First off, before I jump into this review, let me just give a warm FUCK YOU to lovers and friends fest xD. Of course they had the cancel their one and only fest day at 10pm the night before because of ~wind~ which did not rly start blowing until like 11pm on the day of the fest. USHER PLAYED US. I feel like some of these festivals will hype themselves up, sell out every ticket and have all the attendees fly into the dumb ass town just to cancel last minute so all the attendees are basically stranded with nothing to do besides spend their extra cash on whatever local bs is available in town. I guess there are worse places to be stranded than Vegas, but the whole thing just felt overall scammy. Check out the comments on their instagram if you wanna read more about ppls anger regarding that fest xD
we on a boat bish
I mention lovers and friends because, after the event was cancelled, we pivoted and decided to attend Wonderfront in san diego the following weekend. When I saw t-pain was on the lineup, along with jid, kaytranada and a few other interesting acts, I knew I had to go cause I needed some redemption (and t-pain was the act I was most excited to see at l&f).
t-pain killed it as expected
Wonderfront is a 3-day music festival at san diego’s embarcadero park, which is this peninsula near the southern side of the city. We only attended the Friday show cause they had the best lineup. Lots of black artists and eclectic sounds offering all kinds of vibes. I ended up seeing the ones noted above as well as sudan archives and joey badass – more on the performances later.
no lines for us since we got there pretty early (around 1pm)
I loved that this fest took place in san diego – if they ended up cancelling I would much rather be stranded there than in vegas lol. Our hotel was super nice too – a very nice springhill suite on the bay front (shout-out Marriott) right on the water – our room was on the corner directly facing the bay on one side and the city on another, it was beautiful. I highly recommend this hotel if you’re staying in san diego. The breatfast was super bomb too with different, tasty options each day (including the bomb chorizo and chilaquilas we had on our last morning!).
a little peak into the VIP section
So anyway, we get to the hotel on Thursday night (we flew first class on american airlines, I told y’all I needed redemption after l&f lol! It was my first time flying first and im trying to travel like that on all flights from now on lol), get our mandatory water and blunt wraps and head to sleep quick so we can rest up for Friday.
kaytranada was lit - his visuals elevated the set so much
On Friday, we have a yummy breakfast, get dressed and head out (check the pics for our outfits. I ended up changing into the black sports bra because it was so humid out there, I sweated right through the original blue top I was gonna wear! I was also rolling so that prolly made me extra hot lol). Thankfully, our hotel was ~15 minute walk from the festival. We had to pick up our wristbands at the box office because we got our tickets so late, and it was then that we decided to upgrade to ~~VIPPPPPPPPPP~~. We figured since we’re only here one day and we were getting redemption, might as well go all-out and im SO GLAD WE DID because it made the whole day so much more enjoyable (more on this later).
the vibes were on point all day long lol
We got to the box office by like 1:30ish so there were no lines and it was real easy to get our bands and get into the fest. Apparently, by 2:30pm, the lines got super duper long at both the box office and the festival entrance (for GA, but for not VIP lol!). It was a bummer for a lot of ppl because t-pain went on at like 3:40 so a lot of ppl who wanted to see him unfortunately missed it. The fest ended up selling out the on Friday but not on sat or Sunday, which goes to shows how lit that Friday lineup was.
music festivals on the water >>>
So anyway, were inside the fest and it’s a cool vibe. The bay water to your right (if you’re walking towards the main stages), lots of booths providing food, merch, games, art installations and other goodies, as well as a separate area right outside the fest to jump on a boat and take a cruise around the bay.
i give the VIP boat an 8.5/10 - some drinks on there would've been nice lol!
First, we went to check out the VIP section by the main stages. There were 2 stages right next to each other so acts could play back-to-back. VIPs got to access to the front area of both stages (behind photographers/security) while GA was behind a barrier behind VIP – this was the main reason why I wanted VIP - I wanted a good view! This VIP section was so chill – not too many ppl in the area so it had more of a dance club vibe instead of a squished together sold-out concert vibe. Check the pics/vids to see what I mean! GA was PACKED AF. The VIP section by the main stage also had their own restrooms, food and bar, so you didn’t have to fight crowds to use these amenities. The bathrooms were pretty nice – they reminded me of the stalls you’d see on a cruise boat. But I was most thankful for the lack of lines – I heard the GA bathrooms were crowded, ran out of soap/water and got rowdy as the day went on.
this cool group of ppl took a whole bunch of nice pcis of us by the official sign :)
After we get VIP bar drinks, we head to the boats for a cruise before t-pain. The VIP boat was a smaller one and the dock was almost right outside the fest entrance to the right, while the GA boat was a good 10 walking minutes away from the fest entrance to the left, towards where out hotel was. You had to leave the fest and re-enter via the main entrance if you wanted to go on a boat, so if you were GA, you likely didn’t get on it cause them entrance lines were long af. Our boat was smaller since there were less VIP ppl, so while it was nice to not have to wait in lines, I do think it would've been cool if were more ppl on our ride so that it was more of a party boat vibe.
feeling bougie on the VIP boat
Anyway tho, our cruise was a nice opportunity to relax and enjoy the water/views before going back to dance. It was a short 30 minute ride from the dock to this large bridge and back. They played music and we snapped some photos/vids. I feel like they could’ve had more to offer like drinks/food or even just water, but of course I took what I could get and I cant complain overall.
san diego was too humid for this blue top lol
After the cruise, we head to the main stages for t-pain. That VIP pass came in CLUTCH because we were able to go right to the front and have space to move/dance/sing along with no issue. You could tell the ppl in VIP were so happy to have that experience. Nemo was even able to leave to get us more drinks and was able to come right back to me in the crowd lol. I’m not used to that in the GA sections. T-pain was lit, check out the vids because I can’t rly explain the vibe he brought. Everyone was stoked to see him and he played hella bangers. It was a good time and a great first act for me.
this park was right between the water and downtown which made for some cool views on either side
Next, we went and got food and just walked around, checking out the different booths and just enjoying the vibes. During this time, I saw a glimpse of sudan archives on the violin (check out the vid, she’s lit). I was disappointed at the lack of black female artists on this lineup so seeing her was refreshing. I think it was also during this time that we took pics at the big wonderfront sign banner thing. The event had several photo-ops which made the scene very visually appealing.
can you tell that we were turnt :D
The next act we saw was joey badass. He was super good! he played the few songs I know by him (devastated, temptation) and had the crowd going up. Check out the vids, the fest organizers caught me and nemo right near the front lol!
just cruising by the main stage no big deallll
The next set was JID who was second to last, before kaytranada. To go from jid playing STICK to kay playing his cool electronic beats, it was the perfect transition. They both absolutely killed their sets. Once again, VIP came in so clutch because we were able to watch jid on one stage and walk right over with ease to watch kay on the other with no crowds, no one pushing, no lines, nothing. I haven’t really experienced something like that at a festival – usually im squished up next to ppl fighting for my life so I was super thankful for this opportunity/experience. If the festival set-up warrants it, I might have to do VIP from now on!
definitely recommend getting a corner bay-front room if you stay at this hotel! such beautiful views and BIG windows
Unfortunately, many ppl (including nemo) reported that kaytranadas sound was not good – they said it was quiet and the bass was not hitting like it should. I didn’t rly notice cause I had ear plus in and was turnt up, just happy to be there lol, but it sucks if you weren’t near the front cause you prolly didn’t hear much. Hopefully they’ll get the sound issues figured out for next year."
he had em going up fr
In addition to the VIP section at the main stage and the boat, there was also a VIP “hideaway lounge” where you could sit and relax within the festival but away from a lot of the noise and energy. It was nice to have a cleaner, more private area to chill out and rest our feet. However, I didn’t feel all that tired because I didn’t have to fight against so many crowds of ppl. I think this was my favorite part about getting VIP for this fest – less drama with crowds/lines meant more energy to actually enjoy the fest. I also felt like I was actually part of the festival instead of just some fly on the wall way in the back where you could barely feel the energy of the music. It made such a big difference to my experience.">
loved the beachy/ocean vibe that this festival gave
So, in sum, the festival was so much fun and im almost glad that lovers and friends was cancelled because I got GA for that show and I know it would’ve been stressful dealing with the crowds at l&f, plus I got to see more modern acts, see the ocean and visit beautiful san diego again.
so glad i caught her cause omg that violin was fire
So, what do yall think? Did you attend wonderfront? Did you (attempt to) attend l&f? got any questions or comments about this review? Hit me up on the home page or on instagram @bunnygoestoshows.
keep scrolling to see the rest of the pics/vids from the weekend <3
