Panorama returned to New York City this weekend, and it featured one of the most eclectic and interesting festival lineups in the country. The festival boasted a little bit of something for everyone, with festival producers Goldenvoice delivering a mix of the reclusive Frank Ocean, Australian psychedelic powerhouse Tame Impala, British alt-groove heroes Alt J, modern pop icon Solange, 1990s juggernauts Nine Inch Nails, and A Tribe Called Quest for year two of the still-new-feeling NYC festival. Of course, the likes of MGMT, Justice, Nicolas Jaar, Tyler The Creator and Spoon were on hand to continue the festival’s diverse tone.
The festival focuses on a more technology-driven experience, with several huge, lit-up installations by HP and American Express on site to help create a more festive vibe. The centerpiece of the festival is actually not anything related to music, however, it’s a huge space that can only properly be described as a pop-up museum dedicated to interactive, technology-based art known as The Lab, a collaboration between META and HP. The Lab, which returned as a bigger, better, more realized version from last year’s first edition of Panorama, featured multiple installations that all required some level of interaction with the technology and art. It was truly a sight to behold, and worth the price of admission for the festival alone.
Outside of The Lab, there was plenty to experience at Panorama. The Point was an open-air club that allowed festival-goers to dance themselves clean, those who were 21+ could hang in a private area called The Grove with some higher end cocktails and lots of shade (sidebar: the average age at Panorama was noticeably higher than most other festivals, the whole venue felt like a 21+ area). The festival also featured some of the best foods that New York City has to offer, with favorites like Roberta’s Pizza, Salvation Taco, Oddfellow’s Ice Cream, and Matchabar being offered alongside festival favorites like Spicy Pie.
Of course, the music at Panorama was amazing. Nine Inch Nails stunned the audience with their high-octane live show, A Tribe Called Quest threw themselves a huge sendoff for their final ever (probably?) NYC-area show, and Tame Impala melted faces with their comically psychedelic light show. Acts like Vince Staples and Glass Animals made the most of their big stage experience, getting broadcast across Randall’s Island on the festival’s huge, panoramic LED screens, giving these somewhat smaller artists the headliner treatment.
While the festival did experience some production difficulties–namely, the collapse of the floor of the stage known as The Parlor, which led to several cancelled sets by artists like Breakbot and DJ Shadow–the festival once again boasted a relaxed vibe with plenty of space to sit and hang out with friends, short lines at almost every vendor, and great site lines from almost anywhere on the concert field.
See below for a weekend’s-worth of photos from the great Chad Anderson!