Slight tension could be felt as a group gathered around a stack of colorful boxes. A man walked around, strategically observing for the box of his choosing. The wheels of skateboards rolling and being kicked up could be heard along with the soon tumbling of the cardboard boxes during the life-size game of Jenga provided by vitaminwater, a participating sponsor. Maybe it brought the memory of simple joy; visiting grandparents, playing with the little wooden bricks sitting around the table waiting patiently for the home cooked meat sauce to be served.

Youthful reincarnation occurred on Saturday, May 26th. It was a day to be free from the stresses of the daily grind and the minuscule problems that add up - leaving you walking through your front door only to throw your keys on the table with a sigh. It was a relief to play childhood games and greet smiling friends as the sun seered the black pavement of Allen Street in Buffalo, New York.

The day began with an air of excitement. Field day: a progressive event for Buffalo. An all day festival on Allen where three participating bars were occupied by local talent and the street was closed off for activities, vendors and meandering festival goers to soak in the summer sun.

The Buffalo collective of artists and thinkers, Toats Orig, had their infamous bright pink banner with white lettering hanging beneath a tent. DJs rotated turns, providing music for the people outside; Miosi and DJ Mario Bee followed by half of the HXLY duo, Kyle Tatum, with a set that ended oddly abruptly.  A wooden board was propped where paint markers of pink, blue and black were tied by strings and with encouragement from the crew, drawings and tags compiled throughout the event. Krudmart, a street wear boutique, had a table next to them lined with original designs on their fitted hats and shirts. A couple guys, including Toats Orig's Mic Excel, free styled for the girls playing hopscotch and the early birds in sunglasses who were posted on the patios.

The beginning, although slow, began to fill up when the streets reopened and performances were limited to the participating venues: the Bend, Sample and Dukes Bohemian Grove Bar.

The VIP area, held in Hardware, was limited for the select bunch.  DJ Owski and SunGlasses Mike took turns playing house music for the room, their equipment propped up on a table tagged with the iconic Red Bull label.  Saranac bottles chilled in a bucket of ice, beckoning the thirsty intimate group while the representative of the sponsor was sure to go around to each person in the room recommending flavors of beer.  "Try the Blueberry Blonde Ale," he said to me while motioning to the table that was also scattered with stacked Red Bull cans.  Rainbow colored lights were projected onto a traditional looking area rug, although hardly visible from the beaming sunlight that was shining in from Allen Street.  


Sines played at The Bend while Pickster One and Melo performed at Dukes. Sines set was hood bass and although the sound system at The Bend wasn't perfect, it still had me leaning hard as the female voice of his drop moaned through the bar, "oh my god...Sines."  Orgasmic calls subliminally seeped and had the tight crowd that surrounded his set moving their hips just a little more freely.

Jon Kwest played an incredible moombahton set at Duke's, never faltering in concentration.  The bass was an immaculate strength of heavy, vibrating through the floor and firing everyone to move.  Across the bar I heard the high-pitched vocals cry out "you can't have my love," and ecstatically ran to the floor.  His remix of Treasure Fingers' "It's Love" was an obsession of mine for months so getting to hear him play it out live was exhilarating.  When David Heartbreak took over, the floor was already decently packed and steadily filled during his set.  Some usual Allentown dwellers that weren't aware of the event piled in as well, pleasantly surprised at the hustle and bustle of the bar.

Heartbreak's set was strong and no one left the floor even with many sweaty bodies squeezing through and shuffling as close to the specially crafted stage as possible.  As he finished up his set, the major headlining artist on the bill was preparing to go on.  Munchi: Netherlands native, moombahton master and DJ turned up the already hazy and humid room.  The lucky bunch that got to stand close to the subwoofers could feel small cooling gusts of air on their legs and regardless of the heat, no one stopped vibing out.  Steve Rittner, head honcho of Queen City Cartel and master-planner for the event, gave a special thank you to Munchi when his set concluded then opened the stage for Cobra Krames.  My ears perked up for his opening track, his own remix of "Bam Bam" by Sister Nancy.  The rest of his set was ideal for booty clapping with Diplo's "Express Yourself" and his original song "Bend Your Back."

After stepping out of my cab with the sun coming up just over the horizon, I walked into my room, collapsed onto my bed and muttered to myself "...field day."  Sore legs from dancing, a little bit of a tan and some great memories made, Field Day 2012 was most definitely a success.  The Queen City Cartel did it big.     

          

Today is the day!  Grab your bubbles, chalk, sunglasses and hula hoops and get ready for the perfect kick-off event for Buffalo summer 2012.  It's Field Day - the celebration of community, friends, good weather and music.  

Missed any of our artist spotlights for tonight's headliners?
Check em' out here then head over to Allen.

Pickster One & Melo
Sines
Cobra Krames
Jon Kwest
David Heartbreak
Munchi

In addition the huge names that will be gracing our presence, today is a perfect opprotunity to get out and celebrate local musicians.  Come support local friends as they perform all day leading up to the headlining shows.  DJs include...
3PO • Asid • AreHouse • Bace:Face • Bear Skin Rug • Bigski • Brother Bear • Business Casual • Cutler • D.Cal • Derf • Emjay Biggz • Esbie • Gross National Product • Jarvis • LoPro • Loki • Looney Tunes • MicSee • Mike Parker • Miosi • Mixmaster Bates • Nique • Optimus Prime • Owski • Papi Chulo • Rufus Gibson • SGM • Skanntron • Stuntman • SwaggleRock • TrakBenders • Universal

To remind you, blocks will be closed off between College Street and Wadsworth Street until 8pm, then shows will be limited to the venues Duke's, The Bend, and Sample.

Let's crack open a cold one and kick back in the sunshine. Cheers!

Here's the Facebook event page for further information.
@QueenCityCartel 
#FieldDay

Heartbreak on Facebook and Twitter.


Beautifully composed, both the instrumentals and vocals speak for themselves.



An original moombahton with Bhangra influences (a genre of Punjabi music.)





David Heartbreak will be performing on Saturday May 26th, for Field Day presented by the Queen City Cartel with support from New Era and vitaminwater.  Allen Street will be closed off and Duke's, The Bend, and Sample will be participating in the day-to-night festivities.  There will be six headlining performances with support from over 30 of our local artists.  From 2pm-4am this is most definitely not an event to miss.  Keep up with our coverage, we'll be featuring our final spotlight tomorrow.

For more information check out buffalofieldday.com and the Facebook event page.

I heard his remix of "Warning" by Uncle Murda when he played at Soundlab and nearly lost my mind.



And a little taste of B-more club, his remix of French Montana's "Shot Caller."





Jon Kwest will be performing on Saturday May 26th, for Field Day presented by the Queen City Cartel with support from New Era and vitaminwater.  Allen Street will be closed off and Duke's, The Bend, and Sample will be participating in the day-to-night festivities.  There will be six headlining performances with support from over 30 of our local artists.  From 2pm-4am this is most definitely not an event to miss.  Keep up with our coverage, we'll be featuring a spotlight each day per headliner.

For more information check out buffalofieldday.com and the Facebook event page.

If you've been just as obsessed as I have with Diplo's "Express Yourself," then you'll love Krames' remix with Yamez.  It's his own hyped up remix cocktail with a twist of breakbeats.  Turn it up and twerk it.
 
Cobra Krames will be performing on Saturday May 26th, for Field Day presented by the Queen City Cartel with support from New Era and vitaminwater.  Allen Street will be closed off and Duke's, The Bend, and Sample will be participating in the day-to-night festivities.  There will be six headlining performances with support from over 30 of our local artists.  From 2pm-4am this is most definitely not an event to miss.  Keep up with our coverage, we'll be featuring a spotlight each day per headliner.

For more information check out buffalofieldday.com and the Facebook event page.

Southern trap bass with deliciously hypnotic chopped and screwed vocals, Sines (Leroy Bella) has got it. Straight out of Houston, Texas, the areas cultural influences have inspired his dirty South dripping tracks released on multiple labels including Ministry of Sound, Echodub, L25, Formant (a dubstep label he established himself) and others.  His own label, Freshmore caters to a variety of bass music.  The label's blog is aesthetically pleasing for the urban eye; images of french inhales, fanned out hundos, videos, mixes and street fashion and art can be seen when scrolling through, along with the Buffalo Field Day flyer.  The feel is exactly how his tunes sound; grinding, sexy and powerful with a dark vibe.


He is also a part of the Gritsy crew.  Gritsy, Houston's popular dubstep and bass music movement, brought dubstep to the city in 2006.  Professionally produced videos of their parties with headlining artists such as Excision, Rusko and 12th Planet are exhilarating to watch.  Last summer Sines dropped our very own Stuntman's tune "Get Low" at a summertime Gritsy show; he'll also be opening for Sines on Saturday.  It's clear Houston goes hard but I'm sure Sines will be pleased with Buffalo's loving dedication to our city's music scene and our own crew, the Queen City Cartel.

Sines on Facebook and Twitter.






A Gritsy party...

Sines will be performing on Saturday May 26th, for Field Day presented by the Queen City Cartel with support from New Era and vitaminwater.  Allen Street will be closed off and Duke's, The Bend, and Sample will be participating in the day-to-night festivities.  There will be six headlining performances with support from over 30 of our local artists.  From 2pm-4am this is most definitely not an event to miss.  Keep up with our coverage, we'll be featuring a spotlight each day per headliner.

For more information check out buffalofieldday.com and the Facebook event page.

On Saturday May 26th, the Queen City Cartel with New Era and vitaminwater present to Buffalo, Field Day.  Allen Street will be closed off and Duke's, The Bend, and Sample will be participating in the day-to-night festivities.  There will be six headlining performances with support from over 30 of our local artists.  2pm-4am this is most definitely not an event to miss.  Keep up with our coverage, we'll be featuring a spotlight each day per headliner.

For more information check out buffalofieldday.com and the Facebook event page.



His inspiration for his career in music began the moment he picked up LL Cool J's album Radio and eventually came full circle when his moombahton/hip-hop remix of "NFL Horns" was chosen by LL Cool J to produce "Super Baller." Arizona based DJ and producer Pickster One, otherwise known as Dusty Hickman, began his career in 1998, establishing support from artists Diplo, Nadastrom and fellow Field Day performers Munchi and Heartbreak. 

In addition to earning his degree in the culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu in Arizona, he's been inducted into the Furious Styles Crew (FSC), he's performed at a number of major festivals, and has created some very successful side projects.  He helped develop the first turntable band when he created Morse Code and in 2007, he began a side project called Crusher Sound System. Perhaps you've been downtown to see Roboroc at Noir Ultra Lounge? Although progressive for Buffalo, a DJ incorporating live instruments into a set has been around for a while and is exactly what Pickster One was doing with CSS.  Resident DJ at the longest running Arizona hip-hop club night and 20 full length mixes later, Pickster one will perform in Buffalo with Melo, a DJ he's done a fair amount of collaborative work with.

Melo (Jorge Melo) is an award winning DJ and a member of the Muzik Junkies Remix Squad.  A veteran to the Phoenix club scene, he has had such an impact in the moombahton movement that he helped land two Arizona clubs, Jackson's on 3rd and Karma Nightclub, with the "Best of" title in the Phoenix New Times.  Being chosen by Dave Nada, the originator of moombahton, shows his standing in the scene, he was among the selected artists for "Blow Your Head - Dave Nada presents Moombahton," a compilation mini-mix that's released by Mad Decent. 

Pickster One on Twitter
DJ Melo on Twitter