This past weekend, our team of four drove the couple hours to Joshua Tree for the mysterious #Pharos experience.
Collectively, we didn’t know too much about what Childish Gambino had in store for Labor Day Weekend. We know it was going to be the premiere of a new album and that there would be a spiritual, tribal unity as illustrated in the Pharos guidebook (released on the app after you bought tickets.)
“Pharos,” which is literally a lighthouse built off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt by Ptolemy II in around 280 BC, is meant to be a beacon for those who want to shift away from the technosphere. (via OKP)
What it turned out to be… well, it took a few days to collect my thoughts but here’s the summary to start off as I tweeted from the other night.
No phones allowed in the performance, which made for an even better experience and one that phones wouldn't have done justice.
— Gowhere You Love (@gowherehiphop) September 5, 2016
A highlight of the experience: the dome. Animated projections accompanied each song and helped tell the story, embodying the tribal theme.
— Gowhere You Love (@gowherehiphop) September 5, 2016
Not much but a quick visual. Imagine the Chicago Planetarium but a lil bigger, a lil more modern, and ~1.5K cap pic.twitter.com/huRnvkUyiW
— Gowhere You Love (@gowherehiphop) September 5, 2016
So in short, it was dope.
But let me explain why and in more detail.
On a greater scale, I feel it’s safe to call Donald Glover an artistic wizard. That may seem airy (and I suppose it’s my way of saying genius without trying to contribute to the overuse of the term) but the performance really made me conclude the undeniable, versatile talent of Glover… on another level than before.
I remember thinking during the performance that this was the same guy who cleverly compared his d*ck to an elephant’s memory, and even earlier, broke out with the ‘Bro Rape’ sketch. I don’t mean that to belittle those past achievements because all of Glover’s early work as a comic, actor, and rapper are all magnificent in their own right. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here (and running Atlanta.)
I only bring that up because I felt as I was witnessing the performance, I was also witnessing Glover’s evolution into a complete music artist — dare I say, a New Age D’Angelo, with the colorful style and high-pitched vocals of, dare I say again, Prince. Gambino was excellently hitting the high notes and sporadically yelling throughout and Prince jumped to mind as the comp.
This feels like a good time to emphasize how soulful, and at times, funky Gambino’s new music was. He was backed by a 12-piece band (3 guitarists, 1 on a whole mess of keys, 2 drummers, and 6 in a choir) in matching tribal outfits. Gambino, in glow and the dark paint, let each of them shine at various points of the show. Raw guitar solos were interspersed as Gambino went into the shadows. If he wasn’t in the shadows, he pointed out the choir and let them grace the dome with more soul.
But again, it comes back to Gambino, who carried a one hour, fifteen minute plus performance with every song flowing to the next and no breaks to address the crowd. He immersed us into the music, the story, and the visuals — and even moreso with the absence of phones.
It was liberating to not have my phone out and seek the perfect video clip to post on Instagram or Twitter (and in the process get that damn Storage is Full error.) Phones would have not only distracted from the full experience but also not have fully captured it either. The dome projected non-stop visuals of space, tribal characters in different forms like skeletons and aliens, and even rain that felt like it was coming on top of you if you stared at it long enough. In fact, that whole experience made me feel a little disoriented. (No drugs here, people.)
Furthermore, the visuals heavily guided the story if you couldn’t understand word for word what Gambino was singing — my lone gripe. Even though the sound was quality in the dome, the power of the band sometimes drowned out the quick delivery from Gambino. The performance began with a liftoff into a new world after three songs. It ended with a return back to earth in what was the night’s best song and fastest-moving projection. The theme of the song: follow your dreams and keep going. You won’t fall. (I don’t want to ruin Gambino’s actual lyrics if and when he releases a version of Pharos — hopefully the live audio. It doesn’t jump off the page as much as it impacted me in the dome.)
To me, it’s clear that Donald Glover kept following his dreams and evolving as a music artist, and now an actor, writer, and producer on Atlanta. Everything is next-level and I’m here for all of it.
And lastly, if everything is as next-level as the concept of a weekend campout combined with a no-phones premiere performance, I’m all for that too. Thanks for pushing the envelope, Mr. Glover.
More photos and video I aggregated below. Hey, some were more crafty than I and snuck their phones in. Ha! (Lead photo by: Ibra Ake)
Who else was at @donaldglover's #Pharos event over the weekend?? pic.twitter.com/ZC0YPGIwqw
— Pursuit of Dopeness (@PursuitDopeness) September 7, 2016
The 60-foot high, 150-foot wide domed stage, as seen from the campsite at sunset (better than my Snapchat pic LOL. s/o P&P)
Childish Gambino, on another level with this sick venue for #Pharos show last night in Joshua Tree National Park pic.twitter.com/lyZPXiV1SJ
— #THATOLIFE (@thatolife) September 4, 2016
(Lmao… this was accurate.)
The ceiling at #Pharos had me like pic.twitter.com/2uLNcLQCpx
— Nicholas Murray (@BUYMYMIXTAP3) September 4, 2016
Thank you, @childishgambino
Soooo happy for my boy who got to kick it with Childish Gambino #HeSoSillyTho #Dreamsdocometrue #gangstaposing #jelly #mypuppy #donaldglover #childishgambino
One last shoutout to everyone below for putting this all together.
PHAROS WEEKEND CREDITS:
Wolf + Rothstein Source – Donald Glover Tone – Fam Udeorji The Wolf – Chad Taylor Art – Ibra Ake
PHAROS.earth app Executive Producers – Wolf + Rothstein Technical Lead – Miles Konstantin (Proverse)
Event Producers: Executive Producers – Wolf + Rothstein Associate Producers – Mick Management Producer – Live Nation
Dome Content: Executive Producers – Wolf + Rothstein Technical Leads – Alejandro Miguel Justino Crawford, Brian Chasalow, Chelsea Hash, Austion Woolfolk Animation – Mikael Gustafsson Content partner – Microsoft
Illumination Forest Lighting Designer – Sarah Landau Bio-luminescent smart-material – Elena Corchero (Lost Values) Outdoor theater Content Provider – FX
PHAROS players Source – Childish Gambino Musical Director – Ludwig Goransson Keys – Lynette Williams Bass – Thomas Drayton Drums – Chris Hartz Percussion – Dani Markham Guitar – Sam Sugarman
Choir: Jason Morales Musique Cooks Dennis Clark Nita Hutton Nikisha Grier Danielle Withers
(Stay tuned…??)
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Our first-hand experience at #Pharos : Go Where Hip Hop
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