Mana Production Village in Wynwood packed people in by the thousands Friday for the first of three nights of III Points Festival. Expressive, artsy fans enjoyed their time where they could express their unique creativity. Styles varied, as any type of clothing was acceptable at III Points. The four main stages consisted of two inside (the Main Stage and the Black Hole) and two outdoors on opposite ends of each other (Mind Melt and Sector 3).
III Points failed to set up on time due to the rain. Many props and panels were not yet set, and a couple of acts suffered from fans yet to enter the festival. From the beginning of the night to the end, pleasant surprises took place.
Kazoots had a unique, Afro-Indie sound with an occasional hint of rock. Inez Barlatier possesses a beautiful voice that had a unique Shakira/Alanis Morissette combination. The combination of clean, up-tempo chords played by Barlatier and the shredded solo riffs by Jayan Bertrand complemented each other throughout every song flawlessly. Bertrand’s playing was especially impressive due to the intensity of his ranging, high-tempo, clean-to-crunchy guitar riffs.
The Field (Axel Willner) provided the crowd with many special effects synthesizers with a heavy bass. The instrumentals ran on repeat where a new instrumental was then added to increase the depth of the track. His DJ style had the tempo pick up as the track traveled further into his set list.
Panda Bear (Noah Benjamin Lennox) was one of the more impressive acts of the night. His creativity with music using environmental and special effect sounds were awe-inspiring. The experimental musician generally stuck to an upbeat, faster tempo. His music was pure and did not repeat itself for many measures of the song, which was evident to his creativity. His soothing vocals compliment the delightful chaos amongst his tracks throughout his set list.
Bonobo (Simon Green) provided the best performance of the night, using more generic drum instrumentals and beats. The high keynotes and few synths kept a nice, flavorful beat that transitioned beautifully between tracks. The occasional brass instrumental bridges of the song gave a jazzy, dance beat, which kept the crowd lively. The unique mash up of his tracks drew the biggest crowd of the night, feeding them the tastiest musical treat of the evening.
Brandon Carusillo is a senior majoring in public relations and minoring in psychology. He’s from Coral Springs and wants to work as an entertainment agent when he graduates. He loves music, sports, writing and photography.
words_brandon carusillo. photos_jason koerner.