Britt Witt on February 23rd, 2015

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Down in the valley of the Rose Bowl, a 16-story (150-foot) snowboard jump rose to meet attendees Saturday at the Air + Style Festival. Caked in 700 tons of (real, imported) snow, you could see it from any residence in the neighborhood and feel the flecks of snowmelt if you stood too close.

• ||| Photos by Zane Roessell

It was a spectacular centerpiece for the first U.S. installment of the festival staged by Olympic medalist/star snowboarder/fledgling musician Shaun White, but much of Air + Style was — ahem — downhill from there. It was plagued by typical first-festival problems: long lines to get in, to get pricey food, to get pricey beer, to relieve yourself of the pricey beer and food, as well as less-than-festival-quality stage volume for the headliner.

If you were there for the sporting event, you probably got your thrills. If you were there for the music …

Kendrick Lamar
Believe him when he says, “This isn’t a concert, it’s a fucking party.” Even during songs like “Backseat Freestyle,” Lamar never lost his gaze of total amazement as he looked at the masses. Backed by a live band, Lamar tried to soldier through sound issues by getting everyone to pump their arms, jump around and sing along. Then he paused to “let shit breathe” after his fifth song “Fuckin’ Problem,” crouching to take it all in. He cut his set short, leaving the crowd to chant “Kendrick, Kendrick.”

Portugal. The Man
The Oregon rockers looked like mere silhouettes as they played songs like “Modern Jesus” and “Someday Believers” as psychedelic animations illustrated their performance on a big screen behind them. It’s mesmerizing to stand before them but the best part of the set was their cover of “Dayman” from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

Diplo
He brought out the EDM crowd who live by his credo: “Don’t be afraid to dance.” Dance they did, as clips of “Revolution,” “Express Yourself,” “Tom Ford” (Jay Z), “Hypnotize” (Notorious B.I.G) bellowed across Air + Style with the sunset leacing the color the monster screens to bathe onlookers in the disco lights.

“The pizza is so far away and you have to go through the valley of Diplo, I don’t want to do that” — attendee at the Hit+Run tent waiting for their free screen printed T-shirt.

The Black Lips
I was peeling an orange as The Black Lips sang “Do you really want to hold my dirty hands?” The rest of the crowd had their fingers up gesturing “No.” The four-piece played nothing short of a solid set (as usual), but when they brought out the saxophone player, I finally discovered what my mind would feel like on psychedelic drugs. I’ll stick to the Black Lips’ music, though.

“Thanks to Shaun White for being as sloppy as us.” — Cole Alexander of the Black Lips

Metz
If you can take your eyes off of the spectacle that is some teenager in cheeky panties with garter stockings (hello, its 60 degrees here), Metz are on stage yelling to their buddy Shaun White asking if they can hit the slopes with him. Playing to new and old fans, the Canadian post-rock trio played hits like “Knife in the Water” and “Wet Blanket.”

Phantogram
The field was finally filling up by the time Phantogram gracefully kicked off their set at 4. If fans weren’t entranced by Sarah Barthel’s glittering leopard pants, the duo (backed by a band), commanded the crowd with smiles playing favorites like “Don’t Move,” “Fall In Love” and “Voices.” Bouncing between guitar, vocals and even a stint on the drums, Josh Carter perfectly balanced the live performance, making for what has to be one of the best sets they’ve done, especially in a festival setting. Barthel of course thanked her boyfriend (Shaun White) for having them at Air+Style.

“Some people thought you couldn’t have snow and sunshine in the same place.” — Davis LeDuke of Bad Things

Bad Things
Featuring White on guitar, Bad Things’ music never reached the energy level of lead singer Davis LeDuke, who was all attitude, whether he was throwing water bottles, getting snapped back by limitations of the mic cord, calling out the potheads or getting so emotionally invested in a song that he’s curling into a ball on stage.