Riptide Music Festival Rocked Fort Lauderdale Beach, Ended on a Country Note

This year, Audacy's Riptide Music Festival ended with a twang.

After September's announcement that the multi-genre, country-leaning singer Jelly Roll was headlining this year's festival, fans were up in arms about it on social media.

Jelly Roll closing out day two of the Fort Lauderdale Beach rock fest was indeed different, but it's not the first time Riptide has strayed from its rock roots. Acts like Lil Nas X, Steve Aoki, and the Sugarhill Gang have previously performed at the festival.

So, did Jelly roll or flop?

For starters, the Country Music Association "New Artist of the Year" and Grammy nominee followed the energetic peak of the entire weekend: back-to-back Sunday sets by Sublime with Rome and Dirty Heads. While there was no inclement weather all weekend, the cloud of weed smoke hovering over in the pit rolled in when Rome Ramirez joined Dirty Heads for a pepped rendition of its smash, "Lay Me Down."
The exodus after Dirty Heads' set was evident, and half the crowd left ahead of the country closer's set. For those who stayed, it was a damn spectacle — a spectacle that was perhaps a better fit for Tortuga Music Festival, the Fort Lauderdale's April country-music shindig.

Behind smoke from the fog machines, the face-tattooed, Jesus-loving phenomenon opened with "The Lost," got the crowd holding their middle fingers up during "The Hate Goes On," and had hell-like fire flames behind him during "Halfway to Hell." That was just the first three songs, let alone all the prison-reflecting, religion-inspired rap-crooning thereafter.

For a year that lacked the big-name pizzazz of past headliners like the Killers, Twenty-One Pilots, and Machine Gun Kelly, Jelly Roll's set did have some thunder for those who stuck around.

There was much more to the weekend than one dude, though. Saturday night closed with a pure rock bang thanks to Ohio-bred duo the Black Keys. Its nearly two-hour set featured album-like versions of hits "Gold on the Ceiling," "Fever," and "Lonely Boy," as well as covers of Richard Berry's "Hate Love, Will Travel" and "Crawling King Snake."
On the secondary Demesmin and Dover Stage, a highlight of the weekend included a Saturday homecoming show of sorts for rising indie-pop band Cannons. Lead singer Michelle Joy is a Delray Beach native, and her brother, Mike, was seen rockin' out alongside thousands of fans. Beyond its crowd-fave, "Fire for You," the band also played some new tunes, like "Loving You" and "Desire," from its recently released album, Heartbeat Highway.

Be it Bleachers' anthemic "Rollercoaster," Awolnation's chant-inducing "Sail," or Silversun Pickups' nearly 20-year-old banger "Lazy Eye," ocean views and sandy toes were the elements that bonded Riptide together.

Here's hope that the homegrown fest success story attracts two big alternative headliners next year to keep the momentum going in the right direction.