Float Fest Energizes Crowd

The annual Float Fest took place on Aug. 31 at Cool River Ranch in San Marcos.

The lineup included a variety of genres, from local Texas rappers to alternative favorites like STRFKR, Portugal. The Man and Grouplove.

Gates opened at 11 a.m. and the last artist’s performance ended at 10:45 p.m. The performances alternated between two different stages, meaning there was never more than a ten-minute break of live music.

STRFKR took their set up a notch by bringing guys on stage in hilarious, space-themed getups, from astronauts to aliens. The funky outfits complemented their indie-electronica sounds. The spaceman jumped into the pit and crowd surfed his way to the back.

I wasnt too familiar with their music, but I didnt expect them to be that crazy and energetic,” said Freshman Eilish Flynn. “They had the crowd so involved; it was definitely a great show.

Portugal. The Man had a light show complete with lasers that formed abstract patterns on the stage. The colors matched their mellow and psychedelic rock style perfectly and added an intensity to the show as the sun began to set.

Grouplove was the headliner and did not disappoint. Their electric energy had the audience dancing, jumping and singing along the entire hour.

During their song Shark Attack, they threw shark pool floaties and inner tubes into the crowd.

Then they played their rendition of Beyoncé’s hit Drunk In Love that had the whole crowd yelling SURFBORT, SURFBORT!

They left the crowd with the classic “Baba O Reilly” by The Who and then brought all the bands who had performed at Float Fest onstage to jam with them for an awesome finale.

I had never seen them live before, and it made the night even better when we got to meet them after the show,” said freshman Lauren Homesley.

Float Fest will be back next year in San Marcos.

Follow Katherine on Twitter at @yaheyKT