Moonfest 2016
Best Coast | Cred: Janell Shirtcliff
Bethany Cosentino, singer-guitarist behind indie-rock darlings Best Coast and brutal slayer of music industry sexism, can certainly handle the possessed souls and predatory demons of Moonfest 2016 on Oct. 29. The Los Angeles-spawned duo will headline the 500 Block Stage of the bloody bacchanal, once again clogging up five bustling blocks of Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach.
Cosentino and guitarist Bobb Bruno are touring behind “California Nights,” Best Coast’s 2015 album, and are ambassadors of a brand of confessional lo-fi rock about insomnia, endless boredom, fickle boyfriends and relating to cats over people. Her deep-voiced, doleful vocals, candid and complex, are accented by a healthy dose of jangly surf-pop no doubt inspired by the Beach Boys and a pastiche of ‘60s girl groups.
Kikagaku Moyo | Cred: Jamie Wdziekonski
PureHoney booked, Kikagaku Moyo swoops down on the massive street party all the way from Japan with a much anticipated psych set at Respectable Street. The Tokyo-based quintet, formed in 2012, is on a second U.S. tour in support of their new LP, House in the Tall Grass. Even if the English-language album and song titles — Melted Crystal, Dune, Silver Owl — didn’t signal a fascination with nature, a listener would recognize it in the soft-hued psychedelic jams and lacy, folk-ish instrumentals.
Best Coast is the bright, grungy exclamation point to the Halloween soundtrack that is Moonfest, where some 30,000-plus revelers will rave along in costumes, dancing amid lasers, Jason Voorhees and three stages of music parked in front of Respectables, O’Sheas and the usual Clematis suspects. But above all, the night of spooky debauchery is a showcase of hometown musical heroes, with Ben Prestage, Peyote Coyote, Gravel Kings, Deaf Poets, Boxwood holding court on the 500 Block and RSC stages, while DJ Val Verra and Palm Beach’s own Scratch D crank out glitchy cool on the 100 Block electronica stage.
Moonfest October 29
The ominously dubbed Four Horsemen Courtyard Stage on the 300 Block, meanwhile, will trot out sounds from Space Coast Ghost and others.
We haven’t event mentioned Moonfest’s new addiction, a pair of haunted houses on the 500 block that include a nerve-wracking 10,000-square-foot maze and a “demented” alley next to Subculture Coffee. As always, Moonfest is gated, but if you splurge for the VIP cemetery, know that ticket-buyers will collect a free acre of moon land, and gain access to a private entrance and open bar. There’s also arts and crafts vendors, food trucks and a $1,000 costume contest, which goes down right before Best Coast.
Moonfest 2016 feat Best Coast, Kikagaku Moyo, Ben Prestage, Peyote Coyote, The State Of, Deaf Poets, The Resolvers, DJ ICEY, Space Coast Ghost, Bath Salt Zombies and more kicks off at 8pm Oct. 29 between the 100 & 500 blocks of Clematis Street in West Palm. Strictly 21+. $10-$20 general admission, $10 for haunted houses only, $80 for VIP. Moonfest.me.
~ Phillip Valys
