We’re gearing up for another Portola weekend at Pier 80 - checking the lineup twice and getting our walking shoes ready. It’s always a delicate dance trying to catch the entirety of every act you’ve prioritized while walking from stage to stage and swimming through the ebbs and flows of everyone trying to get somewhere, whether it’s the bar, the food areas, the lockers, or the random vendor giving something away for free. Below, we’ve highlighted a few acts we’re especially excited to catch within the sea of festivities.
My line-up priorities are set on pure emotional range. I'm hitting Robyn for that essential, cathartic outdoor dance-floor cry, stepping into the transcendent, sonic wizardry of Four Tet to let the brain wander, and locking into Prospa for a legal energy drink and sweating it all out. The vibe is high energy, deep feels, and pure ritual for Pier 80 and open skies. - Eryka V.
What more can be said about an artist whose music is beautiful, honest, true and full of every kind of human emotion than Kelela? Genres have always existed to package and market music but don’t really matter when it comes to Kelela. Music doesn’t need to be explained and Kelela needs no further explanation. Her music exists entirely on its own terms. Anything deeply sensual, vulnerable, devastating and deeply rhythmic is something we need to embrace when there’s so much else in the world demanding our attention. Seeing Kelela on Sunday feels like it could be one of those sets where the crowd collectively forgets there are other places to be. - Marcus Rosario
I’m sure the line to get into Despacio will show no mercy as it did last year but that won’t stop me from waiting to enter the most captivating and gloriously unassuming space at Portola again this year. Built from scratch, Despacio’s towering speakers and nearly 50,000 watts of McIntosh amplification turn a temporary warehouse into something closer to a portal for eight hours of meticulously exquisite dance music on vinyl that's so clean and physical you can feel every molecule of it without obliterating your ears or your conversation with a friendly stranger. With no DJ to stare at, the room becomes the spectacle. Sometimes the room is pitch black, sometimes the disco ball detonates overhead and somewhere in between, the deepest edits and soulful operatic explosions of classic disco and house music take over, music you literally won’t hear anywhere else unless you’re close friends with James Murphy or Soulwax. - Marcus Rosario
Portola has done a good job in the past couple of years adding a little pop nostalgia to the lineup, showcasing the intersection of dance and the music of icons Nelly Furtado and Christina Aguilera. This year, THE Sporty Spice herself, Mel C, will be doing a DJ set, which makes a lot of sense when you consider her post-Spice Girls career included the techno banger “I Turn To You.” I’m anticipating a couple of cuts from the feminine fab five to be thrown into the mix, and curious what else will be thrown in to delight our ears. - Tshego Letsoalo