What does a dream music festival look like for Thundercat? The answer is a two-week excursion to Japan complete with Atlanta Ninja Warrior challenges, voice actor Tom Kenny, autographed manhole covers and so much more. The eclectic bassist took part in a new segment for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he built his dream festival from the ground up.
Starting the interview with a potato chip bag in hand, Thundercat has to first choose the location for his festival: Japan or Atlanta. A tough choice, but Cat reasons “If I had to choose one, I’d fly a gang of Black people out to Japan.” His non-stop musical marathon will take place for two weeks straight, with acts playing back to back to back. After proposing that fans can’t leave for two weeks, Thundercat quickly catches himself asking, “is this starting to sound like Fyre Fest?”
For the lineup, the hip-hop-meets-jazz crossover musician constructs a list of entertainers as varied as his own musical style. From rappers like Teejayx6 and Guapdad 4000 to Canadian singer Gino Vanelli to voice of SpongeBob Squarepants Tom Kenny to Slipknot to Japan’s own Seatbelts, there is something for everyone at Thundercat’s music festival. There will also be another version of “We Are The World”, only this time with Jacob Collier doing all the voices and singing the harmonies by himself.
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Oh yeah, and all of the acts will have to enter the stage through a Ninja Warrior set design challenge. Only there won’t be any flying nunchucks or skyhooks, instead artists will have to fight their way on and off stage through a “whole bunch of people from Atlanta. And you don’t know ’em. They still wearing big t-shirts, everybody still wearing Bapes, you got some cats they wearing they A shirts. You don’t know ’em.”
What festival would be complete without some unique merchandise? Attendees of Thundercat’s dream festival can go home with everything from tennis chains to car insurance to manhole covers, “come to my festival and get this manhole cover signed by Guapdad and Pharrell and Ariana.” Plus there will be plenty of vegan food, and everything will be made with beyond meat.
Finally, deciding on a name proved difficult. After conceding that Booboo Fest sounded too much like Boba Fett—the subject of a Disney+ series that landed Stephan Bruner his first acting role—Thundercat ultimately copped out with Thunderfest.
Watch Thundercat construct his dream festival in real-time on Colbert. Stay tuned for tickets to Thunderfest in Japan and don’t fall for counterfeit manhole covers. Thundercat will tour North America this summer alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers. For tickets and a full list of tour dates click here.
Thundercat – My Dream Fest