Made In America 2016 Ft. Coldplay, Rihanna, Collegrove & More

Budweiser Made in America
September 3 & 4, 2016
Philadelphia, PA

Mother nature was on Philadelphia’s side this past weekend. Hurricane Hermine’s path changed at the last minute so Budweiser Made In America 2016 can go on with perfect sunny, yet humid weather. Packed like sardines, over one-hundred thousand fans stuck it out in the sunny weather just to see their favorite artists perform.

Saturday’s show started out on the Liberty stage with an up and coming band out of Los Angeles named, Dorothy. They play mostly punk rock music, which was different from a majority of the other performing artists at the festival. Lead singer, Dorothy, had a Courtney Love-type of style about her. During her somewhat short set, she gave out an immense amount of energy, keeping the crowd on their toes. The front-woman had her guitarist, Gregg Cash, lift up his shirt to show off his new unicorn tattoo to the crowd that she was evidently incredibly proud of. Dorothy put on quite a show and didn’t stop moving throughout the entire duration of their performance. She killed it in those tall leather boots, while her feet were killing HER. What a champ!

The first rapper of the day on the Rocky stage was Lil Uzi Vert. Some fans loved him, some fans hated him, but MOST fans loved him. Stage security was definitely not his biggest fan… He spent just as much time dancing as he did rapping, which made for quite an energetic set. Uzi definitely kept the crowd hype. He was all over the place and definitely gave security a tough job, keeping up with him. He was on stage, he was off stage, he jumped into the crowd and even ran to the soundboard at some point. There were some technical difficulties with sound, but that didn’t stop Lil Uzi even if his fans were frustrated at the flawed technicalities and his late attendance. Uzi Carried out his set, wrapping up his set pretty abruptly, and walked off stage.

Justine Skye brought the Caribbean flavor to Philadelphia. She isn’t as well-known as some of the other performers but still brought in quite a crowd of people! Her sexy dance moves kept the fans drooling. Skye spent a lot of time talking to the crowd about who she is and the music she creates. She even came to the barricade for a more intimate interaction with her fans. Skye sang her new single, You Know It which was released Friday, September 9th.

The crowd went wild the second A$AP Ferg took the stage. He said that day was special to him as it was his first time at Made in America. Thrilled with being a part of the festival, Ferg asked Jay-Z to put him on the main stage next time around! He took time to have a conversation with the huge crowd he drew in. The artist said he drove down from New York City to be here and that Philly is like his cousin and that family will always be family.

Before Bryson Tiller came out, his DJ warmed the crowd up with 2-3 songs. His fans were anxiously waiting when Tiller finally came out and stole the stage! Everyone in the crowd knew every song he performed. He sang a few songs about all his ex-girlfriends who now regret cheating on him because of how successful he’s become. He also thanked the crowd several times for buying his music, supporting him, and bringing his dreams to life. Bryson’s dream was to send his daughter to private school to get the best education possible, which thankfully became a reality for him. His music was a great combination of rap and clean vocals, which undoubtedly had hand in getting his album a double platinum, and getting him a sold out tour!

The performance most fans were excited about was Collegrove; a rap duo consisting of artists, 2 Chainz and Lil’ Wayne. 2 Chainz came out first and did a couple songs by himself before he brought out Lil’ Wayne. The crowd went absolutely APE when Lil’ Wayne took the stage, especially after a few cryptic tweets he posted earlier that day that raised questions about his well-being and (rumored) possible retirement from the industry. They did a few solid numbers together that kept the crowd going nuts! Weezy then went on to do a couple songs by himself, including his big hit Lollipop, which sent everyone screaming in excitement. They came together once more to end the show on an incredibly high note. Before ending, they took time to thank everyone for watching them and to thank God—he who makes it all possible.

Rihanna closed out the first night of Budweiser Made in America with an amazing performance. She surprised everyone by starting the show on a stage overtop of the soundboard. Rihanna opened with her hit, Stay; one of her popular and slower jams and then gradually transitioned into her more upbeat numbers. To get to the main stage, she had a floating catwalk that she danced on while being mid-air over top of the crowd as it slowly made its way over to the stage. When she got there, her all white stage was waiting. There, she began to sing of medley of her old hits and worked in her newer music. The recent female artist recipient of the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award surely proved herself yet again, with a performance that left the crowd star struck! The passion in Rihanna’s performance could be felt throughout the entire festival. It was unreal!

When the festival doors opened up one more time for the second day of Budweiser Made in America on Sunday, upon entering festival grounds, fans received a plain white bracelet which nobody understood. (Until Coldplay’s performance, anyway) The day started out on a high, quite literally. Rap artist, Playboii Carti opened up the Liberty stage performing with his cousin Cash Carti. They came out smoking huge blunts and continued throughout their entire set. To keep the crowd hype, Playboii kept jumped into the crowd multiple times and even crowd surfed. His cousin Cash joined in on the fun while joking about someone trying to steal his gold chain.

The Rocky stage started off a bit more mellow and serene. St. Lucia opened up singing the first song on the stage. The second song was performed inside the crowd. The vocalist jumped the barricade to walk amongst the crowd goers. He then returned to the stage for some fun. Frontman, Jean-Philip Grobler, and 2 of his other band mates chased each other around on stage, while singing. Producing a very ‘bohemian-like sound’, the band put on quite a show!

The rap game started off with Tory Lanez on the Liberty stage. He mostly played classic hip hop and rap songs that weren’t his but made them fun. He worked the crowd really well to keep the energy level high, mostly performing at the barricade surrounded by fans. The moment it seemed like the energy level from the fans was dying down, he took his shirt off and the second he did that, the crowd went insane.

Banks & Steelz, a collaboration of Paul Banks and American rapper RZA, took the Rocky stage next. It was their very first time playing in Philadelphia but Philly did seem to be feeling the love, which some may have found surprising due to the uniqueness of their sound and their talent! Some fans enjoyed the band’s performance and others, not so much. The music style was a combination of clean vocals and rap. Once they finished performing each number they thanked the crowd and carried on with their set, leaving the crowd on a positive note.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros were said to be one of the best performances of the day! Vocalist, Alex Ebert, spent 95% of his time on stage, off the stage and in the crowd! He walked on top of the barricade holding people’s hands to keep his balance while interacting with raving fans throughout the show. He even shared a beer, or 5 (haha), with his fans! He also took hits off people’s blunts and also shared from his own supply. For a better experience, he pulled a few fans on stage to dance with him and the rest of the band. During his song, Home, he asked for people’s personal stories and passed the mic to the fans so they can share with the rest of the crowd. One fan even took the mic and free-style rapped his story. It was a neat experience, to say the least. It was definitely one of the most interactive sets from the day; a fan favorite, for sure!

Travis Scott followed, back at the Liberty stage. He probably had one of the most unique stage setups at the festival. His DJ had his setup combined with an old fashioned 1920’s car. His set had a giant metal cactus and a giant metal-like hand in the shape of a fist. Outside of his music, he entertained everyone by running up and down the barricade slapping hands with everyone he possibly could. He poured every ounce of energy into his performance. Dancing from side to side, front to back, the fans were definitely feelin’ it. He rapped a combination of his ‘old skool’ jams couple with some just released. It was definitely a great set.

DJ Khaled came out guns blazing. Everyone started screaming the second he stepped on stage. He played a couple of his own songs but mostly played a compilation of songs belonging to fellow artists in the industry. Because the set list he chose was so well-known, it enabled just about every fan in the crowd to sing along from song to song. It was definitely one of the most fun and upbeat performances of the day. Khaled stopped performing a couple times to pay tribute to Birthday Girl, Beyonce. During his last song, he sang her a Happy Birthday during his last song, he even brought out fellow performing artist, Jay Electronica to help sing it. They made sure to stop and let the crowd steal the shine, singing along to the popular birthday jingle.

Chance the Rapper brought in the biggest crowd before the headlining act. Everyone knew just about every song he performed. Everyone in the crowd rushed towards the stage the moment he came on. He had a big light show containing of a lot of red and white lights and lasers. He also took time out of his set to sing Happy Birthday to his good friend, Beyonce. He brought out a couple Philly legends to help him rap a few of his songs, paraded them one after another. He was the only rapper that did not get near the crowd (for safety reasons). The fans at the barricade were already getting pushed as far into the gate as they possibly could from everyone rushing the stage.

Coldplay ended the weekend with a stellar performance! The white bracelets that fans received at the entrance of the festival started lighting up and changing color and tempo at the sound of their music, throughout the entire set. The band’s set was nothing short of spectacular. They flew in straight from San Francisco to end the festival. Their set was full of rainbow colors because they are all about the love of everyone and they love Philly because it is the city of Brotherly love. They played a mix of old and new songs, including Hymn for the Weekend that lead singer Chris Martin did with Beyonce. After that, he also stopped performing to wish Beyonce a happy birthday and joked about her being 107 years old and looking great for her age. During one song, Martin was running around the stage so hard that he fell down, but he shook it off like it was nothing and just laughed about it. During another song, Martin had to stop and tell the band to start over because he messed it up. Chris Martin took full responsibility and claims he does not ever play the song on tour leading him to forget the intro. Midway through the show, Martin threw out real money into the crowd, $2 bills. Everyone went crazy trying to grab it before they were all gone. They took a short break before coming back out for the encore for another 2 songs. During their last song, the band set off fireworks from the Art Museum steps. Martin held up his American flag and him and the band took their bows and thanked everyone for making it a memorable show. Their performance was said to be one of the best performances of the festival, if not THE very best. Made in America made the right decision having them headline the festival, because they ended it perfectly without fail.

Review by: Liana Marie & Kate Casey

Day 1:

A$AP Ferg