by Donte Kirby
Pick your poison at the 3rd annual Liberty Fest which took place at Finnigan’s Wake.
“Liberty Fest is great. If you’re not quite feeling a band you can go to another floor,” says Brandon Cohill, guitarist of Black Dirty on the main stage at Finnigan’s Wake.
Saturday night at Liberty offered four floors ranging from EDM acts like R@s on the fourth floor to metal acts like Angel Vivaldi on the main stage.
Sunday night had no fourth floor acts. There was just as much musical variety as the other days, but the luxury of having many options at one time was gone.
R@s stood out. R@s was accompanied by guitarist Conner Hansell and Television Sky cutting and mixing the visuals projected on a screen below and behind the DJ table. Playing tracks from his EP The Human Element, the sound was similar to chill step with a more hip hop vibe. R@s was more mellow and euphoric than his couterparts of the night that played an EDM set more typical of your average rave or nightclub.
The second floor of Liberty Fest, which served as a bridge between acts, was home to acoustic sets with the ocassional rapper on Saturday and rappers with the occasional acoustic set on Sunday. Montgomery Streets was an acoustic guitar two piece that, when the song demanded, pulled out a harmonica and did a “Runaway” cover that was quirky and fun like the lead singer’s voice.
D.O.E Boy Philly rapped with a trumpet player and over soulful samples of Erykah Badu, along with a J Dilla tribute, a staple at everyone of his shows.
A stand out amongst the hip hop acts was MH the Verb. He performed accompanied by a drummer and keyboardist along with working the beat machine himself. His act was upbeat and he danced on stage, showing the small crowd that watched in the Quiet Man Pub how to enjoy his music as much as telling.
On the main stage Sunday night, the joyous folk melodies of The Currys was the highlight. The three piece from Florida did an inspired TLC “Waterfalls” cover that drew the crowd in and turned everyone into folk fans.
Black Dirty’s perfomance had the crowd screaming for an encore and if time permitted, they would have happily obliged. JAE was accompined by a six piece band that included two percussionist, a flute, and twin female guitarist. Along with her powerful vocals JAE put on a performance that once it got hold of you wouldn’t let go.
The third annual Liberty Fest allowed festival-goers to, at any moment, switch floors and change the station. Sometimes nothing good is on, but nine times out of ten you’ll find something worth a listen.
