The Detroit festival drew thousands to West Riverfront Park for a day with top sets from Phantogram, Wavves and Jay Som
When the Mo Pop Festival made its West Riverfront Park premiere in 2015, it brought a splash of indie cool to Detroit’s summer itinerary.
The young tradition continued in strong form Saturday, as a diverse crowd of open-eared music lovers gathered on the site just west of downtown. Mo Pop, a joint venture of national promoter AEG Live and locally based Crofoot Presents, had plenty to offer them, supplying more than nine hours of music on two stages and an array of side attractions with a homegrown Detroit slant.
On a day filled with quality musical showings — from Wavves’ rollicking, ‘90s-tinged alt-rock to Pvris’ intense atmospheric roar — Phantogram claimed the top of the list: The New York band delivered an absorbing, soul-tingling performance of sleek and sophisticated electro rock, with Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter trading vocals and bounding across the stage as they brought Mo Pop into the 9 p.m. hour.
“Welcome to the sunset set, when everything changes at a festival, ” Barthel told the crowd.
That darkening scene provided an ideal mood for a show that traversed Phantogram’s catalog, back to the buzzing sweetness of “Mouthful of Diamonds” from the duo’s 2010 debut, released by the Ann Arbor label Ghostly International. It was a set at times powerfully cinematic (“Run Run Blood, ” “Howling at the Moon”) , elsewhere svelte and funky (“Calling All”) , from a group now brimming with confidence in a live setting.
Los Angeles band Foster the People followed with the day’s closing performance, bringing a dash of production grandeur to go with its lush swirl of synths and catchy hooks, launched by “Loyal Like Sid & Nancy” from the just-released third album “Sacred Hearts Club.”
By then, it had been a long day of easygoing vibes at West Riverfront, where sunshine and river breezes greeted an audience that steadily streamed in as the afternoon wound on. Official numbers aren’ t yet available, but attendance looked on track to top last year’s figure, when Mo Pop drew a two-day crowd of 20,000-plus.
Mo Pop’s calling card is its mix of established acts and buzz-building up-and-comers, who on Saturday included first-time Detroit visitors Jay Som, Mondo Cozmo and Aminé.
Jay Som, brainchild of 23-year-old Melina Duterte, was one of the day’s early winners: The California newcomer delivered on the hype that has piled up the past year, serving a bracing set that saw colorful, languid pop periodically exploding into spiky, discordant guitar jams.
This year marks Mo Pop’s biggest foray yet into hip-hop. First up was Aminé, the young Portland, Ore., rapper who broke out last year with “Caroline.” His freewheeling riverside set brought a hazy cover of Frank Ocean’s “Novacane” to go with his own sing-songy “Wedding Crashers.”
Run the Jewels hit the main stage late in the day with a sinsemilla-scented party set, as MCs Killer Mike and El-P blended progressive messages and friendly rapport with a dose of ironic hip-hop humor. A more serious note was struck with “Down, ” dedicated by the duo to Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, who committed suicide earlier this month.
The song was devoted to “anybody else who can’ t see through the darkness, ” El-P told the crowd in a sentiment echoed by Killer Mike: “Don’ t be ashamed to call somebody and say, ‘I’ m hurting.’ ”
The day’s only apparent production hiccup came with an unexplained delayed start for Grace Mitchell, whose jagged-edged dance-pop was then limited to a fast half-hour set.
Mo Pop will rev back up Sunday afternoon for its second and final day, with scheduled sets including Alt-J, Solange and Tyler, the Creator.
