Wonderstruck wraps up with friendly skies, good music from Khalid, Nelly, Tai Verdes, The Vindys & more (phot – cleveland.com
KIRTLAND, Ohio – On day one of the 2023 Wonderstruck Music & Arts Festival on Saturday, Mother Nature teased festivalgoers with a few hours of persistent rain and ominous skies throughout the day and into the night. But on day two, she relented. The sky offered an interesting mix of clouds, perfectly obscuring the usually blazing July summer sun, and the low humidity, and a friendly, cooling breeze made the festival feel more like a fun and easy day outside and less like a challenge.
The pleasant dry weather meant the grounds at Lakeland Community College, which held up pretty well Saturday, were even more amenable to festival-goers who wanted to strategically plant themselves on their blankets — or those very popular portable, inflatable couch chairs that many folks could be seen holding open and running around in circles to inflate.
The weather also allowed the kids, of whom there appeared to be significantly more than on Saturday, to make great use of the giant inflatable bouncy castle and slide near the entrance.
Once again, the music began at 1:30 p.m. and the three stages stayed pretty consistently on time (though Nelly was a few minutes late to the stage) throughout the day. Early bands included Cleveland’s fun-loving pop trio .wavrunner, whose merch was quite popular among young festivalgoers and main stage openers the Kansas City indie-rock band Hembree, who got the early birds grooving with their mix of atmospheric guitar rock and danceable indie pop, including their best-known tune “Holy Water,” which has appeared in a few commercials.
Toronto’s The Beaches took the White Claw Stage and started their set with charismatic lead singer and bassist Jordan Miller asking the excited crowd of mostly young women, “What’s Up Summerfest?!” before quickly realizing her mistake and being playfully admonished by her bandmates for shouting out the folks at the band’s previous festival gig.
The quartet then charged through a taut 45-minute set. Their mix of modern and dance rock featured garage-rock grit and some cool dual melodic guitar interplay from guitarists Kylie Miller and Leandra Earl in tunes such as “Want What You Got” and “Late Show.”
On the big stage, Sasha Alex Sloan performing with her DJ and husband Henry, told the crowd she was going to sing a set of “sad songs for you. I hope that’s OK,” starting with the title track of her 2022 album “I Blame The World.”
Sloan’s simmering grooves, minimal movement and low-key vocals were quite a musical contrast to the sights and sounds on the small RADD stage where Youngstown favorites The Vindys were working their alt-rockin’ soul sound in their full horn augmented nonet form. Singer-songwriter Jackie Popovec’s mix of Amy Winehouse sass, attitude and jazz-informed phrasing with a young Ann Wilson’s power and clarity is also a pocket-sized dynamo on stage, jumping and whirling and inspiring a small dance party.
The sun began to peak through the clouds just in time for southern California native Tai Verdes. The singer-songwriter and occasional rapper writes amiable, breezy songs such as his first hit and a big sing-a-long “Stuck In The Middle,” which made him a star on TikTok back in 2020.
Verdes isn’t a vocal powerhouse, but his hooky melodies are good driving music and his stage presence is just as amiable and positive. “You’re Beautiful!” he repeatedly told the crowd, who dutifully and excitedly answered “I know!” as he instructed them. Nearly every song was a sing-along, including the disco-infused “Shut Up,” “Feeling Bad Never Felt So Good” and the set-ending uplifting earworm “A-O-K.”
Sunday’s veteran rap spot was filled by Nelly who like his Saturday counterpart Flo Rida, was a bit late to the stage.
Nelly brought along a four-piece band for a set that was front-loaded with truncated versions of many of his early hits. including “E.I.” and “Air Force Ones,” a fun live arrangement of “Country Grammar” and a shout-along “Ride Wit Me.” He thanked the crowd for “rolling with Nelly” for all of his 24-year career despite the fact that much of the audience wasn’t born when his debut album was released at the turn of the century.
The middle of the set sagged a bit as Nelly delved pretty deep into his 2021 country-rap album “Heartland.” But he ended triumphantly with a DJ-led medley of popular 2000s rap songs. He brought out his nephew Jkwon, for a high-energy take on his big hit “Tipsy” and gave the fans an extended “Hot In Herre” that turned the area in front of the stage into an outside club.
As expected closing night headliners go, singer-songwriter Khalid was an interesting but adroit choice. His music, singing style and stage presence are all relaxed and understated. As a singer Khalid does not bellow, beg or demand. Rather, he soothes and sways with a friendly, down-to-earth demeanor and languid melodies such as the hit “Can We Talk” that sound and feel as if he’s just on the couch next to you singing warm fuzzies softly into your ear.
Khalid’s set was only a little more than an hour long and fans, many who waited for him definitely wanted a little more. But he gave them a set mixing his popular tunes, including “Location” and the set-opening sing-along “Young Dumb and Broke.” He also performed many of the tunes on which he’s been featured, including the midtempo synth-funk of “Rollin” by Calvin Harris.
He was joined by a small cadre of energetic dancers whom he occasionally joined to the crowd’s delight on danceable tunes such as “Skyline.” Khalid, who survived a bad car crash a few weeks ago, smiled and charmed his way through the festival-ending set.
Honorable mention to Cleveland’s own M.C. Brains, the city’s first platinum rapper, who was the weekend’s hypeman. He was brought out before the major acts to help fuel the festival’s social media activity and coined the chant, “We outside!!” which, by Sunday night had become the de facto slogan for Wonderstruck 2023.
Source: News
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