After a four-year hiatus since Tyler, the Creator’s last festival in 2019, the long-awaited Camp Flog Gnaw returned this past weekend, Nov. 11 to 12 at Dodger Stadium. Each year, the music festival carnival notably brings together fans of Tyler in LA for two days with a lineup of artists from genres such as pop, indie, hip-hop, rock, rap, and house music. Included in the lineup of performers camping in all the fun were a few AAPI artists like Beabadoobee, Balming Tiger and Dominic Fike.
Filipina singer-songwriter Beabadoobee was the first artist to take the Camp stage on the first day of the festival. CFG includes three stages named after the festival itself with Camp being the largest, Flog being the second largest and Gnaw being the smallest. Bea’s discography has music from the likes of acoustic indie to alternative rock which she amplified for the crowd during her set. Fan favorite tracks included “the perfect pair” and “Glue Song” which brought a summery atmosphere and coziness that the audience swayed to in the fall weather.
Bea’s supple voice echoed through the main stage as fans sang along. The Camp stage’s lofty screen shone her stage name with flashes of colorful scribbled art as its backdrop. She shared how she’s far from home in the UK before one of her songs but the CFG crowd helped welcome her with finger hearts and singing along to her melodies. Bea is known for her soft music but she also channeled her upbeat alternative style in songs like “Cologne.” Fans lightly thrashed and bobbed their awe-struck heads to the chords she played on her electric guitar. The singer served the best of both worlds with her take on a laid-back and high-tempo performance well suited for a midday show.
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Balming Tiger is a musical group from South Korea that took formation at the Flog stage in the early afternoon on Saturday. The group performed a set of their hip-hop and alternative K-pop music in their matching dark gray tracksuits for an audience that instantly matched their energy. They marched to the bouncy rhythm of “Moving Forward” from one direction of the stage to another. Remaining in a playful but unified arrangement, the five members swung their hips side to side when they performed “Buriburi.” Balming Tiger chanted for the crowd to shake their booty with their arms outstretched to each end.
Halfway through their set, Omega Sapien, the group’s green-haired frontman, said he was happy to see many smiling faces. He followed this gratitude by welcoming everyone at CFG to “K-pop from the dark side.” Balming Tiger continued their hybrid rap sound with the deep synth beat of “SEXY NUKIM” and the upbeat, body-rocking intensity of “POP THE TAG.” Their hypnotizing digital visuals heightened the sensation already felt from the group’s vocals and funky beats.
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Dominic Fike is an alternative/indie singer of African American, Filipino and Haitian descent who performed on Sunday, the festival’s second day. He entered the Camp stage to an audience that whooed and roared as he started his set with “How Much Is Weed?” The uproar continued in songs like “Ant Pile” where he strummed his electric guitar and filled the audience with serotonin with his velvety vocals. He shared how he felt nervous but that it’s also good to get that feeling with how it’s a notion to him that his life is about to drastically change. Although he got to perform on the main stage that evening, he questioned why he wasn’t the main headliner of the night. Nonetheless, he thanked Tyler for the festival and shared how he has performed at CFG before.
Next to Fike on stage, he had a large road sign illuminating different messages in orange text. Phrases included “WORDS MEAN THINGS,” “NEXT STEPS,” and “MORE OR LESS.” His sign was just one part of the all-around warm hues in his performance. The screen behind him and his band beamed orange and red colors as smoke spread around the stage. Fike incited the crowd to join him in a fan-favorite song “Phone Numbers” that he described has more rap to it before he turned the microphone on his stand toward the fans. His prideful set went on with more thrashing, lulling and everything in between to at one point when he even hopped off stage near the barricade.
Festival guests turned happy campers left Camp Flog Gnaw pleased from all the music that brought the community together. The festival gave a platform and stage to these AAPI artists to
perform for their beloved fans with striking passion. The lineup also included many artists of color such as WILLOW, Kali Uchis, SZA, Cuco, Kendrick Lamar and more who were devoted to sharing their music and connecting with fans as well.
