Mala Luna Festival
Saturday, October 29th-30th, San Antonio, Texas
Two days. Two days of pure energy, chill vibes, and great music. This was the scene that played on the outskirts of downtown San Antonio, Texas Halloween weekend. The inaugural debut of Mala Luna, as curated per southern media moguls Giant Noise and Scoremore, was the first time the two have teamed up on a project of this caliber. Taking place in the heart of the Alamo City, the Mala Luna Music Festival was held at the historic Lone Star Brewery in the burgeoning Southtown District near downtown San Antonio.With a whopping total of 30,000 attendees on their first run, one would have expected there to be a least a few hiccups here and there, but there weren’t. On the contrary – both days went seamlessly, despite the major artist change-out to he line up just days before the show took place (Jeezy replaced Kevin Gates due to legal matters, yet no one seemed to mind). Utilizing a mashsup of EDM and hip-hop big names, the festival was all but capable of keeping its vast array of fans satiated throughout the entire weekend, and managed to execute this in a promising manner.
Day One of Mala Luna catered to the younger generation of hip hop and EDM fans. With performances from the likes of Phillip Wolf, Sango, Lil Yachty, Rae Sreummurd, and Tory Lanez, the crowd was beyond with content, with each performer being given close to an hour if not more to perform. Steve Aoki’s set was all but monumental in and of itself, and the crowd was delighted that he brought out several of his infamous cakes to plaster on the eager, grinning faces. Travis $cott closed out the night, performing cuts from Rodeo and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight. The energy for his appearance was on another level, unsurpassable in fact. Thus, the second leg of the weekend didn’t quite maintain the hype, but definitely offered a more chill mark to the weekend.
Sunday was oddly more mellow for the most part, however, this didn’t bode as detrimental to the show’s progress whatsoever. G Herbo and Lunice put on excellent performances, followed by Lil Uzi Vert (not pictures due to camera issues during the performance) who’s set was arguably the most vivacious of the entire day. The lovely, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Kehlani graced the stage to slow the tempo back down, giving the female fans a chance to swoon over the R&B songstress’s catalog. Following was Kevin Gate’s replacement, Jeezy, “The Snowman” himself. Unfortunately, the rap heavyweight threw his catalog back a bit too far for the young crowdgoers (the majority of which ranged anywhere from 15-20 years old), who seemed rather perplexed when he played classics such as “Go Crazy” and “Who Dat”. However, when he played newer cuts, “R.I.P” and “Lose My Mind,” the youngsters seemed to regain their footing, and finished out strong, bobbing their heads and singing along in unison and fond recognition. Lastly, G-Eazy and Kaskade finished out the night, outing an iconic stamp on the weekend’s affairs.
In further support of San Antonio’s local community, Mala Luna Music Festival donated a portion of the proceeds from each ticket sold to Network for Young Artists (NYA), a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides affordable classes in voice, guitar, percussion, keyboard, and dance to San Antonio-area youth ages 4-20. Additionally, in a continued effort to support San Antonio’s up-and-coming music scene, two NYA students, Chloe Delgado and Chase Sauer, were selected to perform in front of their hometown crowd at Mala Luna Music Festival, marking their biggest performances to date. This partnership with NYA has helped to further ScoreMore Shows’ ongoing commitment to supporting underserved students by providing incentives and culturally relevant opportunities at its various shows and festivals.
For more information on the festival, go to www.MalaLunaMusicFestival.com. Follow Mala Luna Music Festival at www.facebook.com/malalunafest, as well as on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat at @malalunafest for updates and special promotions.
Photos and Story By: Meme Urbane
