You'd think Floridians traveling to Texas for Float Fest would be prepared to deal with a little summer heat.
But this weekend — as the unique river-centric music festival celebrated its fifth anniversary — you found out pretty quick that like everything else, Texas does its heat much, much bigger.
Float Fest 2018 marked a milestone for the burgeoning and unique festival and found it featuring its biggest lineup to date with Tame Impala and Bassnectar at the helm of a diverse mix of alternative, hip-hop and electronic music.
A bill of this magnitude was enough to not only lure people in from around the country, but apparently blind many from seeing the fact that it was taking place in Texas during the summer.
Temperatures soared well past the 90s early and often over the weekend, hovering above 100 degrees from the moment the sun cleared the treeline until well after dusk. These temperatures made many of the midday sets almost unbearable to attend, sending droves of people to seek refuge in the river, Float Fest’s other main attraction.
Float Fest organizers addressed these weather concerns as best they could, offering a simple, if not minimalist approach with the festival’s layout. The festival grounds, which resembled a small fairgrounds with its mini-ferris wheel and several carnival rides, could be crossed in a matter of minutes. With the heat being as insufferable as it was, it was nice not having to wander for miles to get from one place to the other. Water stations were properly abundant throughout the grounds and large tents were set up to bring shade to Float Fest's freshly sunburned attendees.
As previously mentioned, Float Fest drew attendees thanks to the festival's offering of river floating, and the activity was one of the reasons the party was such a huge success this year. Those looking to escape the heat could board a bus that shuttled you to an off-site river launch point. There you could grab a tube, cool off in the San Marcos River for a few hours, and enjoy the more lush, scenic aspects of the Texas landscape.
For the most part, the refreshing float was enough to hold you over throughout the day, at least until things picked up in the evening with some of the more high-profile acts.
One of the first such acts was Lil Wayne on Saturday, who embodied what was a pleasantly strong weekend from the lineup's hip-hop performers. The 35-year-old rap vet dished out a fun and energetic set — perhaps due to his label lawsuit now being in the rearview. The rapper sported a gracious smirk for most of his performance, with the sun often gleaming off his diamond-encrusted grill. He performed a slew of his greatest hits like "Mr. Carter" and "A Milli." Perhaps even more enjoyable was the fact the rapper used a live drummer on stage and had no backing vocals, relying solely on his voice on the mic. Sadly he didn't leave us with any hints as to when the Carter V, Wayne’s long-awaited follow up LP, would be released.
Performing with an equal amount of potency were both Run the Jewels and Snoop Dogg. While Run the Jewels showed up with its typical high-energy stage show, Snoop Dogg leaned on his suaveness and OG status to make for one of the more memorable shows of the weekend. Sifting through hits like “Gin and Juice” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” he created a nostalgic and groovy atmosphere for the sweaty Texas crowd. He even hung around for a few minutes post-set, dancing around to the music on the speakers.
But it wasn’t just a strong outing for the hip-hop acts — nearly every set at Float Fest was worth enduring the heat.
Cashmere Cat, Modest Mouse and the Cold War Kids, who subbed in for Glass Animals as a late replacement, all provided amazing sets over the weekend.
While Saturday’s headlining act Bassnectar curated a patented mind-melting and bass-heavy set for his lone Texas appearance of 2018, it was Sunday’s headliner Tame Impala that easily stole the show.
The stage production throughout the weekend, especially for Nectar’s set, seemed a bit underwhelming, but things were quickly amped up the following night with Tame Impala, which brought its own production setup.
The Kevin Parker-led Aussie outfit opened with “Nangs” and “Let It Happen,” both tracks off the band’s 2015 LP, Currents.
“Fuck it’s hot,” said the groovy frontman, looking out at the sea of neon glowsticks, which he later invited the crowd to chuck on stage. “I keep seeing fistfuls of glow sticks thrown into the air. Having some FOMO right now.”
While the temperatures even then were enough to leave you drenched in sweat, Tame’s captivating psychedelic display and sound were enough to let you transcend the blazing heat and dive into what made for a magical experience.
On a smaller scale than what Tame Impala was able to create, Float Fest itself provided an ample amount of unforgettable moments, providing a brief escape from the oven that is Texas in the summer.
Sure, little inconveniences can get amplified in such weather, but in general Float Fest did its best with what it had to offer and nailed the most important thing: the music.
While it would be nice to see this fest capped in size and possibly moved to a cooler weekend on the calendar, this is a festival that crowds will be floating back to each year with its exceptional ability to bring together such musical grandeur.
This article appears in Jul 19-26, 2018.