Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; Randall Roberts (latimes.com)
Made in America lineup is a vivid look at rap's competing interests (LAT)
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| "We Need a Revolution." What we get instead is a corporate rap concert (Bhakti Omwoods). |
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| Summer night in city that sometimes sleeps |
Will Kanye tease new music at #MadeinAmerica? And what will the topic of his requisite spoken rant be [fatherhood, his wife gaining weight, shopping at Target]?
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| What L.A. needs is a Pussy Riot |
When it was first announced, the lineup for this weekend's Made in America festival in downtown L.A. seemed an unfocused commercial mix-and-match of mass-market rock, electronic dance, and hip-hop.
On second and third glances, it mostly is, at least at the top of the bill.
The first West Coast installment of a music gathering born in Philadelphia two years ago, the two-day, multi-stage concert feels like a stab at pleasing all of the people all of the time, filled with acts who are regulars on the festival circuit, many of whom have gigged in L.A. a few times already this year.
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| Did someone say "riot"? Occupy and Ferguson ain't seen nothing yet. The LAPD has a paramilitary riot squad to rival forces operating in Kiev, Ukraine (Sergei L. Loiko/LAT) |
It is co-presented by two big [corporate] brands, [alcohol distributor] B*dweiser and [concert promoter] LiveNation, and as a result feels as much a branding opportunity as a curated look at the best in popular music. As [one] plots the musical weekend, restock the [toxic, cancer-causing chemical] sunblock, and scour Spotify for tips, here's hoping the assumptions are wrong.
Made in America was co-founded by Jay Z and will be the biggest gathering so far at Grand Park, where on Saturday and Sunday the blocks at the foot of the Civic Center will hold three stages and more than 40 acts.
The best of them will be rapping, and that's what [people are] most anticipating as the newest of Southern California's many music festivals debuts. More
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