With festival season rapidly approaching, new and exciting lineups have come to the forethought of the minds of many show-goers. This April will be the second time Counterpoint Music Festival in Kingston Downs, Georgia will occur and those who attended the inaugural year, 2012, have made up an almost fanatical following and devotion. The festival is my personal favorite and I have a lot of positive excitement running through my mind whenever I glimpse the date. With Counterpointannouncing that they planned to open the gates to Kingston Downs a day early, I thought it would be interesting to go over the top 5 artists that were not on last year's CP lineup that I was most excited to see. The list isn't in any particular order of preference. Click hereto check out tickets if you haven't gotten them already. Feel free to chime in on your top 5 in the comments section. With no more ado, let the list begin!
1. Outkast
Okay, okay, not the most original choice considering that the duo is headlining several other festivals for the first time in a hot minute, but let me explain. Despite their recent publicity, remember that Andre 3000 and Big Boi have been doing this music thing for a very long time. Their early experimentation with music blurred the lines between hip hop and the “other” categories that influenced their tunes. While I am very picky about the hip hop shows I attend, I feel as if this show will have all the classics and hopefully some awesome new tunes appropriate to the venue and scene.
2. Shpongle
Coming in next is the Simon Posford Shpongle DJ Set. I have been anxiously awaiting the time when the psychedelic experience known as the Sphongle experience would grace a festival I would be attending. While it is almost (inside sources) certain that the Shpongletron will be in attendance, I am uncertain whether Raja Ram will be in attendance to contribute with flute stylings. Regardless, I'm super stoked to see Simon go to work especially with the addition of the awesome crowd i experienced at Counterpoint during the first year.
3. Minnesota
I am ashamed to admit that although I have been listening to Minnesota for a while, I have yet to see him perform live for one reason or another. The excellent range of bass that Minnesota uses has been blasting through my Headphones for all too long! I've heard the likes of Bassnectar drop his tracks like “Push It” and for good reason, they are excellent tracks when delivered through professional speaker set ups.
4. GRiZ
GRiZ has been on fire as of his recent touring late last year, and his recent announcement of head-lining Snowball Music Festival in early April. With his instagram being lit up with sneak peeks of tracks that are in the works, GRiZ always has a little special something for the crowd. His take on funk music combined with electric beats and soulful Big Band influences connects me from present to past, in a very cool way. If you have yet to see GRiZ, I highly recommend spending the time to his what's sure to be an amazing set.
Despite the fact that I'm only passingly familiar with The Polish Ambassador, part of me has been torn. Do I wait to experience him for myself in person and reserve the excited energy? Or do I go online and download his free music and get a nice taste before heading in. One of my all time favorite experiences to indulge at music festivals is discovering New Music, or gaining a greater appreciation for music you already know. As such, I think I'll have TPA be a big surprise so I'm that much more surprised.
