In the heart of Louisville Kentucky, Jack Harlow’s Music festival “Gazebo” had its debut during the weekend of May 25th and 26th. The festival was held at the intimate Waterfront Park, with a stacked lineup, including SZA and Jack Harlow to headline the weekend. With R&B, DJ’s, and Rap genres, Saturday was a perfect blend of music and immaculate vibes. SZA headlining Day One meant the crowd stayed eager and excited.
Gorgeous Gazebo Fans
The grassy park overlooking the Ohio river, made a gorgeous backdrop to the stages. With such an intimate and small festival setting it was nice to interact with all the stylish and kind festival goers. Many laid out on the grass, under the sun, just enjoying the music from afar. Meanwhile the fans at the barricade cried and screamed to their favorite artists.
Saturday (the first day of the festival) went flawless. The first set I saw was Paris Texas at the Gazebo Stage. The trio came out dominant with a super energetic performance, moshing across the stage and encouraging the crowd to join in the chaos.
Karahbooo
Then Karrahbooo Performed at the Garden stage. She has quickly become an artist to keep an eye on. Even though she has only released a handful of songs, she is a member of the Concrete Boy’s pioneered by Lil Yachty. As the only concrete girl in the rap group, I was very excited to see her performance. She brought out another member of the group, Camo, creating such a friendly and fun performance. One day when they are a huge rap group it will be super special to have witnessed one of Karrahbooo’s first performances.
Larry June
The afternoon was then spent jumping from the performances of Ravyn Lenae to Jordan Ward, and Larry June. All of which captivates the crowd with high energy and super fun sets. I think this festival did a really excellent job of curating a lineup that appealed to all audience members.
Even though the crowd may not have known everyone performing, all the sets were cohesive and complemented the other artists. It was also cool to see Jack Harlow himself bounce from stage to stage to watch all of the musicians perform. Since this was his hometown and very first festival his continuous support throughout the entire day was necessary in creating such a fluid festival experience for both the artists and the crowd.
Vince Staples
By early evening Rich Homie Quan and Vince staples hit the stage. Both delivered the needed energy to keep everyone stimulated for SZA.
SZA ended the night, as the crowd finally swarmed together smiling ear to ear. The much needed breeze cooled the crowd and her set illuminated the entire festival. Fans even sat outside the festival just to peak in and hear SZA as she performed.
Although we all were super excited for a second day, the weather cannot be controlled. Louisville was hit with tornado warnings, high winds, lightning and rain which led to the cancellation of the remainder of the festival. Obviously with artists such as Channel Tres, Pink Pantheress, Amaarae, and Jack Harlow set to perform it was unfortunate to not experience all those talented musicians. This being said the festival offered a 50% refund to all pass holders, as well as free admission to nightclubs so everyone could still enjoy the remainder of their time. Even Jack Harlow showed up to one of the nightclubs to give a surprise performance. Gazebo did what they could with the cards they got dealt, to deliver an outstanding musical festival. I can confidently say I look forward to next year’s Gazebo festival to experience the overall magic of Louisville Kentucky.
Written and Photographed by Ferg