03 May Day One: For the Early Birds
Our favorite West Palm Beach music festival is here: welcome to SunFest 2018, Day One.
It’s going to be crazy, my friends. The past few years, Day One of SunFest has been our chill, two stage, introduction for all of you into your mini-week of music. This year, we’re holding off on the “chill.”
Today, SunFest will open with all three stages in use.
What does this mean for you? Three words: Don’t. Arrive. Late.
Tunes are scheduled to start as early as 5:15 p.m., setting the tone for headliners, Billy Idol, Girl Talk and Logic.
Here’s who you can look out for when gates open:
Brothers of Others
Brothers of Others
Close your eyes and listen to this trio — they’re hoping you’ll feel like you’ve gone back in time.
But then, open your eyes immediately, because you won’t be able to keep up with who’s playing what.
Brothers of Others is a South Florida based group who wants to take listeners on a ride back to yesteryear, all while having a little fun. Joshua Stedman, Vic Kingsley and Derek Cintron perform their set of soulful, rock n’ roll by switching off between vocals, bass, guitar and drums — yeah, they all play each instrument and sing lead at least once throughout a set.
The group started off as a cover band, paying tribute to artists they consider legend: Clapton, Allman Brothers, Hendrix, you get the idea. By 2014, the group was playing across South Florida and last year, they dropped a seven song EP.
“Space,” is a dreamy tour through blues, soul, motown and rock, with easy to sing to melodies and magical three-piece harmonies between Stedman, Kingsley and Cintron, reminiscent of The Eagles.
Brothers of Others perform at 5:15 p.m. at the Tire Kingdom Stage.
Marley Waters
Marley Waters
Before connecting to the masses through his music, Marley Waters was reaching America through his moves — and movies.
The artist was part of Status Quo, a dance troupe featured on “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and later appeared in “Life Of A King,” a movie featuring Cuba Gooding Jr., directed by Jake Goldberger.
Soon after, the DJ earned his music industry stripes by producing “2 On,” by Tinashe, his first platinum single. He later signed with Sony.
Since then, Waters hasn’t slowed down. He’s still releasing new music with his signature trapstep, yet clearly reggae and Afro influenced sound, like on his track, “London Tings.”
Marley Waters performs at 6 p.m. at the Ford Stage.
Sir Sly
Sir Sly
OK, even if you don’t think you’ve heard of Sir Sly, do me a favor right now.
- Open Spotify/Apple Music/YouTube Red/whatever your music streaming service of choice is…
- Search “Sir Sly,” and select the track “High.”
- Realize I’m right and you do know this band.
Electronic/indie group Sir Sly formed in 2012. The three-piece’s sticky, atmospheric, yet super catchy sound has been around for a bit. But the trio kept fans waiting when they went quiet between 2014 and 2017 with the group’s latest release, “Don’t You Worry, Honey.”
The full-length has hits like “High” and “&Run,” as well as lesser known but still completely addictive numbers like “Astronaut” and “Trippin’.”
But rather than me talking about the band, why don’t you see what they have to say?
“It’s an upbeat anthem about ego death,” lead singer Landon Jacobs said of the track. “It really opened up the honesty of the record.” Drummer, Hayden Copley, added to this statement in an email he penned to fans when the single came out last year.
“Fittingly, it’s the first song from [an album] that is lived-in, loose, and against all odds, a celebration.”
Appropriately enough, that’s how I’d describe Sir Sly for you: lived-in, with comfortable songs like “2am,” loose, like with “Headfirst,” and a damn celebration, like how their set tonight, opening for Girl Talk will be.
Sir Sly performs at 6:15 p.m. at the JetBlue Stage.