Elements Music & Arts Festival NYC got off to a slightly tough start due to severe weather plaguing the entire east coast, but managed to finish strong late into the New York evening. The early portion of the day saw the main Earth Stage remain shutdown from the start of the festival until 7pm due to an east coast lightning warning and periodic rain, causing attendees to have to choose between braving the not-so-lovely weather at the Fire Stage or waiting it out at the indoor Water Stage.
Many partygoers braved the elements with the Dirtybird Players at the Fire Stage, while the Water Stage hosted New York based Dirty Looks and The Golden Pony, followed by SNBRN and Goldfish. When the Earth Stage finally opened, Subtronics came out of the gates hard, playing by far the heaviest set of the day. With the entire festival primed for Bassnectar to take the stage, Portland, Oregon based downtempo producer Emancipator (aka Doug Appling) impressed with a smooth and incredibly engaging set featuring his violinist alongside. After an inauspicious start to the festival, Subtronics and Emancipator completely erased the problems the festival faced earlier in the day, effectively warming up the crowd for the chaos that was about to ensue.
Subtronics at Elements Music & Arts Festival; Photo by Andrew Rauner
As he tends to do, Bassnectar threw down an epic set as well, complete with a monstrous New York City themed intro track. He played several songs from his brand new EP Reflective (Part 3), and several of his most popular songs including Speakerbox and TKO. He ended his set on an emotional note with a short tribute to the recently cancer-free Rusko, followed by his new remix of Rusko’s ‘High.’
Bassnectar at Elements Music & Arts Festival; Photo by Andrew Rauner
The end of the night saw Jade Cicada and Snakehips close down the Water Stage, while Justin Jay hit us with an epic finale to the Dirtybird Players takeover at the Fire Stage; he even kept the party going for 45 extra minutes after his scheduled end time.
Overall, despite having no main stage performances for half of the festival, The storm cleared just in time for each headliner to perform on their assigned outdoor stages, rather than the real possibility of being moved inside. Elements weathered the storm as well as they could and the show went on, providing New York electronic music fans another year of fantastic music.
Emancipator at Elements Music & Arts Festival; Photo by Andrew Rauner
The Fire Stage at Elements Music & Arts Festival; Photo by Tony Colasurdo
Header Photo Courtesy of: Andrew Rauner @ajrphotos
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