Crowds grew during the day for Saturday sets by Haim, G-Eazy and West Michigan’s own Borns, who helped deliver ‘electric music solid walls of sound’ along the river. Browse the photo galleries from Day 1.
Heating Up Detroit: Haim on stage at Mo Pop Festival on Saturday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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Day 1 of Mo Pop was steaming hot and teeming with pop.
Happy Hot Fans: Crowds grew during the day at West
Riverfront Park in Detroit. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
The opening salvo in the two-day indie music festival at West Riverfront Park in Detroit attracted thousands amid sweltering temperatures in the ’90s for crowd-pleasing sets by Haim, G-Eazy, Glass Animals, Twin Peaks and more.
It was also “Michigan day,” with performances by Grand Haven native Borns and Flint’s Tunde Olaniran, whose dynamic R&B-meets-dance-meets-pop spectacle in late afternoon seemed to puzzle some concertgoers while energizing others.
Borns, meanwhile, earned a rousing reception for his psychedelic pop, especially from female fans who jammed the area in front of the stage. The audience had swelled considerably by this point, cheering the 24-year-old singer’s hits “10,000 Emerald Pools,” “Electric Love” and “American Money.”
Detroit Love: Borns got cheers for his choice of apparel. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
“Lots of people dancing, especially during the last song (“Electric Love”),” reported Local Spins photographer Anthony Norkus. “It was a diverse crowd and everyone went crazy when he took off his robe to show his ‘Detroit’ shirt.”
The Michigan-bred singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who’s now based in Los Angeles also paid tribute to the Motor City by delivering a spirited cover of Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets,” which has special significance in Detroit: The 1974 hit first gained heavy airplay in the Detroit market which propelled it to No. 1 nationally and into the Top 40 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.
Depending on the weather — which calls for rain and a thunderstorm in Detroit — Mo Pop continues Sunday with performances by M83, The Head and The Heart, Father John Misty, Matt and Kim, Mac DeMarco and more, starting in early afternoon. (Get more information and a full schedule online here.)
PHOTO GALLERY 1: Mo Pop 2016 Day 1
Photos by Anthony Norkus, Local Spins
Photos courtesy of Mo Pop Festival
