Erykah Badu performs during the Summer Spirit Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD on Saturday, August 3, 2013. Photos By: Anthony Washington
This year served as the eighth year that the Summer Spirit Festival has taken place. The festival is a celebration of hip hop, r&b, and soul that showcases local acts as well as national acts. Comedian Mike Epps served as the host of this years festival- serving up jokes between sets and keeping the crowd entertained.
The musical line-up included Hiatus Kaiyote, Black Alley, Rare Essence, Busta Rhymes, Raheem Devaughn, and Erykah Badu. D’Angelo was suppose to serve as the headliner for the festival, but he was hospitalized due to an illness. Because of his illness, Ms. Badu moved to the headliner slot and Raheem Devaughn stepped in to fill out the line-up. Raheem Devaughn had the most memorable performance of the night. More on that later.
Despite the lite rain that continued off and on throughout the day, festival attendees filled the pavilion and the lawn. If the festival was not sold out it was close to it.
Performance Highlights:
The crowd chanting for opener Hiatus Kaiyote to perform an encore. It is not often you hear the crowd yelling for the opening act to perform an encore.
Black Alley going into a mix of some of the hottest hip hop songs of today and smoothly transitioning back into their set.
Rare Essence were a nice addition to the line-up. The DMV loves go-go and RE is legendary. It was fun to see thousands of people losing it to some of their favorite go-go songs.
Busta Rhymes has so many hits. I think we all forget that he has been in the game and consistently putting out good music for 20+ years. It seemed like everyone had their own favorite Busta Rhymes song that got them “turned up”. However, when the beat from his his latest hit “Twerk It” ft. Nikki Minaj dropped, the entire crowd came to their feet.
Raheem Devaughn, a.k.a Radio Raheem consistently puts on a good show. However, he took it to another level during his set at the Summer Spirit Festival. At one point, Raheem Devaughn and his band transitioned to Prince’s “Until the End of Time”. As he began singing the song, Raheem laid out on the stage and began caressing the mic stand like it was a lady. The crowd ate it up as he continued to sing at full voice while laying on his back. Eventually, Raheem made his way into the crowd and performed for the ladies throughout the entire pavilion. Highlight of the night. Great showmanship.
Last but not least, Ms. Badu. Erykah Badu has an amazing voice and she always has her top notch band with her. Her albums have all been solid, but it is nothing like hearing her live. Once again she did not disappoint; performing many of her classic’s [I Want You, Didn’t Cha Know, Love of My Life, On & On] while putting a mixtape feel to them.
Enough said. Enjoy the photos!
Summer Spirit Festival 2013 – Images by Anthony Washington
