The party crew

Hip-hop for the win: As #HOF Day approached, every flier, post on social media or photo caption read the same thing: “#HOF Day: A party so big, they call it a festival.”

HOF, which stands for “Hall Of Fame,” aims to create an atmosphere of creativity, fun and the urge to party hard. The HOF crew, which includes Marcus Parker, Tony Christian, Robbie Metcalf and Damian Lynch, have been throwing huge, raging parties for the past 10 years. However, the group raised its profile last year with its first annual #HOF Day, featuring Soosh*e!, Jurts and members of the HBK Gang. This year’s #HOF Day was by far the biggest event yet, with more than 20 performers, more than 10 deejays and a headlining set by celebrity producer Metro Boomin.

The Riverwalk in West Sacramento was reserved for an advertised estimate of 10,000 attendees. Although the 10 acres of land provided a gorgeous view of Sacramento’s most recognized structures—the Delta King, the Ziggurat, the Tower Bridge—the two stages and vendor booths were so close that they looked like they were kissing each other. That was most likely strategic planning to keep every section of the event looking full and busy, regardless of how many people were actually there.

As always, Sacramento’s world-renowned performance painter David Garibaldi gave an amazing show. His live painting at the main stage was epic. As he threw colors and mixtures onto the canvas, his strokes matched the beats of the background music. Watching an artist at work always provides a sense of calm, but Garibaldi hypnotizes with his talent. After keeping the audience guessing, he unveiled his final product to be a portrait of Sacramento’s OG icon, Kenny the Dancing Man.

The musicians and artists brought to HOF Day were nothing short of spectacular. Local performers like J. Sirus, Chuuwee, C Plus and Zyah Belle—who will be moving to Los Angeles in October—showed up and showed off for the city and made everyone remember what true love for music looks and sounds like. Artists who weren’t from the area, like oriJanus and NiceGuyXVinny from the label Soulection, gave life to the night.

Before Metro Boomin came on, all-access pass holders were forced to stay outside of the backstage areas. The backup of partygoers caused a large, hazardous crowd to form right next to the main stage. For about an hour, Metro’s team didn’t want him coming out in all of that chaos and held him even longer. Luckily, the HOF Day crew was able to smooth things out. Once Metro finally emerged, and dropped his famous tag line, “If young Metro don’t trust ya,” the crowd went wild. The eclectic light show complimented each of his top produced songs like “Jumpman,” featuring Drake and Future, “Tuesday,” featuring ILoveMakonnen and Drake, and “Blow a Bag,” featuring Future.

To witness that much raw talent, community love and waves of positivity leading up to a groundbreaking set by Metro Boomin compensated for any other pitfalls.

—Taylor Desmangles

Can’t argue with free: Sure, you could journey down to San Francisco and suffer an apocalyptic parking situation and claustrophobic crowds to attend Hardly Strictly Bluegrass this weekend—or you could stay here, and ride your bike to a comparatively teeny-tiny fest with a similar spirit and price tag. In other words, free and noncommercial.

Sac PorchFest transforms porches into stages and sidewalks into standing room. Midtown becomes the venue. Public space is for all.

Last year’s inaugural festival saw a wildly enthusiastic crowd stick it out all afternoon, roaming from house to house to catch acts. This year’s lineup features nine mostly folk acts, with some standouts like the beloved Be Brave Bold Robot; Flourish, as featured in this week’s music article on page 38; singer-songwriter Justin Farren; experimental, electro-soul one-man-band So Much Light; and an ensemble from the Sacramento Philharmonic.

Catch them all from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 1, around I and 21st streets. More at www.sacporchfest.com.

—Janelle Bitker