Annual sponsor, Kind, was well represented throughout the festival grounds. Photo: Don Woodman/The Pit Media
In the words of Detroit, Michigan’s own, Kid Rock, “It aint no party like a Detroit Party,” was well represented at the annual Mo Pop Festival held at the West Riverfront Park in downtown Detroit July 23rd and 24th. With the fourth year of the festival, and the second year of it being held at the Riverfront Park, Mo Pop made a statement with this years festivities, that it is proud to call Detroit its home.
I have to be honest here, I’ve grown up into a mostly hard rock and 80’s hair metal family. Everything from Def Leppard to Metallica to Motley Crue and Queen. After attending Mo Pop for a second year in a row, none of that mattered. The greatest thing I witnessed all weekend long, besides the massive amounts of local food trucks, the craft beer tent and an arts and crafts tent, was the overall welcome to anyone and everyone from all sorts of backgrounds. It was like everybody was one big happy family for two straight days just singing and dancing to artists like Haim, G-Eazy, M83, Lewis Del Mar, Shakey Graves, and Father John Misty.
As soon as you walk through the gates, you notice not one, but two brand new features to the festival, both of which received a lot of attention. Mo Pop brought in a smaller, third stage called the “School of Rock” stage which featured some local high school kids performing and highlighting their skills. Next to that, was everybody’s favorite, an old school arcade which provided free water and air conditioning which proved to be a vital point as the weekend reached temperatures in the mid 90’s. Oh, did I mention the games were all free as well and it had a bar inside? I’m sure fans of the annual festival will be wanting that back every year.
G-Eazy closing out day 1 on Mo Pop Photo: Don Woodman/The Pit Media
Let’s talk performances. As I mentioned above, I come from a metal family. The most unique performance I could’ve easily walked away from just because I don’t typically enjoy the style, was day one’s closer, G-Eazy. The problem here, I could not walk away. This festival made it hard for me to leave early and avoid typical after festival traffic. I was just so mesmerized by his high energy, deep bass drops and just watching the way the crowd reacted to his set. Even during peak sun hours when the temperatures were at their highest and acts like Haim, Glass Animals and Borns, were playing, the fans still were going nuts and dancing freely in the wide open park.
Day two was no different. If anything, the crowd brought more energy for performances from closer M83, The Head and The Heart, and Matt and Kim, who I feel stole the entire weekend away. These two went so hard during their set, an unfortunate temporary power failure caused them to miss out on almost three quarters of their set, but that didn’t stop them from keeping the crowd entertained. With the power they did have, they jammed out some loud dance music and interacted with the crowd like no artist I’ve seen before. Confetti, balloons, and two giant beach balls closed out their set for the evening.
Mo Pop crowd having fun with balloons
Photo: Don Woodman/The Pit Media
It was easy to see that the fans and even the staff, are proud to have this festival held in downtown Detroit. With a scenic view along the Detroit river and the easy access in and out of the festival grounds, I think it’s safe to say, that Mo Pop is here to stay and will only continue to grow each year. See you in 2017 Mo Pop!
