- David Garber visits the Goldenvoice-run event trying to bridge the mainstream with the underground.
- Throwing a major music festival is never without its hurdles. Managing huge spaces, unpredictable weather and tens of thousands of people—it all comes with the territory. Panorama NYC, the younger sibling of Coachella, endured some struggles during last weekend's third edition, which went down at Randall's Island, a sprawling urban park in Manhattan. After a stage collapse in 2017 forced a number of acts to cancel, this year's festival was unexpectedly evacuated at around 5 PM on the opening Friday due to severe thunderstorms. Swathes of eager young punters were sent home wet and disappointed, missing out on headliners such as The Weeknd and Migos, as well as the likes of Yaeji, Mall Grab and The Black Madonna. On Saturday, the rapper Lil Wayne pulled out, citing travel issues, as did the US rockers Greta Van Fleet. These hiccups briefly dampened the mood, but when the festival was dry and running smoothly, there was little to complain about besides the $16 cocktails.
Panorama NYC was billed as three days of music spread across three towering stages. In addition, there was an overwhelmingly branded HP/Intel village, with glowing selfie gardens, VR activations, smaller stages featuring local DJs and two massive planetarium structures that hosted 3D-mapped visual experiences soundtracked by ODESZA and St. Vincent. The Point, an open-air dance oasis with Funktion-One stacks and an elevated dance floor, focussed on electronic music. The stage hosted a who's who of exciting and diverse talent across the weekend, touching on footwork, disco, bass, techno and house.
Elsewhere, Panorama NYC presented a well-curated blend of musical styles spanning scenes and decades. Janet Jackson offered a nostalgic masterclass in pose-striking with a marathon of hits paired with impressive production and iconic music videos. A barefoot David Byrne sang Talking Heads classics and politically charged anthems, at one point honoring the names of slain black youths and urging the crowd to vote. He was surrounded by his mobile band, all of them in matching suits, toting their own wireless instruments. The xx played a blissful set on Sunday, before The Killers' Brandon Flowers exhibited wild showmanship as the weekend drew to a close.
For dance music heads, though, there was little reason to leave The Point. As well as great music, it was home to the festival's most expressive and diverse crowd. Following early sets from treasured local artists such as Turtle Bugg, Riobamba, DJ Haram, DJ Python and Bearcat, the programming shifted onto some of dance music's most exciting names. Smiling at the audience between rough-and-ready mixes, Kyle Hall was an early highlight beneath blues skies on Saturday, with a jubilant set of bumpy Detroit house and disco. He dropped uplifting anthems like Seven Davis Jr's "Soul Music" and nodded to New York with tracks from Dennis Ferrer and others.
Another treasured Detroit export, Moodymann, was up to his usual antics on Sunday, sandwiching his catchphrases between vinyl shoutouts and sexual innuendos. Behind a Jabberwocky-style mask, he played records like Les Sins' blissful "Grind" and COEO's "Back In The Days" alongside slow rollers (LTJ X-Perience's "People's") and NJVK's techno freakout "Translazion." He paused only to pour out shots from a watermelon. Unfortunately, with around 30 minutes to go, the power went out, forcing him to finish early.
For disco fans, Floating Points was a highlight. He energetically worked the booth's E&S mixer to cosmic jams like Can's "A Spectacle" and a string of uplifting tracks made before most of the crowd was born. Shanti Celeste was at her breezy best on Sunday, effortlessly moving from Donato Dozzy's "Cassandra" to Karizma's "The Power" in front of a sparse yet engaged early afternoon floor. Laurel Halo shook things up with an intro of harsh noise that morphed into Nigerian artist DRONGA. The set that followed included Italo-inflected sounds and bassy techno from Romania.
The final DJ at The Point was Helena Hauff. Playing to a wiped audience, she managed to keep everyone moving till the very end. Martyn's brain-rattling remix of Squaric's "For Varden Pikre" and EDMX's "Late Result" stood out, as did the cuts with alien acid lines and speedy breakdowns. For someone who plays such hard, fast music, she does so with grace, occasionally ducking out of sight to find her next record, before returning, with a smile, to face the moonlit crowd.
Panorama NYC did a good job dealing with this year's curveballs, throwing a well-organized festival that will have catered to most people's tastes. By the end of the weekend, even those frustrated by the hiccups seemed satisfied. For electronic music fans, the bookings and production at The Point nodded to the underground in a way not usually found at mainstream US festivals.
For dance music heads, though, there was little reason to leave The Point. As well as great music, it was home to the festival's most expressive and diverse crowd. Following early sets from treasured local artists such as Turtle Bugg, Riobamba, DJ Haram, DJ Python and Bearcat, the programming shifted onto some of dance music's most exciting names. Smiling at the audience between rough-and-ready mixes, Kyle Hall was an early highlight beneath blues skies on Saturday, with a jubilant set of bumpy Detroit house and disco. He dropped uplifting anthems like Seven Davis Jr's "Soul Music" and nodded to New York with tracks from Dennis Ferrer and others. Another treasured Detroit export, Moodymann, was up to his usual antics on Sunday, sandwiching his catchphrases between vinyl shoutouts and sexual innuendos. Behind a Jabberwocky-style mask, he played records like Les Sins' blissful "Grind" and COEO's "Back In The Days" alongside slow rollers (LTJ X-Perience's "People's") and NJVK's techno freakout "Translazion." He paused only to pour out shots from a watermelon. Unfortunately, with around 30 minutes to go, the power went out, forcing him to finish early. For disco fans, Floating Points was a highlight. He energetically worked the booth's E&S mixer to cosmic jams like Can's "A Spectacle" and a string of uplifting tracks made before most of the crowd was born. Shanti Celeste was at her breezy best on Sunday, effortlessly moving from Donato Dozzy's "Cassandra" to Karizma's "The Power" in front of a sparse yet engaged early afternoon floor. Laurel Halo shook things up with an intro of harsh noise that morphed into Nigerian artist DRONGA. The set that followed included Italo-inflected sounds and bassy techno from Romania.
The final DJ at The Point was Helena Hauff. Playing to a wiped audience, she managed to keep everyone moving till the very end. Martyn's brain-rattling remix of Squaric's "For Varden Pikre" and EDMX's "Late Result" stood out, as did the cuts with alien acid lines and speedy breakdowns. For someone who plays such hard, fast music, she does so with grace, occasionally ducking out of sight to find her next record, before returning, with a smile, to face the moonlit crowd. Panorama NYC did a good job dealing with this year's curveballs, throwing a well-organized festival that will have catered to most people's tastes. By the end of the weekend, even those frustrated by the hiccups seemed satisfied. For electronic music fans, the bookings and production at The Point nodded to the underground in a way not usually found at mainstream US festivals.