LOS ANGELES (AP) ― A new outdoor music festival in downtown Los Angeles reflected the city’s diversity with a lineup that included rap, rock, punk, blues and Latin music. Kanye West, Cypress Hill, Weezer, Rise Against, John Mayer and Juanes were among Sunday’s performers.
“This whole place is full of good, loving people,” Mayer told the crowd from the Budweiser Made in America festival’s main stage.
The two-day concert, held simultaneously with a sister show in Philadelphia, featured more than 30 acts. Iggy Azalea, Metric, Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons took the stage Saturday in LA. The Philadelphia festival included performers such as Kings of Leon, Tiesto and Pharrell Williams. West and DJ Steve Aoki performed in both cities.
More than 37,000 people attended the LA festival’s second day in downtown’s Grand Park ― the first time the 2-year-old park has been used for a large, ticketed event. Authorities made 59 arrests Sunday ― including four for narcotics-related felonies ― and cited 67 others for alcohol-related offenses, LA Police spokesman Lt. Andy Neiman said. Nearly 50 people were treated for alcohol-related problems and released, and three others were taken to a hospital for treatment, he added.
Kanye brought the house down with a dramatic hourlong set to close out the concert. He commanded the stage alone, donning two different spangled face masks and injecting a bit of his trademark ranting into his abbreviated performance. “I know there’s more people that love me than hate me,” he insisted. Mayer brought the day’s folksy blues, playing several of his hits, along with a cover of “All Along the Watchtower.” Juanes did almost his entire set in Spanish, inspiring Latin dance moves throughout the audience. Weezer delivered feel-good rock, along with news of a new album in October and a preview of its first single. Rise Against brought slam-dancing punk. Los Angeles natives Cypress Hill played 20-year-old tunes to an enthusiastically receptive crowd. Singer B-Real smoked an enormous joint onstage before urging California voters to “legalize it.”
Mayor Eric Garcetti, who championed the Made in America event and fast-tracked it through city approvals, appeared onstage during Aoki’s misplaced set Sunday night. The mayor said nothing, while Aoki repeatedly implored the crowd to “make some noise.”
In a statement Monday the mayor praised organizers and city departments for making sure the event “went off in an orderly and safe manner.”
“We showed LA can do big things for our economy and people’s enjoyment,” Garcetti said.
Saturday’s highlights included a sexy performance by Azalea that featured rump-shaking dancers and a surprise appearance by Rita Ora; a hit-packed set by Sublime with Rome, whose singer sounds eerily similar to Sublime’s late former frontman Bradley Nowell; and a rousing performance by LA’s own Lamar.
