Vallejo R&B singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gabrielle Wilson, more commonly known by her stage name H.E.R, headlined the inaugural Lights On Festival on September 14th, and let me tell you all...it was lit (no pun intended)
Lights On Festival is yet another festival curated by an artist in this modern day festival frenzy. The festival announcement came this past June after the high rising success of H.E.R’s self titled debut album. Minutes after the event went on sale tickets were sold out and it’s no wonder as to why. The festival was stacked with amazing R&B artistry. The lineup was personally curated by H.E.R and included artists like Jhené Aiko, Daniel Caesar, Summer Walker, Ari Lennox, Kiana Lede, Marc E. Bassy and a ton more. For me, this festival was the highlight festival of the year, as someone who enjoys the rhythm, soul, and vocal foreground that R&B as a genre provides, Lights On sure had me all up in my feels.
The festival had two stages, for the early part of the day a number of artists performed at the Illumination Stage, and later in the day the handful of headliners performed in the main Fluorescent Stage. Food trucks were set in the back side of the Illumination Stage, and the isle way between that stage stage and the main pavilion stage was set with drink vendors and sponsor company set ups.
Quite frankly the only problems I had with the set up were:
1. There was not much space provided for shade, and let me tell you all... it was hella hot.
2. Having two stages and no overlapping artists meant that you had 2 choices, either miss the artists in the Illumination Stage in order to reserve some space in the lawn area (for those of us who had GA lawn tickets) or watch the artists in the Illumination Stage and risk the space for later in the night.
Although heat was blazing and the set up seemed a little awkward, none the less people made it work.
I mean come on... what else do I have to say about this line up besides that it was pure greatness...
We were able to catch the last few minutes of Tone Stith and ended our time at the Illumination Stage with the amazing Kiana Lede. Technical difficulties here and there gave out to some botchy performances and due to some timing issues some artists were only on stage for 20 minutes (this one goes out to you Marc E. Bassy... come on man, didn’t even perform “Plot Twist”) But even for such short performance times at the Illumination Stage, it was still great to grasp a glimpse of some the talent that I can guarantee will be making moves in the years to come.
The night proceeded with Ari Lennox kicking off the performances at the main Fluorescent Stage, and let me tell you all... the vibe was loud and clear. Sitting by the lawn with close friends and listening to the amazing vocals of Daniel Caesar, the dope stage presence of the one and only Jhene Aiko, and simping out mad hard to H.E.R at the end, left me all kinds of fucked up (in a good way) There is something so moving about how well R&B is able to blend the magic of vocal performance and live instrumentals, and in reality there genre as effective and capable of evoking emotional responses out of it’s listeners as R&B is.
Lights On Festival was notably the first female owned and curated festival in decades and I have no doubt that it will become a staple in the years to come. With the theme “R&B Is Not Dead” the festival sure did provide a platform for the artistry of modern day rhythm and blues to come alive and showcase to thousands of spectators an amazing group of R&B’s current and emerging talents. So definitely count me in for Lights On Fest 2020!
Missed the festival or just have complete fomo? Peep my Lights On Fest playlist.
