Made In America 2015 Sells Out In Philadelphia

Made in America
September 5 & 6, 2015
Ben Franklin Parkway- Philadelphia, PA

Made in America gets better each year from the artists who perform to the fans that attend. It is one of those “you have to be there to experience” events and totally worth the price of the ticket.

The festival opened up with Young Rising Sons on the Liberty stage. Their high energy really got the crowd going. They kept the crowd moving by having clap-alongs with the crowd and yelling “What’s up Philadelphia” and the crowd responded well with the members of the band and their music. The Rocky stage opened up with The Struts, a band from England. The lead singer took a page out of Elton John’s book with his glittery outfit that got the crowds’ attention. He strutted around the stage and down the open walkway in the crowd. He got into the crowd and everyone rushed to get close to him. They didn’t get to play long but they made the most of what time they got.

This year, there was a lot of rap and R&B artists performing, Earl Sweatshirt started off that crowd on the Liberty stage where he rapped a combo of old and new songs. Every other song, he taught the crowd a part of the song to have them sing back to him and everyone got into it. Everyone sang the songs louder and had a real fun time doing so. Rapper G-Eazy came out shortly after, full force. After his first song, he said “M.I.A is the most badass festival around”. He continued to entertain the crowd by spraying water bottles on the crowd which felt nice against the heat and sun shining down. He entered the crowd which caused a rush against the barricade. For his last song, he asked the crowd what they wanted to hear and performed the song that most people shouted. During the song, he brought out Vic Mensa who threw out fake $2 bills into the crowd and sprayed more water.

Nick Jonas got all the ladies attention. He came out wearing a leather jacket and shades while singing his hit, Chains and dancing away to get the crowd screaming. The crowd got louder when he took the jacket and shades off and shaking his butt for everyone to see. Jay-Z made an appearance of the side of the stage and when the crowd saw him, everyone went wild before going back behind the scenes. Jonas came near the crowd and the crowd rushed towards the stage even more. He ended his performance on a high note with his song Jealous with his energy level through the roof and still dancing away.

Philadelphia got some hometown love when rapper Meek Mill came out. He gave his hometown a big shout out how while rapping all his hits. He gave the crowd a big surprise by bringing out his girlfriend, Nicki Minaj and sang a duet together. During his last song, he said he would spend the rest of the night crowd surfing but afraid he would be dropped. The night ended with a killer performance from Beyonce. She started the night off strong by getting lifted into the air above the set while singing her remix of Crazy in Love which is on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. Her whole set was a mix of her solo songs mixed with songs from Destiny’s Child. She managed to do a couple costume changes that didn’t keep the crowd waiting at all. Each outfit and dance number had a purpose with her solid performance. She was the perfect ending to the first day.

The last day started off with Halsey on the Rocky stage. She’s an up and coming artist from New Jersey. She has a Miley Cyrus style going on with her blue short hair, sports bra and baggy pants. Before some of the songs, she explained the meaning behind them and why they are important. Her debut album dropped 2 weeks ago at #2 on the charts, thanking the fans for putting it there and for their support that put it there. For her last song, she brought her parents on stage and introduced them and thanked them for everything they did for her. She ended her set with New Americana dedicated to her parents for the diversity they faced raising her in a mixed household.

Action Bronson can out blazing, literally. He walked out ready to go while smoking a blunt on stage. He did everything he could to keep the crowd moving and kept interacting with him. He played Phil Collins’ Easy Lover while walking down the center of the crowd shaking hands with people for a couple of minutes before getting back on stage. He ended his set with a freestyle rap that he made up on the spot, which is the coolest way to end it.

Big Sean was the most energetic and anticipated performer of the day. He had the whole crowd moving from the second he entered the stage, everything from jumping to bouncing to waving their hands in the air. It was insanely hot outside and Big Sean decided to turn the heat up more by taking his shirt off halfway through his set which got the crowd going even harder. He took time to give an inspirational message about how any dream one can have can change the world. He used that message to dedicate a song to his grandmother who passed away a couple months ago and she was the first black woman to do so many things in their community and the military. He ended his set with his biggest hit, I Don’t Fuck With You to keep the party going after his performance, and it worked.

EDM music was another big part of the whole festival and Axwell & Ingrosso took it to a whole other level. It was a rave on steroids. It looked like the party from the movie “Project X” but doubled. There was everything from lasers shooting out of everywhere, to fog covering the stage to flames shooting out from below the stage. People were so hyped that they climbed the light poles to dance on them. They kept flashing “Dream Bigger” behind them as a motivational message to everyone watching. The DJ’s kept the party going for an hour and ended the set with blasting confetti into the air as a party favor.

The Weeknd ended the festival with fireworks, the perfect sendoff to the Labor Day weekend finale. He started off with a couple of his own songs before he started remixing others. He sang Beyonce’s Drunk in Love song but gave it a R&B twist and slowed it down. He also did his spin on Big Sean/Ariana Grande’s Love Me Harder song. Rocking his infamous hairstyle, backlit by an LED screen, The Weeknd kept his lighting mainly black and red keeping the colors muted for a good part of his set, instead of doing a variety of color like many of the other artists did. The highlight of his performance was his You Earned It song that was the main song in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. The artist sounded incredible; almost as if you were listening to his record only you got to witness his stellar set also! The Weeknd ended an amazing weekend of music.

Philadelphia is the perfect place to hold this festival and Jay Z knew it when he chose the city 4 years ago. With ages all over the spectrum, every color, shape, size, and style over 60.000 fans came together to celebrate their love for Music, Budweiser, and America. Completely sold out, Budweiser Made In America shut down The Ben Franklin Parkway, quite literally. Fans packed the gated festival grounds like sardines. The fans in the city stayed in 90+ degree weather all day for 10-11 hours just to see their favorite artists. People would stand in front of the crowd against the barricade and not drink or eat anything all day in the blazing heat, let alone leave to go to the bathroom. Some of those determined people ended up being removed from the crowd due to passing out from dehydration. To risk your personal health for your favorite artist, now, that’s love/dedication. G-Eazy said “Made in America is the most badass festival there is” during his performance and that statement could not be any more true than what it is.
Review by: Katie Casey & Liana Marie

Day 1

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