Ricardo Maldonado
Photos by Ashley Chozas
In case you didn’t know, “peanut butter vibes” is from a Glass Animals song. That’s exactly how it felt this past Sunday at X102.9’s Big Ticket festival in Metropolitan Park. A lazy Sunday for most, as many had to navigate the blanket maze of sleeping patrons to find the two stages that hosted the daylong festival of music. The sold out event definitely provided the full festival experience with plenty of food, booze, hippie apparel, and of course, music.
Bands like Lola Rising, PRVS, Saint Motel, and X Ambassadors, were among the first to set the festival in motion as the venue slowly filled up throughout the afternoon. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness later took to the Monster Energy stage late afternoon to the ever-excited crowd, who enjoyed even more when McMahon played songs from his older band, Something Corporate.
Solo artist Robert DeLong really seemed to change the atmosphere as the sun began to fall and his set began. The stage was covered with keyboards, midi controllers and even a drum set, all for DeLong. He gave a high-energy performance to the crowd mixing of electronica, indie and moombahton, to ignite the crowd into a dance-frenzy with hits like “Global Concepts.” DeLong also had at least two, if not three, video game controllers, including a wii-remote and an old school joystick to aid in manipulating the sounds of his voice and the music.
Following Robert DeLong, Glass Animals took the Jägermeister stage at 5:25pm to create the perfect transition into night. The smooth mix of R&B and indie rock kept the crowd moving and singing along to songs like “Gooey” and “Black Mambo.” The band obviously enjoys what they are doing as seen in their dance moves and head bobs while playing with one another. They even brought out an oh-so-sexy cover of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.” Mutemath and Walk the Moon also provided great performances as fans waited to see the headlining acts and the real reason many were there.
Of Monsters and Men began to play and captivated the entire audience of the festival with a creepy and soft intro into their set. Playing many songs from their new album Beneath the Skin, the band also revisited old favorites. Majestic yet gloomy, the Icelandic band harmonized well with their blend of folk and pop.
The last band to take the stage was Twenty One Pilots. Screaming and adoring fans chanted and cheered, as they patiently waited for the band to begin their set. As the lights dimmed, a red, illuminated microphone dropped from the rafters and two masked men walked on stage. The band started out strong with their song “Heavydirtysoul,” as the crowd sang almost louder than the band. A truly interesting mix of music, the duo combines piano, drums, synthesizers and bass to create what many call “Schizophrenic pop.” This kept the audience at full attention until the night was over.
After a long day of music, tired and pleased fans shuffled out of Metropolitan Park and began to talk about next year’s festival. Despite the obvious need for renovation of the Metropolitan Park Amphitheater, the side-by-side temporary stages worked well for the festival and provided a quick turnover time in between band’s sets. Hopefully by this time next year, the main stage will be permanent and something fans and the people of Jacksonville can enjoy for future years. The beautiful weather and great music made this year’s Big Ticket festival another one to remember. With minor changes to festival’s setup, this could be Jacksonville biggest and best music event of the year.
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