Mac Miller, Big Gigantic
Madison, prepare to shiver: Freakfest 2012 will pair the spine-tingling scares of Halloween with a dizzying number of national music stars. This year's lineup, announced today by Frank Productions and True Endeavors, features three stages of big-name touring acts. The event takes place on State Street Saturday, Oct. 27, beginning at 7 p.m.
Co-headliners Mac Miller and Big Gigantic should draw a wide range of music fans to the city-organized bash, which drew about 26,000 partiers last year.
Miller, a 20-year-old Pittsburgh native, has been freestyling his way toward stardom since 2010, when he signed a recording deal with Rostrum Records. Since then, he's released his first studio album, Blue Slide Park, which The Village Voice has described as "fun, upbeat and teeming with youthful vigor." In addition to rapping, the self-taught musician plays a variety of instruments, including the piano, guitar, bass and drums.
Big Gigantic, a duo from Boulder, Colorado, creates live electronica with drums, saxophones and electronic beats. Though they've found many fans on the jam-band circuit, they've also made admirers out of jazz, funk and hip-hop enthusiasts.
The bill also includes Nobody Beats the Drum, a Dutch ensemble whose novel blend of electro and breakbeats has drawn praise from both Vice and Kanye West; rude, crude Twin Cities rapper Prof; Minneapolis dance-rockers Roster McCabe; Kids These Days, a Chicago ensemble that bolsters hip-hop rhymes with a booming brass section; and Boston six-piece Gentlemen Hall, which fuses synth-pop with indie rock. Madison performers range from youthful rockers the Lately to hip-hop acts Kyle & Keem, OYE! and A.N.T. Other local musicians will compete for one of the fest's opening gigs via a Wom Street virtual battle of the bands.
But the most sought-after prize is that of the costume contest, which will take place at the Ticketmaster stage at 11 p.m. Gift certificates will be awarded for the craziest, funniest, scariest and most creative get-ups of the evening.
