Fort Lauderdale, Florida: If you’ve never been to The Riptide Music Festival, well, that’s understandable. It’s a relatively young fest, and this was our first year, too. But as of this writing, let it be known, this event is officially mandatory for any serious festivalgoer. It’s the rare convergence of great lineup and beautiful venue, while being totally affordable and not yet overcrowded…
Too many big festivals begin with a bottleneck of traffic, starting on the highways, wrapping around the gates, and sometimes winding through the whole show. Riptide is not that festival. This show begins as simply as a walk on the beach, and it’s quite literally a breath of fresh air. It took less than 15 minutes to walk from our hotel room (maybe a quarter-mile away) through the turnstiles and past security, right up to the hub of the show.
This is the kind of ease and accessibility you might expect at some quiet, dusty county fair- and yet, there’s nothing quiet or dusty about Riptide. We’re here for a lineup that rivals the biggest festivals in the industry.
Saturday boasts, among others: Shaed, Silversun Pickups, The Revivalists, The 1975 and The Killers- five modern rock heavyweights, back to back to back, on a stage bookended by palm trees and craft beer stands. The accessibility is almost too good to be true: We can push right up to the front of the pack, especially for the earlier bands, but the crowd never feels light or underwhelming. Quite the opposite, actually. The fans are there to rock, and the bands are clearly feeling it, too.
photo by Jim D.
By the time The Killers take the stage at 8:30, I’m convinced that Riptide is going to be absolutely huge in years to come. Brandon Flowers gets an entire beach full of people singing, dancing, and kicking off their flip-flops- if they haven’t already. And for the record, the sonics on The Sharkwrecked Stage are seriously impressive- loud and clear, carrying far across the sand, but not deafening, and not a bad seat in the house.
Sunday features a handful of great ‘90s rock bands on the Underground Lauderdale Stage, including Soul Asylum, Fuel, and Reel Big Fish. Full disclosure, this smaller of the two main stages is not without a few bumps: Soul Asylum’s sound mix is a little rough at first, and equipment problems delay the start of Fuel’s set. But the bands power through each set with good will and high energy, and once again, the accessibility is just about perfect. Even with each band drawing its own new swarm of devoted fans, somehow it’s never hard to snake closer to the stage for a better look.
photo by Jim D.
As Sunday’s daylight disappears, a light rain begins to fall, and for just a few minutes, it seems like the party might be over early. And just as we’re considering taking cover at one of the neighborhood watering holes, the rain tapers off, and Jimmy Eat World takes the main stage for the weekend’s final set. The weather, of course, is always a TBD, and every outdoor festival lives or dies by the forecast. But true to Jimmy Eat World’s closing anthem, everything (everything) will be just fine. In fact, the whole weekend seems positively charmed, like even that brief, light rain just adds to the tropical atmosphere.
As stated, this was our first year at Riptide, and already, I feel like we’re late to the party. Here’s that rare festival that’s doing everything right: Big enough to assemble some of the very best live acts in modern rock, but somehow never too big. The local staff is friendly and engaging, and the venue is never overwhelming, or superficial, or corporate. And holy cow, just in case I didn’t make this abundantly clear: It’s all on the beach in the heart of Fort Lauderdale, just when you thought festival season had wrapped up for the winter.
Check out FLN for details of next year’s Riptide Festival. And in the meantime, mark your calendar: With a little under a year to go, we already know where we’ll be in November 2020. -BRI