Mad Decent Block Party

Mad Decent Block Party!

This past weekend the Mad Decent Block Party blew through Brooklyn for a two-day stint during the festival’s tour across major American and Canadian cities. This festival, a product of the Mad Decent record label fronted by Diplo, has been running for several years now.

At one point it was free but, in recent years, as the festival gained steam they began to charge attendees a fee. This caused me to become a bit hesitant to attend the past couple of years. I was a bit stubborn about paying for something I had previously enjoyed for free and sort of still feel iffy about.

Still, you get what you pay for and I’m not naive to the fact that in order for a business (or festival) to expand and grow the funding has to come from somewhere.

So this weekend I dipped my toes in the water and purchased tickets to Day 1 of the Mad Decent Block Party in Brooklyn. I figured I’d start back up with one day and if I really had a blast I’d jump in next year for a two-day pass.

The Lineup

When they started slowly revealing the lineup I was incredibly excited. If you’re unaware, the Mad Decent label is home to acts like Major Lazer (Diplo’s side project along with Jillionaire and Walshy Fire) Dillon Francis, Elliphant, DJ Snake, Flosstradamus, Zebra Katz, Yellow Claw and Jack Ü.

The last two acts were what I was fervently crossing my fingers for in the hopes that they would both make the roster for Saturday and not Sunday. I wasn’t so lucky with Jack Ü (they played on Sunday) but I at least was able to see my longtime loves Yellow Claw who I previously featured here.

At one point the guys from Yellow Claw were right in front of me. Before they walked past I stood there with my jaw on the floor for about 5 seconds before I got my wits together and started shouting their names. That alone was enough to make the whole day worth it!

The lineup for Day 1 of the Mad Decent Block Party also featured two of the previously mentioned acts along with Gent & Jawns, Lunice, Vic Mensa, Cashmere Cat B2B Trippy Turtle, Tommy Trash, 4B and Die Antwoord. Check out the highs, lows and fun bits below!

Highs:

Yellow Claw (above photo), the B2B set with Cashmere Cat and Trippy Turtle and Major Lazer.

Lows:

Die Antwoord‘s set was basically an hour of overstimulation. The lights, the dancers, the masks, the visuals and the high pitched shrieking combined with an intense sound system was overkill. I previously knew that I would be in for something totally different when I saw them but it just wasn’t for me.

Fun Bits:

Lunice and Vic Mensa were also really enjoyable.

MØ came out and performed “Lean On” with Major Lazer which was her first time performing it with them in the states. I’ve seen her before a couple times which I mentioned here.

Did I mention Yellow Claw was right next to me? haha. As you can see I’m still stoked about that.

A lot of these acts are not household names although a lot of them are huge within this particular scene. If you’re scratching your head not really knowing who I’ve been going on about during this post don’t fret! Just scroll on down and check out tunes from the Mad Decent Block Party like Vic Mensa, Lunice, Major Lazer and Cashmere Cat.