels of lackluster Coachella reviews, CounterPoint was out to prove the south knows how to party best. Set in Kingston Downs, GA, the three-day festival sewed together a perfect tapestry of EDM, hip-hop, funk, soul, and indie pop; with the main stages presenting powerhouse names like Pretty Lights, Foster the People, STS9, Big Gigantic, Schoolboy Q, J. Cole, Moon Taxi, Janelle Monae, Sleigh Bells, Major Lazer, Matt & Kim, Phantogram, Moon Taxi, Thievery Corporation, St. Lucia, Flosstradamus, Run the Jewels, Papadosio, Boys Noize, and more. (full lineup here)
Post press for the event has unanimously praised CounterPoint as being one of the top festivals of 2014 so far. We couldn’t agree more. Here is a list of reasons CP is supreme; you can’t see this elsewhere:
– Outkast may be hitting the festival season hard this year, but CP was their first homecoming show reunion, marking the 20th anniversary of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. And they were bathed in ATL love. The feeling was so strong, Andre 3000 and Big Boi’s appreciation beamed across the audience even brighter than the penetrating light shows.
– Derek Vincent Smith headlined opening night with a LIVE BAND performing A Color Map of the Sun.
– Big Gigantic is always a pleasurable experience, but Big G at CP was mind blowing. Not a calm face in the house after their sunset show on opening day.
– Soundtribe Sector 9 on home turf. “Playing for our home state crowd in Georgia is always a pleasure, and we were blown away by the response this past weekend at CounterPoint. What an amazing time! Grab the digital download of our set now at 1320 Records. (http://sts9.com/2014/04/counterpoint-download-available-now-2/)” – STS9
– Major Lazer demanded the crowd go topless, shirts flying off everywhere. Boob city. Bringing out Diplo only fueled the madness.
– Schoolboy Q also went topless. Man-boob city.
– The half naked theme continued with Thievery Corporation’s bassist stripping down to his tighty-blackies and somersaulting while simultaneously strumming away.
– Janelle Monae politely chastised Coachella fans on Twitter after her CP performance. She rocked it.
– The Floozies were housed on the smaller Underground stage Saturday evening, yet the electro-duo amassed a crowd large enough to fit in the headlining field. Oh, and they brought out GRiZ, blasting fest-heads with a surprise sax feature. GRiZ kept those heads blazing later that night with his own show.
– GRiZ also got high with Riff Raff.
– Norway’s Cashmere Cat solidifying his trap beat sound in the American south.
– Phantogram was just beautiful.
– Polish Ambassador’s smooth sound collection creating a calm sea of onlookers, followed by Simon Posford (Shpongle) intensifying the late night zombies with a piercing laser show – both filling in the time slot missed by Ott who suddenly fell ill.
– Flosstradamus and Ca$ino performing “Mosh Pit” was perhaps the wildest act of turnup, potentially topping Major Lazer’s confetti bombing show, had there been free tatas instead of Free Bandz.
– Downpouring thunderstorms postponed Sunday’s entire afternoon lineup, worrying fans they would miss Outkast. But a relentless staff reorganized the whole schedule seamlessly – putting everything back on track like nothing happened. Plus, weary feet were given a couple extra hours to rest up as campers lounged around their retreats recuperating and rehydrating. How’s that for a silver lining?
