The music, arts and technology festival Panorama kicks off this weekend on Randall’s Island in New York City with Arcade Fire, Kendrick Lamar and LCD Soundsystem headlining Friday through Sunday, respectively.
In anticipation of the festival, The Huffington Post asked musicians performing at the festival this weekend to recall the craziest things they’ve seen on tour.
Here are their stories:
Aurora saw a man in panties playing an unusual amount of drums at once.
"I once saw a man dressed in only a pair of panties playing a thousand drums in a little one-man band. That was quite nice.”
Listen: “Life on Mars”
Caveman had some unfortunate experiences with animals while driving.
"I don’t really know. We almost hit a deer once and somehow avoided it. A massive bird flew into our window once and it was pretty disgusting. We had a night off in New Orleans and got to see the band Night Wish. That was pretty crazy!” ― Matthew Iwanusa, frontman
Listen: “Never Going Back”
Classixx might have seen Jesus.
"I once saw a guy walking down a very desolate stretch of highway. He was shirtless and carrying a gigantic wooden cross. I couldn’t understand where he was headed.” ― Michael David, co-founding member
Listen: “All You’re Waiting For”
Daughter got confused by a sun that wouldn’t set.
"We once played a festival in Sweden and the sun didn’t set. It was surreal and beautiful; we stayed out all night confused by it!” ― Elena Tonra, frontwoman
Listen: “How”
Ex Hex had a thing with a shrimp cocktail.
”It was crazy for me to see Lenny Kaye in person, but as far as wacky stuff, probably the shrimp cocktail in Porto, [Portugal].”
Listen: “Waterfall”
Flosstradaumus witnessed a roundhouse kick in Russia.
”We walked out of the venue in Moscow and a dude got a roundhouse kick to the face right when we stepped outside. Never knew that move was used in a street fight.” ― Curt Cameruci, co-founding member
Listen: “Prison Riot”
DJ Harvey always has a hard time switching from parties to lonely nights.
"So many crazy stories. Honestly, though, the thing about touring that is the weirdest [is] playing parties and receiving so much love from people, being on such a high, and then ending up solo in a hotel room afterwards. I used to be a lot crazier on tour but I don’t want to implicate myself in any way.”
Listen: “Ray-Ban x Boiler Room 007 Milan Set”
Jai Wolf almost crashed a car.
”Without going into too much detail, while supporting the last Gramatik tour, me and the Brasstracks guys almost crashed our car in some random town in middle America because we all got severe food poisoning from some questionable middle-America meat. That was scary.”
Listen: “Indian Summer”
JDH & Dave P. made memories in Mexico.
”I can’t go into exact detail or names, but generally, the craziest situations have been in Mexico. Specifically, places like Tijuana.” ― JDH
Listen: “The Lab NYC Set”
Little Scream acquired a giant baby costume.
”I just finished reading Steven Tyler’s autobiography, and nothing feels very crazy after that. For example, I’ve never had naked glitter-covered ladies hanging around my backstage that people are doing blow off of. My touring stories have much more to do with internal hilarity and in-jokes. For example, in my last band arrangement, my key player was a filmmaker who had just finished making a movie that had a giant baby costume in it as a prop. He didn’t have a proper keyboard case, so of course we were stuffing the keyboard inside of this giant baby costume. Sometimes my guitar player Marcus would put it on. He’s 6-foot-7. Pretty much everything is wonderful when you’re traveling with a giant man in a baby costume.”
Listen: “Love as a Weapon”
Oh Wonder survived an 60-mph attack from an umbrella.
"An umbrella pole flew through the front window of our tour bus at 60 mph.”
Listen: “Without You”
Grace Potter saw someone accidentally light their face on fire.
"I saw a lady catch on fire trying to show off [by spitting] whiskey into a fire one time. Yeah, I saw her face catch on fire. ... There are so many, it’s funny. Well, how about this one? We stopped at a Walmart, and everyone in the band and crew on my team bought these onesie nighties that are meant for little children and put them on and wandered around the store totally normal until we were escorted out. Were we escorted out or did we escort ourselves out? [Publicist: Well, I think we were escorted out but I think it was because it was closing or something?] Yeah, they found a gentle reason to get us out of there, but we were definitely milling around in children’s clothing.”
Listen: “Stars”
Preservation Hall Band had a musical moment with a founding member of Grateful Dead.
"Watching our clarinetist Charlie Gabriel trade licks with Bob Weir was crazy ... Crazy in a beautiful, ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ way.”
Listen: “That’s It”
Prinze George almost got lost in a ghost town.
"Twain Town in Missouri was probably the craziest thing we’ve seen on tour. It was a rest stop we made on the way to Chicago from Kansas. It was like a ghost town, super empty, and looked like something out of the 1930s. Isabelle [de Leon] and our tour manager were freaking out and didn’t think we’d make it out alive. It was pretty creepy, but I was into it.”
Listen: “Victor”
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats saw a couple doing a very intimate thing right outside their tour bus.
"Anilingus outside our bus, two days ago in Zurich. They had no idea that our bus was full of people watching.”
Listen: “S.O.B.”
Rüfüs du Sol endured Russian cops storming a club with assault rifles.
"Cops in Moscow storming a club with assault rifles was pretty intense. They went behind the booth and had the DJ stop playing.”
Listen: “Say a Prayer For Me”
The Julie Ruin has seen Kathleen Hanna tattoos everywhere.
”I didn’t realize so many people have [frontwoman and former Bikini Kill founder] Kathleen’s face tattooed on them.”
Listen: “I’m Done”
Silversun Pickups saw a burger truck engulfed in flames outside their show.
”Outside of our show in Sheffield in the U.K., a burger truck was engulfed in flames. People were cheering because they apparently thought the food was ‘shite.’ Also, I opened our bus door after a show in Arkansas and Judge Reinhold was sitting inside. No idea how he got there. Nice fellow ...” ― Brian Aubert, founding member
Listen: “Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance)”
Lindsey Stirling had a driver who wove through traffic on the wrong side of the freeway.
”One time, we were in the Philippines [and] our driver went backwards in traffic. Traffic was so bad, we had a police escort ― basically a policeman on a motorcycle in front of us. But traffic was so bad, and we had to get to the airport, that he literally jumped through this hole in the median and took us onto the other side of the freeway so we could get to the airport on time.”
Listen: “The Arena”
Tourist had fun on a cruise ship.
”At Ultra Music festival, the back stage area is a cruise ship.”
Listen: “Run”
White Lung witnessed the disturbing disposal of a Saint Bernard.
”Our guitarist Kenny swears he saw a dead Saint Bernard flung on the side of the freeway once. No one believes him.”
Listen: “Below”
The Panorama Music Festival kicks off on New York City’s Randall’s Island beginning July 22, 2016.
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