DAY 1

The first festival of 2013 for us this year was BUKU, a great new “Music + Art project” in its sophomore year that takes place over two days and nights in New Orleans, LA.  The venue is a large waterfront / warehouse / ballroom compound called Mardi Gras World right on the Mississippi River.

The first day started with some serious names who regularly headline their own shows but since the lineup was stacked this year with big names somebody had to start off day 1, and that was Brown & Gammon. Playing for the first guests to enter the gates at BUKU, he opened the Float Den with some serious bass and has a part in out BUKU video, coming soon.

Next up was Lazy Rich, another great DJ/Producer who I personally have always looked up to in terms of the music he produces and the tunes he plays in his monthly radio show since January 2010, The Lazy Rich Show. He only had 45 minutes as the second DJ in the Float Den, but made it count with a lot of early BUKU patrons there to enjoy it and dance.

Next up in the Float Den was Birdy Nam Nam, who are all talented individuals with the energy from their live set that included non stop bass heavy tunes and scratching. Their BUKU performance was the first on this US tour and will not want to be missed with such great turntable skill and overall presentation.

Flux Pavilion was next and was out on the main stage addressing the crowd when he was set to begin. He had brought the largest audience to the main stage thus far at BUKU, with a sea of hands and glow sticks in the air for every build up and drop in the set.  Flux always puts on a show and BUKU was no different with several new tunes to keep even the most avid Flux Pavilion fans entertained.

Primus was next on the main stage with their 3D visuals, they were jamming out and enjoying themselves at the beginning, some people seemed confused because they weren’t really playing a Primus song at first just kind of wailing away on their instruments. The bass player and drummer were playing some impressive solo performances, but another act was coming on in the Float Den that is not to be missed.

Flying Lotus was up next, and I couldn’t miss a minute of his set.  Never seeing him live before made it more dramatic while watching his screen being set up, which is what he would ultimately DJ behind. His set was as great as I thought it would be, with FlyLo DJing his unique sound mixed with other favorites like Dro Montana by RICHMAN.

Kid Cudi was the next big performance on the main stage, coming out to an enormous cheer from the audience who sang along with the majority of his tracks. He really had a lot of support from the crowd at BUKU, and if there wasn’t a bunch of photographers like myself and security guards in his way he would have come down from the main stage and into the crowd.

Back to the float den after Kid Cudi for one of the biggest names in electro right now, Zedd. He came out on stage with Flux Pavilion and R3hab to start his set because he was having trouble with his computer and S4 controller, so Flux and R3hab started his set and handed it back over to Zedd after a few songs.  Made for a great photo opportunity at the least, and once they left Zedd had an amazing set full of bangers like Brillz remix of “Clarity” and Electrixx “Cyclus”.

After Zedd it was back and forth from Datsik in the Ballroom and Sander Van Doorn in the Float Den. They both were going to have great performances so splitting my time between them was the best comprise I came up with. Here’s Datsik throwing down some serious filth in the ballroom.

And Sander Van Doorn in the Float Den

Both had plenty of BUKU patrons still in attendance to make dance.  Datsik had a particularly memorable moment when he ended a little earlier than his 2:45 am finish time and he announced to the crowd “I still have 5 more minutes, who wants to hear another song!” As the majority of people who were headed for the door returned to a place on the dance floor.

DAY 2

Public Enemy was a surprise on the main stage, playing the songs they are famous for. Then some words of wisdom in between songs by Chuck D and Flavor Flav were a nice touch as well.

The end of the Public Enemy set overlapped with Flosstradamus in the Float Den and it was obvious a large part of the crowd was making their way to the warehouse for the beginning of it. Floss’s set was absolute fire and had the Float Den from front to back the craziest it would ever get. One of the biggest responses would have to be from the Baauer VIP remix of Harlem Shake, which had Floss and everyone else in the warehouse at BUKU in the losing it, also featured in theMUES BUKU video coming soon.

Flosstradamus went for a full hour and then it was back to the main stage for Kendrick Lamar.  He seemed to have a huge following at BUKU, especially with a few of the artists. A few BUKU friends said they saw Flosstradamus in the crowd at the main stage for his set.

Before the end of Kendrick Lamars set it was back to the Float Den for the start of Big Gigantics’ set.  They tour like crazy and I went to at least 5 of their performances in 2012 it was time to see them for the first time in 2013, and it was as good as it gets. The energy in a Big G show is different than DJ performances because when the duo isn’t getting down with their respective instruments, they are hyping up the crowd for the next track. Their song with Savoy, “Aftershock” has to be one of their biggest crowd pleasers because it seems to bring out the best energy in the crowd.

Trinidad James had a 45 minute set in the ballroom, but it wasnt really a good live show so it was back to the float den for the beginning of the STS9 live set. A full hour and 15 minutes of the soundtribe that people follow them around the country for. Pictures dont do their live show justice, but if you have been to a show before you are a fan for life.

After their full live set it was back to the main stage for Calvin Harris who was closing the main stage on the last day. Needless to say his set was full of the electro bangers he is loved for and BUKU gave him the full light show along with huge smoke blasts whenever a long build up finally hit. He was thankful to BUKU for their energy until the end and had some patrons taking a seat after his performance to give their legs a break while BUKU service employees starting cleaning the sea of water bottles left from the huge crowd.

Now the mainstage was closed and the crowds moved into the ballroom and the float den. The ballroom was starting up with Major Lazer and was packed out of the door. Literally so hot and packed I couldnt take any photos or videos until my lens wouldnt fog up anymore and adjusted the extreme heat and humidity inside. The float den was just starting with STS9 second set which was a DJ set. Both equally entertaining, but a decision had to be made and I stayed with Major Lazer in the ballroom. Diplo was leading the show DJing from atop their massive stage made up of large speakers and the large yellow M and L on either side they were touring with last year, occasionally coming down to waive the Major Lazer flag or pick girls to come onstage and express themselves

One great part of Major Lazers set was when Diplo asked everyone to get low and wait until the drop and go crazy. The track was Showtek and Justin Primes’ Cannonball, and the entire crowd really does jump up (and throw a raft) when the song drops. I had began to make my way out of the crowd and to the back of the ballroom when this started, really showing the crowd from back to front. Look for it in theMUES BUKU video, it is possibly the most epic thing ever recorded.

BUKU patrons had to make another tough decision on who to see for the last late night show at BUKU, Nero in the float Den or Dillon Francis in the Ballroom. For me it really came down to who I had seen less, I had recently seen Dillon Francis at a moombahton massive in DC where he was an unannounced guest, so I chose Nero in the Float Den.  Nero really played a killer set, coming in and out of some of their biggest tunes of the last few years. There was only one present out of the Nero trio, but it was an unbelievable end to BUKU.

BUKU had a contagious good feeling for the almost 24 hours this festival goes for in 2 days. The artists, the vendors, the BUKU staff, everyone was doing their part to make this a great music festival while enjoying it.  Multiple New Orleans natives said BUKU was a great addition to the city’s already existing annual festivals, the Voodoo festival and the New Orleans Jazz Festival and BUKU in particular was special and had the potential to be one of the top music festivals.