A Sunny Day in December for Riptide Music Festival Day 1
ft. lauderdale, florida - december 2, 2023
It was not a typical December day for most people at the Riptide Music Festival. The skies were blue and waves crashed along the shore as the crowd stood in the sand under the sun enjoying the weather and incredible lineup of artists this year for Riptide Fest’s first day of fun.
The variety of artists in this lineup brought a large demographic of fans into Ft. Lauderdale Beach for day one of Riptide. As the gates opened and the first wave of crowds flooded in, Jack Kays was first to take to the stage and play his last show of the year. He made it a memorable one as fans continued to make their way in. Kays was then followed by Little Image, a Dallas alternative pop band with roots in post-punk. They played most of their repertoire of songs from their new album SELF-TITLED while warming up the main stage at Riptide for the rest of the lineup.
Both performances set the bar unbelievably high for just the first hour of festivities, with an entire day left of more incredible sets ahead. By the time The Beaches stepped out, the crowd stretched back past the sound booth and down the hill in the sand. The Canadian female rock band brought the heat with their short but energetic set. Six out of seven of their songs came from their recently released album, Blame My Ex, and it was incredibly fitting to end the set with their hit single “Blame Brett.”
Immediately as their set ended, the crowd ran over to the main stage to see Silversun Pickups. The crowd was now starting to fill up half of the beach, with people tossing beach balls amongst the throngs of fans as Silversun Pickups played their hits. Beach Weather brought all the fans over to the Demesmin & Dover stage on the other side of the beach with their pop-rock hits. But like Silversun Pickups, this wasn’t their first rodeo at Riptide. They told the crowd how it was “nice to be back,” and lead singer Nick Santino interacted with the crowd, cracking jokes before leaving everyone with their now Platinum song “Sex, Drugs, etc.”
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But the day isn’t even close to over yet. Migrating back over to the main stage, fans moved to see Lovejoy. Lead singer Wilbur Soot of the indie rock band, mentioned how drastically different the beautiful Florida weather was compared to back home on the south coast of England, and despite some mishaps in the crowd that made them restart two songs, Wilbur and the rest of the band kept their energy high and a positive attitude enjoying the sun and excitement from the crowd.
After their unforgettable performance, Misterwives took to the Demesmin & Dover stage. Despite some tech malfunctions with the mic during their first song, vocalist Mandy Lee handled it with grace, and the crowd helped them get through it. Mandy noted how her “worst nightmare came true but you showed me it wasn’t that bad. Thank you for being so kind Riptide!” They grooved through the rest of their set with no issues and kept spirits high. As soon as 5:15 hit close to the end of Misterwives’ set, Young the Giant dominated the main stage. The crowd was so packed it was hard to tell where it began and ended. Young the Giant took fans to another planet during their one-hour set. As the sun set on the beach and birds flew overhead, they played their greatest hits and thanked Riptide before heading out.
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Cannons brought the crowd back out to Dover stage one last time for the night with their indie pop sound. They closed out the Dover stage with a bang and got everyone hyped for the last two sets of the day. As Cannons’ set came to an end, the highly anticipated return of Bleachers was next. Kicking off their mini end-of-the-year tour, Bleachers put on an insane performance with a live debut of their new song “Modern Girl,” a cameo by Papa Ricky, Antonoff’s father, playing guitar, and Jack yelling at the crowd to get on each other’s shoulders for “Rollercoaster.” After many Florida Man jokes and sax solos, Bleachers finished their set with “Stop Making This Hurt,” followed by a sassy and jazzy sax exit from the stage as they said goodbye to Ft. Lauderdale.
Bleachers’ incredible set would seem difficult to follow, but The Black Keys did just that. Headlining for Riptide Festival, The Black Keys went all out for their hour-and-a-half set. It was the moment all festivalgoers were waiting for, and the iconic rock duo did not disappoint. Their set had a little something for everyone with songs spanning all across their discography, from songs from The Big Come Up to Dropout Boogie. They, of course, ended the night and wrapped Riptide Festival day one with “Lonely Boy,” a perfect end to an action-packed day.
Riptide Festival Day One proved to have something for everyone, full of fun festival activities, booths up and down the beach for pit stops and drinks, and memorable performances drawing crowds from all over Florida. Day two is sure to be a hit as well. Check out our site and stay tuned for our day two coverage!
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All images taken by Getty for Audacy