All photos and illustrations by Brian Butler of Show DrawnAt a time when music festivals seem to hew closer and closer to the same approach and book many of the same acts, Miami's III Points Music, Art, and Technology Festival has stood out by offering a slightly more absurd take on the whole experience. The centerpiece of the festival grounds was a three-story pyramid constructed with the help of aliens and a sketchy scissor lift. There was rad art throughout. There was a skating rink to complement the driving-a-test-car-in-circles rink. There was an RV labeled CoWorker Gift Shop selling zines and suspicious brownies. The lighting design was beautiful. Even the air conditioning ducts took on an artful quality. A makeup station near the main stage painted people's eyelids like giant anime eyes (this is hard to see in the drawings, but trust me). The best day party had an inflatable bounce house, a papaya eating contest, and a porta-potty that erupted with a giant cloud of nitrogen smoke toward the poor people trying to pee.The bookings were unique, too. Rather than relying on A-list headliners, III Points leaned toward the experimental across the electronic, hip-hop, and rock worlds. The local scene was well repped: If you're curious what type of talent grows from the humid everglades of South Florida, start by exploring Psychic Mirrors, Otto Von Schirach, Robb Bank$, and Deaf Poets. Jay Electronica quickly positioned himself as an ad-hoc party host, inviting the entire audience to join him on stage. He credited security for being mad chill, and suggested they should get drinks and blowjobs for their efforts. Several accounts confirmed that after his set, he continued to play host around the festival—even popping up midway through King Krule's set to give Archy his Roc-a-Fella chain. I think that's probably akin to being knighted by the Queen.Run The Jewels taught the audience to Lie, Cheat, Steal, Kill, and Win—though it may already say that on the Florida state seal—and Killer Mike gave Bernie Sanders his thumbs up. Alunageorge had nothing but hits, and Toro Y Moi had the most people making out during his set. Copan were tight, with super spastic live drumming and psych-y guitar licks performed over a sampler. They ate up their entire half-hour set with three songs. Plastic Pinks played their Miami homecoming on Friday, returning from a long national tour. They powered through most of the material on their Burger Records cassette. MF DOOM performed via some weird public access broadcast, which was probably going to win for strangest performance, until Poorgrrrl and her army of babes took the stage. No one really knows what happened for that ten minutes, but it will likely resurface in therapy.In all, it was a weekend worth remembering, so I did exactly that, by drawing each set as it happened. Check out the illustrations below:Continued below…Friday: Viigo, Grey 8s, Kumi, Jude, The Field, Kazoots, Plastic Pinks (Click here for hi-res)Friday: Panda Bear, Surfer Blood, Austin Paul, Ms. Mada, Bonobo, Abra, Empress Of, Basti, The Jacket (Click here for hi-res)Friday: Robb Bank$, Nicolas Jaar, Warpaint, Pazmal, Neon Indian (Click here for hi-res)Saturday: MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah, Shlohmo, Nala, Hunters of the Alps, Run the Jewels, Despot, Toro Y Moi (Click here for hi-res)Sunday: Andre Power, Sango, Copan, Otto von Schirach, Bomba Estereo, Goodroid (Click here for hi-res)Sunday: Poorgrrrl, Soul Clap, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Patrick Walsh, Michelle Leshem, Sean Drake (Click here for hi-res)Sunday: Jay Electronica, MC Punch, Deaf Poets, Corbin and Bobby Raps, Psychic Mirrors, King Krule (Click here for hi-res)Brian Butler lives in Miami and runs the blog and live show illustration project Show Drawn. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
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