By Zach Horowitz ’19
As festival season approaches, most people are carefully fabricating their flower headdresses, while Frank Ocean fans are praying that he won’t cancel another show.
Ocean, along with many other talented artists, are set to headline at Panorama Music Festival on Randall’s Island in New York City. After Governors Ball fades and summer begins, Panorama Music Festival will arrive in New York City on July 28 in full force. Here is a quick lineup review:
Solange Knowles and Ocean kick off the star-studded event on July 28. Ocean came off a stellar 2016-2017 year releasing his best album yet, Blonde after a few years of flying under the radar, making his fans wait for new music. Blonde definitely did not disappoint and Ocean seemed to keep releasing more music with singles like Chanel, Lens and a collaboration with Jay-Z and Tyler the Creator, Biking. Ocean fans have much to look forward to at Panorama. However, fans must pray that he won’t cancel. Ocean recently cancelled his headlining appearance at Hangout Music Festival and Sasquatch! Music Festival. More recently however, he cancelled his much anticipated performance at Primavera Sound in Barcelona. Ocean fans should get excited for Panorama, but not too excited. Solange returned to the music world in 2016, with her extraordinary album, A Seat at the Table, which was considered a grammy snub by many music critics. However, she recently cancelled her headlining performance at Boston Calling Music Festival. The festival bookers did an incredible job booking Solange and Ocean, if they show up.
Another group who stands out among the rest of the artists is A Tribe Called Quest. The 1985 hip hop group return to their home city of New York to perform at Panorama. The group released their first album in 18 years in 2016 titled, We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. Released around the time of the presidential election, the group raps about the current state of society and pay homage to a former member of the group and MC, Phife Dawg, who died at age 45. Fans attending Panorama have plenty to look forward to, especially with A Tribe Called Quest.
Lastly, what makes Panorama Music Festival stand out from the other numerous festivals this summer is “The Lab.”
“[The Lab] An interactive experience that combines technology, artistry and design, created exclusively by New York City–based artists. THE LAB, curated by META.is,, places experiential digital art at the heart of the festival, with six interactive installations and a massive 360-degree virtual-reality theater,” according to Panorama.nyc. “THE LAB, powered by HP, is a playground of music and technology that can only be experienced at Panorama.”
The promoters at Panorama did an awesome job putting this festival together, and if all of the headliners show up, it will surely be one of the best festivals of 2017.
