Love or hate the idea of Emerald Meadows as a thumping festival hotspot pulsing with thousands of gyrating bodies, there is one thing no one can deny: Eugene has never seen a music spectacle like Kaleidoscope Music Festival (Aug. 23-25) before. EW stared down the barrel of that neon prismatic lens and came out the other end. This is what we saw.
Reactions to Kaleidoscope have ranged from youthful squeals of euphoria — “This was most epic weekend of my life!” — to fist-shaking “get off my lawn” disapproval. Friday’s headliner Bassnectar — baron of the bass heads — even weighed in online the morning after: “Eugene, Oregon, went wild last night in one of the most killer outdoor camping venues I’ve seen on the West Coast. Perfect crowd, perfect weather, perfect evening.” The countdown has already begun for Kaleidoscope Music Festival 2014 (and 2015); OneEleven, the production company behind the event, has a three-year contract with the county.
Photos by Todd Cooper.
Lil B
Schoolboy Q
DJ Shadow
Minnesota and Amp Live
Rain did not seem to phase the crowd at Griz
Afroman
Beats Antique
Nas
Empire of the Sun
Bassnectar
Capital Cities
The Thermals
Blue Scholars
Souls of Mischief
