If you’re between the ages of 16-22, live in the Philadelphia area, and own a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses (or the knockoff equivalent), then there’s a high likelihood that you spent Saturday afternoon at the 618 Festival.
Located next to the Seaport Museum, the Great Plaza on Penn’s Landing was the setting for this all day hip-hop and electronic music festival presented by Pixie and Buck.
The festivities kicked off as the gates opened at noon, followed by several hours of hip-hop music. Aside from the music on the waterfront stage, the Great Plaza held booths by vendors selling various wares from t-shirts to funnel cakes.
For those 21+ there were two beer/alcohol tents selling overpriced drinks and a poor selection of beer (ranging from Pabst, to Pabst light). In an elevated area to the right of the stage there was a VIP hooka lounge for those with a taste for flavored tobacco.
(click for moving effect)
At the top of the Great Plaza, kids sat by the fountains, hula-hooped on the stairs, and watched artists spray painting on the graffiti wall.
The venue is so expansive (for a single stage) that it was hard to tell exactly how many people turned out for the 618 Fest. While the area in the bowl (closest to the stage) was fairly packed during artist performances, other areas remained widely unused and empty.
One thing that we can say with certainty is that the fans that did come out to spend the day on the river were enjoying themselves. There was dancing, and prancing, moving, and grooving. There was eating, drinking, smoking, and laughter.
The hip-hop portion of the day wrapped up around 5pm with hip-hop headliners “Shwayze” and gave way to the electronic music evening segment of the festival that kicked off with “Jokers of the Scene”. Next up was “AutoErotique” and “T3RROR” who really got the crowd bumping.
As the late afternoon began to give way to dusk, and the sky changed to a deep shade of pink, the party people broke out their glow-sticks, glow hula-hoops, and glow whatever-else-you-can-think-of, and the event took on a rave on the river feel.
“Porter Robinson”, “Switch” (of Major Lazer), and headliners “The Cataracs” (you can check out our recent interview with them here) closed out the evening at the Great Plaza, but as we all know, after the party… is the after-party. As fans left the 618 Fest it was off to various venues (including Roxxy nightclub) to keep the party going for several more hours.
Although the 618 Fest wasn’t billed specifically for a younger audience, it was certainly a younger crowd that turned out for the event. Although we might have been a little older than the average person in attendance, we are young enough at heart to kick back on a sunny day and take in some tasty tunes.
To view an additional slideshow of Jim Soloman’s photos from 618 Fest…
The Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing will play host to the 618 Fest (presented by Pixie and Buck) this Saturday. The event, which kicks off at noon and goes until well after sundown, is being billed as”Philly’s Electronically Flavored Music & Arts Festival”. The event will feature hip-hop during the day and electronic artists at night. With acts like Shwayze, Switch of Major Lazer, Porter Robinson, Jokers of the Scene, T3RROR, Autoerotique, and more, it is sure to be a great event. 618 Fest will be headlined by Universal Recording artists “The Cataracs” and before they roll into the City of Brotherly Love to rock the river this weekend, Niles Hollowell-Dhar (one half of the group along with David Benjamin Singer-Vine) took some time to chat with Independent Philly about life, music, and spandex.
Independent Philly: How did you guys come up with the name “The Cataracs”?
Niles Hollowell-Dhar: It was hard after we found out Ramstein was taken. But eventually we settled on the Cataracs because it had the word cat in it, which apparently is great for stacking YouTube views
IP: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it?
NHD: Most people have heard our music and just don’t know it bc we do so much work behind the scenes. But, in a word, I would say eargasm. High in protein and somewhat salty.
IP: What makes The Cataracs stand out from other up and coming artists?
NHD: It can be tough to stand out. Our decision to dress solely in orange spandex helped a lot.
IP: What’s it like to be on tour with Usher?
NHD: It was a great learning experience. Usher is the most relentless and impressive performer I have ever met. He also takes a tremendous amount of interest in the music coming out of our generation, which I think is why he has had such a sustained and successful career.
The Cataracs "Club Love"
IP: You guys work with “Dev” a lot. How did you meet her and how do you impact each other’s music?
NHD: We do. Dev had a few songs up on MySpace under the name of a group called the “Blast Off Kids” which she was a part of at the time. The songs were very rough but I took notice of her voice and felt there was something special about it. I think the the success of G6, Bass Down Low, etc have confirmed that.
It’s hard to say exactly what impression we’ve had on Dev’s music. There were only a couple Dev songs in existence before I reached out to her. But I will say she has been essential to this “sound” that people say we’ve created. Her voice is just magical.
IP: What’s your favorite venue to perform in to date?
NHD: My favorite shows are the early ones back in Berkeley. Venues — community centers, really — like La Pena and Ashkenaz. By far the least choreographed and most technically dysfunctional shows of our career but they were fun as shit.
IP: Have sites like Facebook and Twitter allowed you to connect with fans? What’s the craziest FB message or Tweet you’ve ever received?
NHD: Yea, which is great. Occasionally a filter would be nice. I can’t really sign on to Facebook chat anymore. But it’s cool that fans who listen to our music can see we’re normal people. Sometimes my mom will chastise me publicly on FB if she sees a picture of me smoking cigs.
IP: Which one of you (You or David) wins the following battles…
Cook-off…
NHD: That’s tough. But if ever there were a cook-off, we would definitely have Lil B the master chef presiding.
Dance-off…
NHD: Dave has been shuffling a lot lately. Probably David.
Boxing match…
NHD: I might take that one. Don’t think David has ever been in a fight before.
IP: You’ve collaborated with a lot of groups, from “Far East Movement” to “New Boyz”. If you could work with any living artist, who would it be?
NHD: Either Brandon Flowers from “The Killers”, or Cam’ron from “Dipset”. They are both really evocative.
IP: What’s more fun, producing music or shooting a music video?
NHD: Producing music. Shooting music videos is a lllongggg process, usually filled with half naked girls… Ewww
IP: How has your music changed or evolved over the last few years? Is your recent music different from older songs like “Julia”?
NHD: I think we just have short attention spans. We listen to so much different music in our spare time, music that excites us and and inspires us to take new direction. There was a sort of sonically congruent handful of songs that we made over the last 12 months or so that really catapulted us and we recognize that. But where the future will take our music, I can’t say. I think it’s important to keep it interesting for our fans, who will be growing and outgrowing themselves.
IP: What can fans expect from the Cataracs in the future?
The Cataracs
NHD: Our debut album!! And a new signature line of scented orange spandex.
IP: What can Philly expect from your upcoming show on June 18th?
NHD: A real sexy, dancey mix of DJing and original tunes from yours truly.
IP: Tell us your most embarrassing moment on tour…
NHD: When we were on stage in Portland, OR I said something along the lines of… “So, do you guys fist pump in Canada?”
IP: Tell us something that would surprise or even shock our readers…
NHD: There is no scented orange spandex **runs away in tears**
Independent Philly will have staff at 618 Fest to bring you photos and a recap of the event and we hope to see you there Philadelphia (and you out-of-towners as well)!
Hip-Hop Afternoon
1:00-1:45 Gilbere Forte
2:00-2:45 Ground Up
3:00-3:45 Tayyib Ali
4:00-4:55 Shwayze
Electronic Night Show
5:00-5:40 Jokers of the Scene
5:45-6:25 AutoErotique
6:30-7:10 T3RROR
7:15-7:55 Porter Robinson
8:00-8:55 Switch of Major Lazer
9:00-10:00 The Cataracs
Independent Philly 
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