Mamby On The Beach 2016 : A True Marriage Between Beats and Beaches

Mamby On The Beach made quite a splash in 2015 by bringing a brand new beach-side music festival to Chicago once again. Could the 2016 edition of the festival keep the Mamby magic alive -or would it drown in a sophomore slump?

Let me happily say – the magic of mamby is still very alive in the sands of Oakwood Beach. This fantastic 4th of July weekend at the beach made me realize that beaches + live music are a match made in heaven. I jotted down a few of my favorite ‘marriages’ from the weekend that absolutely made Mamby 2016 a weekend to never forget. Hope to see you all in 2017!

Lido + A Friend

Just upon seeing his live set up – you knew you were in for a treat. Keyboard, synthesizer, a stand up drum-kit and a few other instruments littered the stage. If you didn’t know who who Lido was you might expect a full band to be making an appearance. Nope. Lido will be using all of those instruments at one point or another during his set that combined gospel, hip-hop, future bass and even a little bit of house. The audience was immediately sucked in every time he sang along with one of his songs. But the hype wasn’t real until he invited one of his ‘friends’ to come on up stage with him.  Chance the Rapper surprised everyone and joined Lido for a couple of songs – you could see the smile on everyone’s’ faces as they sang along with Chance to ‘No Problem.’

This Chicago Sunset + Tycho

This is going to sound specific – but it was so magical on Saturday night that I can’t not mention it. If you ever have a chance to see Tycho during a sunset with the Chicago skyline behind you and Lake Michigan less than 100 feet away from you – don’t think twice about it and just DO IT. It was nothing short of magical. You would see people having trouble deciding whether to watch the stage or to watch the gorgeous sunset behind them – with a perfect soundtrack courtesy of Tycho.

Mamby Beach Volleyball + Chromeo

For some people the competitive bug is hard to get rid of – but seeing volleyball nets parked right at The Beach Stage helped alleviate this feeling. It was so great seeing groups of friends gather up to play 6 on 6 beach volleyball. Each game with a different set of tunes courtesy of whoever was playing the beach stage. I saw a group strangers come together under the help of one too many coronas and somehow snag a victory from an undefeated team during Chromeo’s funk-filled set  – only to celebrate with cigarettes and then losing the next game by about 18. I guess lightning doesn’t strike twice.

All photos courtesy of React Presents.

–Nick Isasi

Mamby On The Beach 2016 : A True Marriage Between Beats and Beaches