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Thousands had waited hours for Pharrell and his “Phriends” — several of them surprise guests — to cap a perfect, sun-soaked day of music and dancing.
And they did.
On the second day of his Something in the Water festival, Williams emerged among a phalanx of backup dancers and launched into crowd-rousing hits such as “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” “Beautiful” and “Chill Moody,” before further energizing the crowd with:
“It feels good to be home, VA!”
He then pulled out a lineup that dazzled like the glittering white, green, black and pink jacket he wore. His “Phriends” included rappers Busta Rhymes, Diddy, M.I.A., A$AP Rocky, De La Soul and Chris Brown.
[ Don't Miss: Sights and sounds from Something in the Water Day 2 ]
The show, which partied on after midnight, was the culmination of concerts on two stages that featured some of the newest names in rap, electronic music and indie rock, and perennial audience favorites such as the Jonas Brothers, Machine Gun Kelly and Lil Wayne.
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Williams took several breaks to thank the crowd, the city and how the different organizations, including the police and fire departments, worked in concert to make the weekend happen.
He particularly said he was proud of the area’s young people for being vocal and speaking up for the equal treatment of Black Americans, women and the LGBT community. He also referenced the recent controversies surrounding changes in the social studies curriculum in public schools such as Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s ban on “divisive concepts,” including the history of racism, sexism and oppression in the United States.
“We will not allow them to take anything out of our books,” he said to the roar of the crowd. “When you start playing around with the history, you start playing around with our future, and the people of Virginia aren’t going to go for that.”
“That’s what’s something in the water.”
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Before Pharrell and his friends came on stage, rapper Lil Wayne amped the crowd with hits such as “6 foot, 7 foot,” with the crowd often singing the lyrics at top volume when he stopped singing. Wayne looked genuinely happy to be performing under a beautiful night sky with the beach waves crashing in the distance.
He asked the crowd to thank the people who organized the festival, the people watching from the surrounding hotel balconies and then for the crowd to applaud itself for being great.
“This is my first time doing this,” he said, “And you all are (expletive) awesome!
Earlier in the afternoon, teeming masses hit the beach. Unlike Friday, bad weather was not a factor and the music kicked off at 3 p.m. under clear blue skies. Female performers ruled the two stages, including British indie group Wet Leg.
The group SWV — Sisters with Voices—were the first up and lit up the crowd as they did when they were one of the most popular R&B groups of the 1990s.
During a break between songs, the trio took turns reminiscing about their early days, including how none of the record companies wanted to sign them. But legendary producer Teddy Riley, who had a studio and lived in Virginia Beach at the time, saw their potential and flew them to Hampton Roads to make music.
The harmonizing trio covered their hits such as “I’m So Into You,” “Right Here,” and left the crowd wanting more with its finale of “Weak” to which large swaths of the crowd sang along.
Then, there was Latto displaying her “freak” side in an uninhibited, vigorous performance hustling from one side of the stage to the other.
“Is Virginia in the house?!” she asked, surrounded by backup dancers whose synchronized moves punctuated the entire set. The crowd ― through its screams — indicated that, yes, they clearly were.
And on the other side of the beach on the Lunar stage, Nick, Joe and Kevin of the Jonas Brothers took the stage, walking out onto the catwalk that extend into the crowd.
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Weekend Scoop
The fans screamed as if Elvis was in the house when the brothers sang “Burnin’ Up.” Women sat on men’s shoulders throughout the set with their arms uplifted to the heavens, sky and the Jonas Brothers.
“Where’s all the sexy people at tonight,” one of the bros called out to the crowd.
Three men on the Boardwalk, who at first skipped around the beach seeming to mock the music, stopped and paid attention when the brothers began to play DNCE’s hit “Cake By the Ocean.” The three on the Boardwalk stopped skipping, started nodding their heads and started dancing.
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Heading to Day 3 of the festival? Here’s everything you need to know.
You can visit our complete festival guide here.
Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8139, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com