This weekend’s music festival in the Motor City’s West Riverfront Park boasts acts ranging from Seattle’s The Head and Heart to Michigan’s Tunde Olaniran. See — and save — the full schedule.
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A strong gust of wind cut across the Detroit River last Sunday, brewing up muscular waves in the deep, blue waters alongside West Riverfront Park, which was relatively serene.
This weekend, thousands of music lovers will take over the grassy, 20-acre waterfront park where M83, G-Eazy, The Head and The Heart, Shakey Graves, Father John Misty and West Michigan’s own, Borns, will all perform as part of the Mo Pop Festival.
The two-day festival begins on Saturday with Tunde Olaniran – a Flint-based R&B artist who gave a wildly entertaining performance at The Jammies in February – and ends on Saturday night with pop-rock superstars, M83.
“The line-up for Mo Pop this year is incredible, with some of the top performers in the world – two being Michigan natives Borns and Tunde Olaniran – and I’m trying to let go from all the craziness happening around us,” said Drew Drialo, of Detroit’s Assemble Sound, a musical residency program, collective and studio housed in an old church.
“I think it’s important to support events like Mo Pop because we are not a go-to market for many of these acts they’re booking, so it’s cool to show these artists the level of love and support Detroit has and hopefully encourage them to come back more often. Plus, it’s major actually having a festival like this within city limits.”
It also happens to be the only Michigan tour date posted for Borns, aka Garrett Borns, a Grand Haven native now based in Los Angeles who has soared in popularity over the past year with his psychedelic pop music, the single “Electric Love,” and his debut album, “Dopamine,” released last fall on Interscope Records.
(Read more about Borns in this Local Spins exclusive that appeared the weekend the album was released.)
Get more information about Mo Pop online here. Weekend tickets are priced at $125, with single day passes available for $89.50. Tickets can be purchased at mopopfestival.com, as well as in-person at a number of Michigan businesses, including Vertigo Music in Grand Rapids. Check here for a full list of locations.
Over its short life span, Mo Pop has seemed to always boast a plethora of revered artists, ranging from international pop-stars to hometown heroes. An impressive list of previous acts include Modest Mouse, City and Colour, Passion Pit, Iron & Wine, Young the Giant, Brand Flowers, James Bay, Walk off the Earth The Front Bottoms, Flint Eastwood, Andrew Bird, Manchester Orchestra and The Soil and the Sun.
A joint effort by AEG Live and Crofoot Presents, Mo Pop started in 2013 as a one-day event, located at Sterling Heights’ Freedom Hill Amphitheater. Due to an extremely successful first two years, festival organizers soon sought alternative locations to further grow the music gathering.
Last year, Mo Pop found a new home at the newly developed West Riverfront Park, and despite an opening day hindered by rain and thunderstorms, saw around 10,000 attendees each day.
In addition to live music, the festival facilitates what they have dubbed “Villages,” which are nearby areas hosting unique vendors and activities. Villages include Food Truck Rally Alley, Craft Bazaar, Riverside Biergarten, Cnet Mo Tech and Credit Karma Arcade.
With its extensive list of performers, a devoted following and unmatched views of Motor City’s rigid skyline and the towering Ambassador Bridge, Mo Pop 2016 is poised to be an epic musical party.
“I’m most looking forward to drinking a lot of beer,” Drialo said, “and soaking in summer vibes on the Detroit riverfront.”
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