X-Games 2017 took place over the weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Aside from the intense action sports events throughout the weekend, there was also an exciting music lineup. One of the artists performing happened to be the one and only, Flume.
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Flume played on Saturday night (Day 3) of the X-Games. The music all weekend was held at the Commons area just outside of U.S. Bank Stadium. This was the first time that the outdoor venue would host concerts since the opening of the new football stadium last year.
Photo by Strykerfoto
The Commons was sold out for Flume. Fans started pouring in as a soft purple glow lit up the stage. A huge, high def LED panel lit up the rest of the stage, helping show off the large cubes floating above the DJ booth. The purple glow changed to red. Smoke rolled in as Flume, dressed in all white, walked into the booth. The lights change to blue and Flume dropped “On Top” to start things off, hitting his drum pad in between verses. The crowd went nuts! The visuals in the background were stunning, changing from very detailed images of werewolves to what appeared to be an endless pink snake body. Flume destroyed the rest of the set by playing a good chunk of tracks from the “Skin” album.
The overall atmosphere for Flume was very memorable for me. The crowd was respectful, the Minneapolis skyline lit up the background, and there wasn't one bad view in the Commons. Ironically, my only complaint would be the ample amount of space left in the venue for concert goers. A disappointing thing to hear for the countless people that walked up to me and asked for tickets throughout the day. Again, this weekend was the first time the Commons hosted concerts. A note to take down for when the X-Games comes back to Minneapolis next year.
Photo by Strykerfoto
The whole weekend at X-Games was filled with great music and intense events. See below for the highlights of the rest of the weekend.
Day 1
Thursday was the opening day of the X-Games. Events were hosted at both U.S. Bank Stadium and The Mall Of America. To kick off the X-Games, we found ourselves strolling into a large parking lot at The Mall Of America to watch Harley Davidson flat track racing. This would be the only day that the mall held events for X-Games.
The setup at the track was great. There were large bleachers along the finish line and a lot of open space close to the fence line to see the action. Sammy Halbert took a commanding lead and walked away with the gold medal.
Photo by Strykerfoto
Music on Thursday was held after the events at the iconic First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. Performing that night was Prof, Dem Atlas, and Aesop Rock, all of which are members of the Minnesota Hip Hop label Rhymesayers Entertainment. Unfortunately, we weren't able to attend the music on this night. However, we heard through numerous X-Games attendees that the venue was jam-packed!
Day 2
We started our day watching Women's Skateboard Street Final where Aori Nishimura from Japan had a killer first run and walked away with gold. After exploring the young stadium, we caught The Real Cost BMX Big Air Final. James Foster won after hitting a flip triple whip over the gap, and a bar to triple switch down whip on the quarterpipe.
A Day To Remember brought the first night of music to the Commons. Lead singer Jeremy McKinnon walked out in front an ADTR banner backdrop in a tie die T-shirt. McKinnon immediately screamed “Minneapolis!” into the Microphone as confetti shot into the crowd. The concert goers raged on as the band started with “All I want” and delivered a killer performance throughout the night.
Photo by Strykerfoto
Day 3
Saturday started off with some highs and lows at America's Navy Skateboard Big Air. Elliot Sloane lands a huge Indy 900 at 18'7″ to win the gold. Sadly, everyone at U.S. Bank caught the unexpected News from the legendary Bob Burnquist that this would be his last X-Games. Burnquist has been to every X-Games since the games began back in 1995.
The Minneapolis crowd went crazy during the next two events, because they featured two athletes from Minnesota, Alec Majerus and Nicole Hause. Alec Majerus from Rochester, Minnesota took home silver in the Monster Energy Men's Skateboard Street. Nicole Hause from Stillwater, Minnesota made it to fourth place in Women's Skateboard Park.
Photo by Strykerfoto
Day 4
The final day at X-Games didn't have as many events, but the energy level was just as high as the previous days because of the big tricks and hard hits. Kyle Baldock won the Dave Mirra's BMX Park Best Trick with a crazy 720 double tailwhip. The hard hit came later in The Real Cost Moto X Quarterpipe High Air Final when the favorite Jarryd McNeil had a big crash after landing a run that would have given him a podium spot.
Minneapolis Hip Hop legends, Atmosphere, were a perfect fit to help wrap up this year's X-Games. The guys performed in the Sunday heat at the Commons. Rapper, Slug, walked out smiling and greeted the crowd “You guys ride Skateboards? Yeah right haha!”. From there Atmosphere played “Camera Thief””, setting the perfect Sunday vibes to kick it in the grass to wrap up the X-Games.
Photo by Strykerfoto
I would like to thank X-Games for the opportunity to be a part of this great first of two year event in Minneapolis. I'd also like to thank Flume for his killer set, and to my fellow Minnesotans for supporting this amazing event.
