Photos & text by Louis Kwok on assignment for www.ishootshows.com.
Muse closed down day two of the inaugural Kanrocksas, ending out the festival with a big, arena-tested performance with plenty of high-tech stage effects. Other highlights from Saturday include the Black Keys, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Cage The Elephant, Tinie Tempah and OK Go.
For a weekend of top-shelf musical talent, art, and, yes, adult-sized water slides, Kanrocksas is definitely a festival to watch in 2012.
Black Angels:
The Black Keys:
Cage The Elephant:
Flogging Molly:
Kerli:
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Krafty Cuts:
OK GO:
Tine Tempah:
A Perfect Circle:
Muse:
Kanrocksas Day 2 Highlights
While they’re probably more fitting to be seen in a dark venue instead of the hot afternoon sun, the Black Angels still cranked out an enjoyable set of psychedelic rock. With the crowd a bit sleepy early on, the Austin band delivered a nice wake up.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. I’m officially a big fan now. They just felt like a perfect band to add onto any festival.
Matthew Schultz of Cage the Elephant leaping into the crowd with his microphone was one of the more memorable moments, along with his general spazzy punk rock delivery while on stage. With the abandon that the Kentucky band played with, it made you feel like you were back at a wild venue show.
Someone needs to hand British rapper Tinie Tempah a huge record contract. Also a few Dry Fit shirts. The guy was killing it on stage and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone sweat that much.
Shooting a festival sometimes means ditching a set and running off to catch the next act. I sat at the Black Keys set probably longer than anyone else’s, just to soak up as much bluesy rock as I could from the Akron duo.
While I haven’t followed the band much, the Muse experience was jaw-droppingly impressive with the band’s theatrical performance just as lively as the background screens and lights that lit up the night sky to close out Day 2.
