Photos by Zachary Sorrels
The streets of downtown Amarillo welcomed the third annual Hoodoo Mural Festival on October 1st, 2022. Zach and I made the hour-long journey down to Amarillo to check out the amazing artwork and music that Hoodoo were set to deliver.
The festival had an absolutely stacked lineup on both the music and art fronts, featuring musical artists such as Neil Frances, Kaelin Ellis, and Flamingosis, as well as world-renowned muralists Tristan Eaton and Drew Merritt.
The weather was perfect for a day of dancing and spray-paint watching, and Zach and I were immediately impressed by the beautiful landscape of downtown Amarillo. This was our first time ever visiting the city, and we were taken aback by just how robust the art and music communities were within the city.
We started our day by checking out the first live band set to kick off the music portion of the festival. Vamping, a local Amarillo act, christened the stage with some great indie rock-pop fusion. They made great use of their time slot, cranking out song after feel-good song and orchestrating a tight setlist that got the crowd in the perfect mood for what was to follow.
Between musical acts, we got to speak to the founder of Hoodoo, Andrew Hall, about the festival’s impact on the Amarillo community.
“A normal festival has music…you buy a ticket and go see it. Well, for us, the music is just a benefit. We have an amazing lineup of artists…but the music goes away, and the art gets to stay. And these murals are for our community, and they’re free. It’s really fun to see what people do with them.”
Hall was born and raised in Amarillo but lived in Dallas for ten years before moving back to Amarillo in 2013 and beginning his work towards Hoodoo. While not being an artist himself, he was interested in the economics and revitalization aspects of the downtown area.
“We have an amazing art community here. We are very lucky that our community has bought in and done everything to help us. We couldn’t do anything without the individuals and businesses that sponsor us. We really appreciate it. I think – and I hope they think – that it’s really paying off.”
Hall stated that the musical lineup, comprised of mostly indie and electronic this year, is an important aspect of the festival.
“This community needs this type of music. We have a great country-western scene, but that doesn’t fit everyone – that doesn’t fit me. So, I’m just excited to bring this type of music to our community, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s been very well received.”
After speaking to Andrew Hall and chatting with Vamping (full interview transcript coming soon), Zach and I made our way back to the stage to check out the evening’s next act, Little Jet. We only got to check out their last couple of songs, but they made a fan of both of us immediately. This elusive duo reminded me somewhat of Beach House or the xx. The duo elusively drew the crowd in throughout their performance, crooning over dream pop instrumentals and playing some beautiful chords to accompany their sweet lyricism. Zach and I were bemused to discover that, aside from a handful of tracks available for streaming, there is not much Little Jet content that can be found online. We will be on the lookout for it, though!
The next act was one that Zach had been looking forward to since we received our press invites to the festival. Kaelin Ellis is an up-and-coming producer who has worked in the same circles as some extremely notable artist, such as Kaytranada and Lupe Fiasco. While I wasn’t very familiar with Ellis’ work before seeing his set, I was definitely a fan by the time it was over. He put together an electrifying DJ set comprised of crowd-pleasing hits such as City Girls’ Act Up, as well as some personal favorites of mine – some tracks from Beyonce’s newest album, Renaissance, as well as some assorted Kaytranada beats. He also did some incredible live drumming that absolutely blew me away.
We got the chance to interview Kaelin Ellis after his set, and we’ll have a full transcript of that coming soon, but it’s safe to say that he is one of the most genuine artists I’ve personally ever interviewed, and Zach and I were on an absolute high after hearing his set and chatting with him. Plus, he told us some inside scoop information about various rap/electronic projects that are about to drop!
While we interviewed Kaelin, Flamingosis kept the party going with his electrifying DJ set. This is another set I wish we could have stuck around for the entirety of, but I am sure we’ll have the chance to catch him again in the future.
The last act to take the stage that night was Neil Frances. This is a group that has made significant waves recently, with their cover of Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You” going viral on TikTok and accumulating almost 97 million streams on Spotify. The group transformed the stage into a light show, and were dressed in all white, making for some really great visuals to accompany their groovy electronic rock-fusion set. We were already huge fans of Neil Frances, having charted their latest LP “There Is No Neil Frances” earlier on in the year. They put on an amazing show that closed out the night with the entire crowd cheering and dancing the whole way. (P.S., I got to catch up with the duo again at ACL this past weekend – that interview will also be up soon!)
All things considered, we had an amazing time at the Hoodoo Mural Festival. We saw some mind-blowing murals, danced the night away, and talked to some amazingly talented artists. This festival is sure to become a staple for Amarillo and its surrounding areas, and we can’t wait to see how much the festival will continue to grow.
Loading ...