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Friday, March 29, 2024

Okeechobee Music Festival Recap: Destination Okeechobee winners impress

<p>Destination Okeechobee</p>

Destination Okeechobee

Gainesville’s Destination Okeechobee victors kicked Spring Break off right with performances at the Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival.

Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival is an annual gathering of artists and music lovers from across the country. Over the course of four days, nearly 300 artists performed for the throngs of eccentrically dressed festival-goers.

These performances, taking place across 12 stages around the festival grounds, included performances from major names like Travis Scott, Halsey, Bassnectar and many others.

Among the many talented artists performing at Okeechobee were Gainesville locals flipturn, The Savants of Soul, and Pearl & the Oysters. Flipturn and The Savants of Soul were the first and second round winners of Gainesville’s Destination Okeechobee competition, respectively.

Flipturn’s set was Friday, March 2, the second day of the festival. Flipturn seemed to have big shoes to fill as they stepped onto the “Be” Stage, one of the festival’s main stages which would also see performances from Slightly Stoopid, Khalid, Snoop Dogg, Arcade Fire and more throughout the weekend.

The response of the ever-growing crowd showed that flipturn’s performance was a major success. Each member of the five-piece band was on for the afternoon show, executing their seven studio songs with high energy and the type of on-stage confidence that one would expect from a much more seasoned band.

“The bigger the stage, the more confident we actually get and the better we play, I think,” lead singer Dillon Basse said.

“It’s just that energy that’s there, we can kind of foster it, I think,” synth player Taylor Allen said.

That confidence showed through to more than the crowd, as drummer Adrian Walker recalled a staff member’s shock at the realization that such a talented band was performing as a contest winner. Adrian also hoped that this performance allowed flipturn to expand its fan base, especially as the group revealed it is preparing for the release of their second EP.

The Savants of Soul performed later that Friday afternoon at the “Pyramid Palace” stage. The breezy, open-air stage allowed audiences to view the performance from all sides and get up close and personal with the band.

In the South Florida mid-afternoon heat, The Savants of Soul performed in their traditional style: suits and shades. The large-scale soul band had its audience in a constant state of motion, with an always lively 90-minute set led by The Savants of Soul frontman, Justin McKenzie.

During the red-hot set, The Savants of Soul unveiled their newest unreleased track, “Dead Man Running.” McKenzie revealed that the Puerto Rico-recorded single would be set for release in April, and would include the release of an accompanying music video.

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From flipturn to Arcade Fire and the smallest, most intimate stage to the largest and loudest, Okeechobee’s 2018 run was a success on all accounts. Keep an eye out for Avenue’s first ever video recap of the event this week.  

 

Destination Okeechobee

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