While the previous day of the KahBang Music Festival was defined by rock and pop performances by acts like Dr. Dog, Lights and Junior Astronomers, the final day of the KahBang Music Festival was highlighted by emerging hip-hop performers Earl Sweatshirt and Hopsin.
Sweatshirt, who the night before performed on the NBC’s talk-show “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” played on the Main Stage, along with fellow Odd Future hip-hop collective member Taco Bennett, who served as his DJ.
After comically bantering off-stage with Bennett about a technical issue, Sweatshirt took the stage and began his 30-minute set. He asked the audience if he could play some material from his upcoming album “Doris,” scheduled for release on Aug. 20. For a new song called “Molasses,” he instructed the crowd to sing along to the lyric, “I’ll f— the freckles off your face, b—-,” a request to which the audience happily obliged.
California rapper Hopsin performed earlier in the evening and put great emphasis on involving the crowd in his performance. At several points, he crowd-surfed, once having the fans hold him upright above their heads, using them as an extended stage.
Hopsin also held a freestyle rap-off with three audience members, giving them a short period of time to rap over a beat and impress the crowd. The winner of the contest was Maine rapper Spose, who performed as part of the festival earlier in the day.
Along with Spose, highlights of other performers who played on either the Pepsi Free Stage, the Dance Stage or the Discovery Stage included Oberhofer, an indie rock band from New York, Lucius, an indie pop band also of New York, and Herra Terra, an electronic band from Massachusetts.
The Weeks gave their performance that was rescheduled from Friday due to weather and were thankful to the crowd for standing on the muddy ground and watching them perform.
“You guys didn’t have to come stand in the mud today and I appreciate that,” lead singer Cyle Barnes said. “I’m not standing in the mud; you’re braver than I am.”
While performing their song “Slave to the South,” Barnes smiled and shook his head as he realized the irony of the song’s lyrics, singing, “I’ve been raising my hands, I’ve been praying for rain / And I screamed at them skies but the drops never came.”
Unlike Friday, Saturday’s weather was free of rain, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-to-high 70’s.
In its fifth year, this summer’s KahBang Music and Arts Festival put a greater focus on free entertainment and up-and-coming bands, as opposed to the big-name headlining acts of years passed.
“We bring all these lesser known but really amazing bands here for a reason,” KahBang creative director Joshua Gass told the Bangor Daily News. “Putting on a festival where half your audience shows up for the last three hours of the night isn’t the point. We don’t like it when no one is there to see most of the bands. We worked this year to change that, so the first thing we did was restructure it so that the majority of the festival is free.”
Although a festival pass was required to gain access to the Main Stage and the Dance Stage, the Pepsi Free Stage, the Discovery Stage, the Film Tent, late night music showcases and access to vendors were all available for free.