The Best Of Roots Picnic Made Up For The Absolute Worst
PHILADELPHIA — Usually, Philadelphia's annual Roots Picnic feels like a warm and sunny homecoming this time of year, with thousands of city natives and out-of-towners gathering to enjoy Black legacy acts and next-gen artists at the music festival. However, this past weekend, things took a dreary, unexpected turn.
That much was certain at the tail end of Saturday's kickoff as headliner Maxwell closed out his hits-filled set to a weary crowd — what was left of it, anyway — that had endured hours of relentless rain and biting winds just to see him take the main stage at Fairmount Park.
'Thank you for staying,' the neo-soul titan graciously told remaining festivalgoers as the clock neared midnight, nearly three hours past his original showtime.
'You didn't have to stay,' Maxwell added, 'but I appreciate it.'
And he's not wrong. After a day of battling turbulent weather and waterlogged grounds, every single one of us could have (and should have) called it quits on the festival hours before his set. We certainly would've been well within our rights to do so.
Music lovers from all over had descended on the City of Brotherly Love, eager to see their favorite artists perform live — from Jeezy, Musiq Soulchild and Latto to Lenny Kravitz, Meek Mill and more. Even with a last-minute headliner switch from D'Angelo to Maxwell — the former pulled out due to a medical emergency — excitement ran high leading up to the festival. But despite solid performances from several main acts, this year's Roots Picnic was plagued with problems.
The two-day festival, hosted annually by the legendary Roots crew, got off to a stormy start before the gates even opened on Saturday. According to a social media statement from the festival's team, the kickoff of Day 1 was stalled until 2 p.m. due to overnight flooding and muddy park grounds. In reality, the festival didn't get into the swing of things until nearly two hours later (which was not widely communicated to festivalgoers), pushing already-delayed sets well past the originally scheduled times and leaving frustrated attendees waiting outside the front gates for hours. Not to mention, light rain turned into mini-storms through the remainder of the day, with not an ounce of sunshine in sight — certainly not the norm for the typically sun-drenched affair.
To say this year's Roots Picnic was an uncomfortable festival experience is an understatement. Yet, some bright spots made the event's catastrophic start slightly worth all the turmoil.
One Saturday standout was Miguel, who hasn't released an album in almost a decade but hit the stage in true virtuoso form like he hasn't missed a single step. The R&B crooner made a noiseless entrance onstage before he broke into the sweet opening note of his earworm hit 'Girl With the Tattoo,' bringing a quiet hush over the crowd that soon turned into joyful screams.
Amid the worst of the rain, he managed to take fans on a trip down memory lane as he launched into a sultry set of hits that included 'Sure Thing,' 'How Many Drinks?,' 'Sky Walker,' and 'Come Through and Chill.'
At the top of his set, Miguel paid homage to his Mexican heritage, serenading fans with a pulsing track — its name escaping me — that wove in a string of Spanish lyrics. He also assured fans that he's been in the studio cooking up his next release ('Philly, yes, the album is coming') before closing out with his timeless hit, 'Adorn.'
But before Miguel ripped into his crowd-pleasing set, a soft-spoken Tems blessed the crowd with her ethereal vocals and collection of soul-stirring tracks that have solidified her as an R&B luminary.
She sang recent songs like 'Burning' and 'Love Me JeJe' off her debut album, 'Born in the Wild,' before revisiting some of her older material from the 'For Broken Ears' and 'If Orange Was a Place' EP eras. It's only right that she ended her performance on a high note, treating attendees to two of her biggest hits to date, 'Free Mind' and her feature on Wizkid's previous song of the summer, 'Essence.'
Some of the most energetic moments of Day 1 came from rapper GloRilla's thumping set of bangers, although more so on her end than the rained-on crowd she entertained. Still, she and her DJ, Digital Dynasty, tried their hardest to hype up the afternoon crowd with anthems like 'Hollon,' 'TGIF,' 'Let Her Cook' and 'Whatchu Kno About Me.'
Of course, GloRilla's biggest breakout singles, 'F.N.F. (Let's Go)' and 'Tomorrow,' made the set, but with the weather carrying on, they didn't get the rousing reaction you'd expect. Maybe that's also because of the mixed age crowd that usually gathers near the Fairmount Park main stage. They're not quite all part of her core fan base, but the aqua-haired Memphis star still held it down strong.
It was quite a task for those who braved the weather to catch a glimpse of Saturday night's headliner, Maxwell, so to make it up, Roots Picnic phoned in Philly's own Beanie Sigel and Freeway to quell the restless crowd with a few songs. Although some seemed entertained, the unscheduled appearances came off more like a distraction for the late arrival of Maxwell. However, his set was worth the wait.
The music legend seamlessly stepped in for D'Angelo's original slot, which would have marked the latter's first return to a full concert stage in almost a decade. Due to a 'longer-than-expected surgical recovery,' fans will have to wait a little longer.
But back to the main event. Maxwell's late-into-the-night performance went on without a hitch as he re-energized the thinned-out Roots Picnic crowd with his bevy of catalog hits. He threw it way back to 1996 with iconic smashes from his debut album, 'Urban Hang Suite,' and delivered a few sexy serenades from later albums like 'Now' and 'BLACKsummers'night' as fans (me included) enthusiastically sang every last word.
In between songs, the humble icon thanked fans numerous times for enduring the weather conditions (which thankfully had calmed down by the time he hit the stage). He also gave a special shout-out to his neo-soul brother D'Angelo while wishing him a speedy recovery.
'Again, I want to send lots of love to my boy D'Angelo,' Maxwell shared with the crowd. 'I'm just standing in for the night. He will be back to do his thing.'
The biggest surprise of the night came when Maxwell brought Dave Chappelle onstage to impart a few words to the crowd. The comedian shared the untold story of how the two first met decades ago when he was on a date with his now-wife, back when Maxwell was working as a bartender in New York City's Union Square.
Chappelle, sporting a camo jacket emblazoned with Colin Kaepernick's last name, told the Philly crowd he flew from his home in Ohio to 'fuck with' the 'beautiful Black people' who also came out to enjoy the festival created by his longtime friends The Roots.
'It's beautiful to see what The Roots have built. It's beautiful to see what Maxwell's doing,' said the comic before disappearing to enjoy the show. But it seemed things got cut short due to the city's noise curfew, so, as one of my friends pointed out, Maxwell didn't get the chance to perform his beloved hit 'Pretty Wings.'
Still, the night ended way better than it started, and that levity carried into a much sunnier Day 2 of Roots Picnic.
Before opening its gates back up, the festival issued a formal apology online for Saturday's mess and miscommunications, as did The Roots co-founder Questlove, who revealed Day 1 was nearly canceled on account of the heavy rain damage.
'Ultimately, we chose to take extra time to repair the site to ensure safety for all ticket holders, which is why there was a 3hr delay,' the musician explained in an Instagram post, adding, '(Yes I got numerous messages from attendees, family, everyone in the tristate) but we prioritized caution above all else.'
'It's 3am and I wanna thank you for your understanding and patience through this adversity,' he concluded.
Those who were willing to give the festival a second chance returned in droves on Sunday to see another powerhouse lineup take over the stages. A Pride month-esque house music set, hosted by DJ Rich Medina and featuring legends Crystal Waters and CeCe Peniston, got the lively crowd up and moving. It was something of an appetizer before producer/DJ Kaytranada continued the dance party later that night over at the Presser Stage amphitheater, playing electric mixes of Beyoncé's 'Cuff It' and, his most popular, Teedra Moses' 'Be Your Girl.'
The hip-hop head in me thoroughly enjoyed J. Period's staple Live Mixtape set, orchestrated as always by The Roots' lyrical assassin Black Thought and, this time, hosted by hip-hop media legend Sway Calloway. The pairing was rather fitting for the rap heavyweights who later joined Black Thought onstage, Pusha T and 2 Chainz.
The former came out to perform a solo set of tracks from his critically acclaimed coke-rap albums 'Daytona' and 'It's Almost Dry' before surprising the crowd with another Clipse festival reunion, as his brother Malice joined the fun.
Seeing the two jump back into step like the good old days was quite the treat, and seemed like the perfect occasion to perform their freshly released single 'Ace Trumpets' for the first time live. Although Clipse left us hanging — presumably to preserve anticipation for their long-awaited 'Let God Sort Em Out' album, dropping July 11 — they dipped into their nostalgia bag to revisit early aughts head-bangers like 'Mr. Me Too,' 'What Happened to That Boy' and 'Grindin'.'
2 Chainz, just as energized, followed suit when he came out to perform his early career hits like 'No Lie,' 'Rich as Fuck,' 'Watch Out' and 'I'm Different.' On a few songs, the Atlanta native and Black Thought spit verses back-to-back, with the former giving the Roots emcee props for being a rappin' 'magician.'
Another genre legend who put on an impressive set Sunday was none other than Lenny Kravitz. The rock veteran's eclectic band-backed performance hit a few snags early on, which caused him to walk offstage a few times: 'Hold on, we gotta fix some shit. Everything's breaking up here.' But he eventually put his perfectionist quirks aside to galvanize the swarming crowd with old '90s favorites like 'I Belong to You,' 'American Woman' and 'It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over.'
Kravitz brought the house down with his final epic of the night, 'Are You Gonna Go My Way,' going out in a blaze of glory and flickering bright lights. But then he doubled back for an encore performance of 'Let Love Rule' from his 1989 debut album of the same name.
Sunday's headliner, Meek Mill, brought the eventful weekend to a close with his own animated set, which the proud Philly rapper balanced both with certified hits and speeches about his hometown come-up as well as his disdain for internet antics.
His stage screens displayed phrases like 'Don't Believe Everything You See' and 'Soul Not For Sale' throughout the night, an obviously pointed message to his fans. But the rapper still managed to keep things vibrant by performing old classics like 'Ima Boss,' 'Levels' and 'Dreams and Nightmares' during his nearly hourlong set.
Despite a tumultuous start, this year's Roots Picnic managed to settle back into the celebratory vibe it's been known for curating since the festival began in 2008. Logistically speaking, the annual event needs much more restructuring before it can join the ranks of artist-founded festival successes like J. Cole's Dreamville Festival and Tyler, the Creator's Camp Flog Gnaw.
Better communication will go a long way moving forward, especially if Roots Picnic wants to earn back the trust of its core audience.
This year's debacle won't soon be forgotten (thanks to the TikTok and X archives keeping receipts). Still, if Sunday's comeback is any indication, the festival has the means to do better, especially when its attendees give them no choice. Let's just hope these missteps don't become more of a pattern than they already have.
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