The right kind of moves

By Kaleb Keaton
Reader Contributor

For those of you who have been playing the Reader’s Festival Bingo, I did you a few favors this past Saturday night. Wearing the band’s T-shirt? Hit. A hippie guy dancing by himself? Check. Poop smell? Absolutely. But it wasn’t coming from the treatment plant. 

As soon as Big Boi of Outkast hit the stage (alongside special guest Sleepy Brown) I literally crapped myself. What proceeded was the best festival show I have ever attended. I’ve been looking forward to going since it was announced months back. 

I got into Outkast back in middle school when me and my buddies were ripping their albums off Kazaa and I’ve been addicted ever since. One of my biggest draws to Outkast was how unique and groundbreaking their music was. As you progress through their discography, eventually it becomes harder and harder to even classify them as hip-hop. Soul, funk, big brass and electric sounds are all woven throughout a tapestry of musical ingenuity and genius. I’ve been telling everyone I know what an incredible opportunity it was to have such an icon come to town. And he most certainly did not disappoint.  

Despite being an opener and performing for a fraction of the crowd that he has seen throughout his career, Daddy Fat Sax was every bit the professional that you would expect him to be. He delivered hit after hit, putting on some nasty dance moves and feeding off the crowd. I’m still getting my voice back; the entire show I was screaming lyric after lyric and felt my soul get touched by having the music I love fill my ears. 

After Big Boi wrapped up, it was time for Trombone Shorty to impress. He also demonstrated incredible showmanship and at one point left the stage and was performing in the thick of the audience. By the time it was all said and done, you could tell on the faces of those leaving Memorial Field that they had attended a gem of a concert.

You have to give it up to the Festival for putting this on. Thanks for rolling the dice on some diversity and culture that traditionally hasn’t been the norm within the venue. 

My friends and I grew up listening to rap while cruising the beach, fantasizing what it would be like to be a part of their world. Never would I have imagined back then that one day they would come into ours. To have such musical talent perform in my hometown gives me a distinct sense of pride.

Say what you will about the 7B, but when it comes to entertainment we host legends.

I’m glad the Festival took a shot on something less conventional. It’s the perfect example of Sandpoint making a move in the right direction when it comes to change.