Cut short by weather, Something in the Water still had big moments

VIRGINIA BEACH — The music blasted and fans streamed onto often dampened sand at the Oceanfront over the weekend — when it wasn’t raining.

The scheduled lineup for Pharrell Williams’ three-day music festival, Something in the Water, was hampered by bad weather, which caused delays and cut several performances Friday. Sunday was a complete washout with all performances canceled, including those by headlining acts such as the Wu-Tang Clan, Lil Uzi Vert and Grace Jones.

But Saturday was clear and star-studded with performances by Lil Wayne, Machine Gun Kelly, Busta Rhymes, De La Soul and surprise appearances by rapper and producer Diddy and Virginia native Chris Brown.

Williams camped out Saturday afternoon a short distance from the festival, organizing events inside the artist compound near Rudee Loop.

Reporters took turns speaking to the music star, businessman and new men’s creative director for Paris-based Louis Vuitton. He relaxed in an open-walled tent, which protected a fashionable orange couch, beach hammock chairs and Williams’ team from the sun.

Williams reminisced about skateboarding around Virginia Beach and neighborhoods where he grew up — such as the nearby Atlantis Apartments, Salem and Windsor Woods.

As a teen, “we came down here to, like, talk to girls, you know,” he added.

Williams said he would be willing to help any effort to advance the culture of skateboarding; he feels it can be just as important as academics for teaching kids about discipline and promoting self-confidence.

“Because it requires one to continue to try and try and try again and not give up, and it’s incredibly rewarding,” he said. “The endorphins fire off when you land that trick.”

He said lessons like those are what ultimately led to his success and international stardom.

“Virginia made me,” Williams said, later adding that Virginians need to stick together.

“Look at this festival. Feel this festival. What do you feel out here? You just feel love. Virginia is for lovers. How can you say that Virginia is for lovers and you don’t love your LGBTQIA? Or you don’t love Black people? You don’t love women? How can you say that Virginia is for lovers?

“Let our state slogan or mantra, let’s make that a real thing.”

On Friday, gates remained closed until shortly after 5 p.m. But with a sense of anticipation seemingly heightened by the delay, masses of fans poured into the festival grounds with screams of “Finally!!” — led by a group of 30 sprinting toward the beach.

The festival had two stages, the Solar stage at 3rd Street and the Lunar at 12th.

On the Lunar stage, Rapper Babyface Ray kicked off the evening, followed by Maren Morris and her country-pop crossover No. 1 hit “The Bones.” Third Eye Blind later overcame technical difficulties to deliver a rocking performance.

On the Solar stage, Arcade Fire flipped the rainy-day mood on its head with an up-tempo, supercharged performance which saw singer Win Butler thrusting his guitar over his head, like a prized trophy. A triumphant glare to the audience seemed to say: Watch what I’m about to do. Then, the band launched into its “Rebellion / (Lies).”

The festival, which featured rap, country, indie and rock, continued into Friday evening with the bulk of the crowd packed to one side of the beach awaiting the electronic dance music artist Skrillex to take the stage. Producer Kenny Beats started a mix of club bangers while a giant timer on a massive screen started counting down to Skrillex: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Then the stage went dark.

A whining siren blasted over the beach while a dizzying display of white lights built anticipation. A looped robotic voice began, growing faster and faster, then — BAM! The beat dropped and dropped again, sped up and dropped again. Skrillex’s dubstep mastery got the crowd dancing.

On Saturday, the sun came out and the crowds were even bigger, and navigating the boardwalk required the body-dodging abilities of a veteran New Yorker during rush hour at Grand Central Station.

Female performers SWV — Sisters with Voices — brought the grooves and later Latto elicited excitement on the Lunar Stage with powerful performances.

“Laadiiees!,” Latto screamed into the mic before the music dropped into a track heavily sampling Rick James’ “Super Freak.”

Later, The Jonas Brothers took the stage and walked out onto the catwalk extending into the crowd.

The fans at their feet screamed when they sang “Burnin’ Up” — and with lyrics describing the brothers’ “hot” feelings, the screams grew louder.

Williams echoed his Saturday afternoon comments when he took the stage with his “Phriends” around 11 p.m.

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Shortly after, rappers Machine Gun Kelly and Lil Wayne amped up the beach with crowd-rousing performances, Williams showed off his musical chops by singing “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” “Beautiful,” and “Chill Moody.”

Williams was joined by rappers Busta Rhymes, Diddy, M.I.A., A$AP Rocky, De La Soul and Brown. Between songs, he took time to say how proud he is of the state’s young people for standing up for minorities and historically oppressed groups and referenced plans to remove “divisive concepts” from public school curricula.

“We will not allow them to take anything out of our books,” he said to the roar of the crowd.

M.I.A.’s performance of her catching “Paper Planes” turned into a sing along. A$AP Rocky ran out onto the stage followed by a backup crew carrying a large upside-down American flag to cheers and joyous shouts, and Busta Rhymes razzle-dazzled with his patented rapid-fire delivery. And Brown who brought the night to a crescendo with his music-video-choreographed dance moves his fans loved.

Reporter Natalie Anderson contributed.

Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8139, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com