MCP Presents is the event management company responsible for some of the most exciting festivals in the United States: Camp Bisco, Lights All Night, Buku, Tomorrowworld and CounterPoint. If you’ve been to any of these events you know the high quality productions they’re putting on all over the country. I wasn’t surprised one bit when CounterPoint was one of the best festival experiences I have ever had.
One of the most important things to me in this world is sound and sound system quality. CounterPoint absolutely nailed this aspect of the festival. Every stage had an amazing sound system that projected your favorite beats crisp and clear well over 100 yards away without ever being excruciatingly loud. I never needed my high-fidelity earplugs and my ears never rang. I could hear the music well from every beer line so I never felt like I was leaving the show to get refreshments. I could also hear the show from almost every port-o-pottie line which kept me feeling connected to the good times and friends that weren’t far. They used natural barriers (hills) to divide stages, making listening easy as your ears weren’t competing to hone in on one stage’s sound. So much thought was put into this aspect of the festival and I am so very grateful for that.
Every line inside the show was very manageable. Bar lines were always reasonable, bathroom lines were short or nonexistent, food lines were a breeze. They had 6-8 workers manning the water filling station allowing those lines to move at a very reasonable pace. Their sobriety coupled with the forceful stream of cool water from the hoses made lines very efficient and also made it very easy to stay hydrated for free. We’ve all been to festivals where lengthy lines absolutely ruin your experience–and that did not happen at CounterPoint.
One of the most amazing things about this festival was the workshops they offered free of charge to campers. Every morning you could wake up and catch the 9am morning meditation or the 10am yoga workshop lead by a yogi of over 10 years of experience. Creative Hoop dance classes, DJ scratch classes and group stretching sessions were available should you want to help your body detox from a night of partying and a day spent on your feet. Promoting smart partying and healthy living is an excellent facet of a festival I wish every single one would adopt.
A common rest area was chock-full of hammocks and tables which allowed festival goers to get off their feet and take a rest without having to leave the music and exciting environment.
The VIPs definitely got to feel the extra treatment as it looks like they could sign themselves up for an on-sight massage
This years line-up boasted the return of OutKast to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first album Southerplayalisticadillacmuzik and a slew of many other talented artists. Schoolboy Q started Friday night off right, Mat Zo put on a surprisingly kick ass set and Boys Noize, haha, that’s all you need to say anymore–just “Boys Noize”–and people everywhere are understanding its synonymous with a great time. Saturday was home to a lot of good music, but that Griz set? The bomb. And OMFG HUCCI. What Hucci did that day was magical. Such a dynamic set–both in BPM and emotion. I felt his happy’s, I felt his sad’s, his highs, his lows–I can’t wait to see him again. After that live performance he solidified himself as one of the hottest trapstars in the game right now. He’s doing something different with his interludes of slow swag that lay the groundwork for excitement to be built upon and he’s doing it very well. By far my favorite set of the entire weekend. On Sunday Cashmere Cat’s set was the perfect slow-down you needed to recoup your energy for the insanity that was OutKast’s homecoming. They shook all the dust off at Coachella and took the stage in their hometown like the seasoned veterans they are. They played every song you would have ever wanted to hear–showing off their amazing discography of hits everyone knew all of the words to. I’ve said it before and this certainly won’t be the last time I say this: you have never really been to a rap/trap show until you’ve been to one in Atlanta. When OutKast dropped Big Boi’s “Kryptonite” the entire place erupted, jumping to scream the familiar “if you want me you can find me in the A!” Words and music like that are the lifeblood of this city and they permeate through an entire crowd to electrify the air in the dirrty south. Relive that moment below:
Pictured above you see the street signs of Headland and Delowe on display inside the cube used on stage throughout the performance. Headland and Delowe is sacred ground in ATL; the location where OutKast met Organized Noize Productions in a strip mall parking lot. An impromptu freestyle was impressive enough to earn the young artists an invite to their headquarters a.k.a The Dungeon a.k.a Rico Wade’s mother’s basement. No doubt paying homage to the city and the fans that gave rise to hip hop’s most popular duo to date.
One for the money, yes uh, two for the show
a couple of years ago on Headland and Delowe
was the start of something good
when me and my nigga rode the MARTA through the hood
just tryna find that hook up
– “Elevators (Me & You)”, ATLiens (1996)
Check out more pictures from their performance and the rest of the weekend below:
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