Third festival

Return of the river party: By the early afternoon on Saturday, it became clear: First Festival had made its comeback. At River Walk Park in West Sacramento, kids crawled into honeycomb-patterned art installations beside the Sacramento River, adults accidentally dropped cherry snow cones onto the grass, and hundreds music lovers of all ages threw their hands up obligingly when asked by performers on stage.

After tanking last year without enough attendees, the weekend-long music festival drew a lively crowd of 3,500 attendees in its third year with a lineup of dozens of local artists and musicians, according to event producer Danielle Vincent. At times, the audience clustered before a performer would look small because of the spaciousness of River Walk Park, but head counts found at least 70 people glued to each of the three stages. Eventually, the throng in front of the main stage was hard to squeeze through.

The weekend started out quiet but strong with acts such as the rising hip-hop artist KaiLord and The Outcome, a rock ’n’ roll band with more subtle technique than your typical stadium rock group. The outros by guitarist Quinn Hedges were delicately phrased like sweet nothings. “I’ll take it all for you / It’s always for you,” they sang earnestly with hammy vocals, but with perfectly controlled vibrato to achieve the polish they were after.

Solo act Jayson Angove revealed his talents apart from his rock band, Humble Wolf. Using a loop pedal, Angove made his acoustic guitar and voice seem as complex as a small orchestra while playing songs off his recent release, Queen of the Beginning and the Magnificent End. He whispered over a rich timbre of baritone singing, an effect reminiscent of M. Ward.

Another highlight was hip-hop artist Kennedy Wrose, who danced with all the goofy sincerity of Drake while smoothly spinning lines about the virtues of staying true to his lady. On the song “Hold Me Down,” he took on the role of hype man for marriage: “What started as a blur is now clear and defined / so I had to put a ring on it.” Wrose was joined by R&B singer Trei Knoxx, who crooned with pipes as creamy as butter: “I like the way you hold me down.” Those notes ricocheted underneath the rusty I Street Bridge, where passing Amtrak trains would occasionally add new beats to the day’s hopeful rhythm.

—Rebecca Huval

Fade to the end: On Sunday evening at First Festival, the overall feeling in the air was laid back. Sometimes it was quiet between sets, but really, the lay of the land with its grassy hills and shaded river views gave plenty of space for concert seekers to chill out until the music started back up.

The Front Porch stage was closest to the entrance, and the distant sounds of Erica Ambrin & the Eclectic Soul Project beckoned attendees to follow the music. Ambrin, a singer and guitarist who appeared on American Idol in 2015, gave a stellar late-afternoon performance with her soulful R&B and at times wistful musical arrangements backed by her band.

After grabbing a pint, we perused the diverse group of vendors that included stations with live painting demos from Sacramento artists and several chic lounge areas with comfy-looking sofas made out of pallets and TUBE. magazine’s vintage outdoor living room. First Festival kept the eyes busy and piqued my interests with random makeshift thrones made from stained wood and large orbs hanging from the trees.

Up next, SpaceWalker, a hip-hop artist who harnesses the power of the unicorn, looped and layered original beats and used fuzzy effects over her vocals. A man wearing a unicorn mask slowly danced and formed yogalike poses while she confidently delivered rhyme after rhyme. With a strong crowd of about 100 watching her perform, a wave of new faces slowly joined the crowd to watch the rest of her set. Some fans bought horns that SpaceWalker had made by hand the night before. Her unicorn squad grew by the looks of all those colorful horns that bopped around the rest of the evening.

—Steph Rodriguez