On Saturday, August 5^th and Sunday,  August 6^th, legendary rock radio station KLOS hosted the first ever High & Mighty Festival at Village Green Park in Garden Grove, CA.  A sold-out crowd of over 8,000+ made their way into Central Orange County for two days of great food, cold beer, and killer music headlined by Southern California’s very own SUBLIME WITH ROME and DIRTY HEADS.  And if killer music wasn’t enough, festival-goers were treated to unlimited craft beer tasting (between 1:00 – 4:00pm), lifestyle vendors, carnival rides, and a host of food trucks from all over the South-land. 

One of the wonderful things about High & Mighty is that co-producers Cameron Collins and John Reese spared no expense in ensuring that the musical lineup for this emerging annual festival was second to none. The unbelievable lineup spanned all genres of music including reggae, roots, hip-hop, and rock.  

The final line-up for this year’s High & Mighty Festival was as follows:

Day 1:  Sublime With Rome, SOJA, Stick Figure, Magic!,  King Lil G, Katasaro, Iya Terra, Tunnel Vision, Tyrone’s Jacket, &  Noahjvmes

Day 2:  Dirty Heads, Jurassic 5, Tribal Seeds, Tech N9ne, Chief Keef, Mars, Ballyhoo, Pacific Dub, & Know-Madik

Although performances across the board were solid, a few them stood out as “best-in-class” at this year’s High & Mighty Festival.  First off, hats off to LA based Hip-hop / Reggae collective, TYRONE’S JACKET.  I had never seen this band perform live and was literally blown away with their energy and positive vibe.  Wish they could have played a longer set as they ended up being one of my Day 1 favorites.  STICK FIGURE was another band that stood out on Saturday.  Scott Woodruff’s vocals were pure magic and quickly overtook the near-capacity crowd with his truly amazing voice. - so smooth, so filled with love and hope.  To me, STICK FIGURE represents all that is good in Reggae music today. And then there is TECH N9NE.  I am not sure how this guy ended up 4^th on Sunday’s lineup, but regardless of reasoning, felt his performance at High & Mighty was simply brilliant.  Can’t think of another performer in rap that can do what TECH N9NE does, and hope others in attendance got a chance to witness how special this talent truly is. Finally, I’d be remiss to say that both SUBLIME WITH ROME and DIRTY HEADS we’re incredible headliners for this year’s festival.  The talent these two bands possess is nothing short of spectacular and put on amazing sets for their legions of fans on Saturday and Sunday respectively.  Respect.

Overall, the 2017 High & Mighty (presented by Southern California’s Rock Leader - KLOS) will go down in history as one of the coolest events to take place in Village Green Park in Garden Grove.  Whether you were drinking amazing beer, eating amazing food, of jamming to some amazing live music, there was something for everyone at this year’s show.  And as the music came to an end and, all I could think about was what an incredible festival this was.  In a day and time where many over-hype and under-deliver, Cameron Collins and John Reese pulled all the stops and exceeded all expectations for what many in attendance felt was the best festival they had been to in years.  Looking forward to seeing how this dynamic duo tops this one in 2018 with their next annual installment.  Until next time…

Stay Frosty and Rock On!

Day 1 Photos