Ricardo Maldonado
In less than three weeks, III Points will descend upon Mana Wynwood in Miami for one of this year’s do not miss music festivals held on February 15th, 16th and 17th. Years of continued success has turned III Points into one of Florida’s greatest and most diverse music festivals. III Points has consistently provided a wide and eclectic mix of musicians and artists from Florida and around the world. This year’s festival is less than three weeks away so let’s dive in on all things III Points. Founded by a group of friends in 2013, the festival has grown exponentially each year in size and notoriety, featuring acts including: the XX, Flying Lotus, Gorillaz, DJ Shadow, Bonobo, Danny Brown, Kaytranada, Mark Ronson, Mac Demarco, Method Man and Redman, M83, Flight Facilities, Cam’ron, King Krule, Panda Bear, and Lykke Li, to name more than a few.
This year, in another amazing feat, III Points and its organizers have outdone themselves again with yet another unbelievable lineup. The festival announced early in 2018 that III Points would be scheduled February 2019, after several years of inclement weather and rain delays in the fall. But what better time to host a festival in south Florida than in the cool, clear and sunny days of the Florida winter. This year’s lineup includes: Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, Beach House, James Blake, Erykah Badu, SZA, Pussy Riot, Blood Orange and Herbie Hancock. Most recently added to the lineup was James Murphy, who has played a big role in the history of this festival and will continue to do so with a closing DJ set on Saturday night. This comes as wonderful news after his last expected III Point’s visit was so rudely interrupted by a hurricane. Toro y Moi will also be returning for a DJ set as well on Friday night, and will hopefully be dropping something off the latest album, Outer Peace, which came out a little over a week ago. There are also many other artists who have recent releases that will definitely be heard at the festival, most notably, James Blake, who just came out with Assume Form, a follow up to 2016’s The Color in Anything.
https://open.spotify.com/user/ricard0o/playlist/68BxviM6bxTGKWVb3CY8xU?si=SfMWNUviS–HRgXVVfVLUQ
The all out music, art and technology driven festival features tons of stages and rooms for every genre of music possible, endless food and bars, and truly transformative art installations in Mana Wynwood, making it unlike any other festival. The hip hop and R&B heavy line up this year also includes Ghostface Killah, who was last seen at the festival in 2015. He will be making a return to Miami along with fellow Shaolin legend Raekwon, to perform the album ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX Saturday evening. Additions include: SOB x RBE, JPEGMAFIA, the Internet, and closer to the jazzy side of things Masego and Blood Orange. Beach House will grace the stage with some of indie rock’s finest celestial melodies and trance inducing synthesizes. And of course, there’s Ty Segall, Herbie Hancock, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
As always, the electronic acts this year will be the soundtrack to your never end dance party. Virtual Self (a Porter Robinson moniker), Baba Stiltz, Yaeji, Peggy Gou, DJ Koze, Honey Dijon, Mall Grab, DJ Stingray, Ben UFO, Joy Orbison, Tim Hecker, Danny Daze and more. Sets will be running til 5AM, so there is literally no other place you have to be. Just grab some pastries in the morning with a colada or a cortadito and you’ll be good to go all weekend!
The world renowned Boiler Room series has also recently announced that they will be hosting a stage at III Points for the entire weekend. The series has been dishing out live videos of DJs and electronic artist for the past 9 years, giving viewers an in depth experience of being placed right next to the artist during a live set. This addition to the festival will surely provide attendees with a spot to dance and a possible cameo on the live set videos the series will be filming all weekend.
Next up are some local legends; some of Miami and south Florida’s best, many of whom have been with the festival since day one. Keep a lookout for Poorgrrrl, who continues to have some of her most memorable live performances at the festival. We can only hope that her set before Pussy Riot will feature some of the new material form her 11-song release slated for sometime this year. Austin Paul, who has been with III Points since 2013, recently released a single with a music video for the song “I Hate Myself,” after last year’s album release of Skeleton Boy, an intoxicating mix of lo-fi bedroom pop meets tropical masochism.
Other locals and a couple festival alumni include Plastic Pinks, Bear, Nick Leon, Dracula, Ms. Mada, Danny Daze, Steven A Clark, Otto Von Schirach, Richie Hell and Pirate Stereo. Butterfly Snapple, a group of students from the Frost School of Music, also scored a spot in the lineup after playing in a III Points open house.
Artists’ showcasings this year include works by Max Cooper & Architecture Social Club, Judy Chicago,Nonotak Studio, Aja Monet, Jason Boogie and more. Personal favorites include the acid wave, larger than life neon installations of Haiiileen and Mokibaby’s television wall collages. With over 100,000 square foot to use as venue, many artists take up huge portions of the Mana warehouses to create a completely immersive and transformative experience.
In the heart of Wynwood, there will be plenty of places to eat, drink and play before and after a day at the festival. If one of the many food or drink vendors will not suffice, just stumble onto the Miami streets and find your next meal, drink or party, right around the corner. You can ever take your sweetie on a Valentine’s Day weekend dinner date and reserve a stage side table during Tyler, the Creator, SZA, Beach House, James Blake, Erykah Badu and a handful more. At $50 per ticket, you and your smoochie king or queen can have a 3-course meal with a bottle of wine included while listening to the lovely sounds of one of your favorite artist.
Lastly, this year’s festival will most certainly be dedicated to Lauren Perlstein, former Public Relations Director, who sadly passed away last year. Lauren was an integral part and core team member of the III Points family since the beginning and she will be forever missed.
Although the year has just begun, III Points 2019 is set to be one of if not Florida’s best music festivals. Tickets can be purchased at www.iiipoints.com with single day passes starting at $75 and 3-day weekend passes going for $208 and up. This festival will not want to be missed, so grab your friends are take a road trip to south Florida.
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