Friday May 22, 2015
Arts
theObserver
11
Sweetlife festival offers bigger lineup, better food By Thomas Atkinson Online Features Editor Isabel Dibble News Editor
Sweetlife, the annual music festival hosted by the salad company Sweetgreen, is back on May 30 and 31 at Merriweather Post Pavilion and is going to be bigger than ever, featuring many big names such as Kendrick Lamar and Calvin Harris. The event started in 2010 with the opening of Sweetgreen’s second location in Dupont Circle and has blossomed into an annual event with over 23,000 attendees. To add to the excitement, Sweetlife is now a two-day festival, bringing more artists and fans. Sweetlife also posted a promotional code on its Instagram account for fans to use in order to purchase tickets early. Only those with the code were able to pre-order tickets. “I think Sweetlife being two days this year makes it more of a festival as opposed to an outdoor concert,” sophomore Erica Goldstein said. “It’ll make it into more of an event that people aren’t going to want to miss out on.” With an additional day, Sweetlife has more artists than in previous years. In 2013, Kendrick Lamar was featured, but he was not as well known as he is today. Calvin Harris and Charli XCX are other big names who will perform this year in the extended concert. Along with an improved lineup, Sweetlife has a better culinary roster now that it has control over all of the concessions at Merriweather Post Pavilion for the first time. “The food trucks are definitely the best even though they can be a little pricy and attract longer lines,” senior
PHOTO COURTESY OFCREATIVE COMMONS
Students get hyped to see artists like Calvin Harris and Kendrick Lamar perform at Merriweather Post Pavillion. John Luke Giroux said. “My favorite last year was Pho Wheels.” If one wishes to stay overnight instead of going home, discounted hotel rooms in Columbia are offered and the profits will be going to the Foundation of Music. One of the most important features of any music festival is the outfits people wear. “I am going to be wearing a romper and a statement necklace for one of the days, and shorts and a tank top for the other one, both with brown sandals,” junior Joelle Perlin said. While figuring out what to wear,
dressing accordingly with the weather is important as well. During this time of the year, the possibility of rain is likely to occur, so be sure to come prepared. “I think the best advice I’ve been given is to bring a rain jacket,” junior Sahara Mokhtari said. On many occasions, two performances may overlap and one will have to decide which one to attend and which one to miss. “If that happens, you’re going to have to decide which one means more to you and go to that one first and then leave after a little while and go to the second performance,” junior Jameelah
Khadar said. “You’ll have to miss the first half of it, but you’ll definitely still have an amazing time.” Sweetlife has become a popular music festival filled with different people and activities. However, the main point of Sweetlife is to listen to great music while eating tasty food. “Try to enjoy the concert in real life instead of seeing everything through a phone screen,” Goldstein said. “Be considerate of other people there, but at the same time [do] not care about what other people are thinking of you and rock out however you normally would.”
Marvel’s Daredevil is the newest TV hero to watch By Ross Tanenbaum Online News Editor
Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron have both proven that Marvel knows what it is doing in terms of making movies. The new Netflix original show Daredevil continues Marvel’s legacy in its own unique way. Daredevil premiered April 10 and introduces a new character into the Marvel cinematic universe. Matthew Murdock (Charlie Cox, Boardwalk Empire) was blinded as a child from radioactive toxins and gained superhuman senses that allow him to detect everything that is around him, even though he still cannot see. He can hear people’s heartbeats, detect vibrations within the air and smell scents from miles away. During the day, he helps the city, Hell’s Kitchen, as a lawyer, and at night he protects the city as a secret vigilante known as Daredevil. The plot of this show may sound a little strange, but Marvel seems to have a track record of making weird plots into really good entertainment. Guardians of the Galaxy featured a talking tree and a wise-cracking raccoon, yet it was one of Marvel’s best movies. One advantage that Daredevil has over the other Marvel movies is that there is more room to expand the story. Avengers: Age of Ultron was a great movie, but the number of storylines in the limited amount of time made the movie a bit confusing. Thirteen hour-long episodes give Daredevil room to expand the story and go into detail with it. While most Marvel movies are fairly light-hearted and almost comedic,
Daredevil is the complete opposite of what one would expect from Marvel. The tone of this show is very dark and grim. The plot-lines delve into delicate topics, and the violence is extreme. Some of the fight scenes in this show even give Game of Thrones some competition in goriness. The fights can get very intense. Murdock may be a great fighter, but he is not exactly a superhero. His fighting style resembles Batman as he uses stealth and martial arts to his advantage, but that does not help him against guns and explosions. There are many parts in this show, where Daredevil is beaten by his opponent and cannot save the day, which humanizes him. While he may be a more realistic hero, he still uses his abnormal abilities to his advantage. While interrogating criminals, he can hear the person’s heartbeat to detect whether the person is lying or not. He can also hear people scream for help, even if they are miles away. A good superhero adaptation is never complete without a good villain, and Daredevil delivers. Wilson Fisk, played brilliantly by Vincent D’onofrio (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), is a corrupt businessman who seeks to make Hell’s Kitchen a more peaceful city, through his own twisted vision. What makes Fisk so interesting is the fact that he is one of the more human villains. Even though he is a vicious person, he is very socially awkward and does not really know how to handle confrontations. He has a love story that develops throughout the show, creating entertainment as he has no idea how to act in these situations. One episode of the show takes a look at Fisk’s backstory and explains
PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS.
Daredevil compensates for his blindness by using his scent-tracking and hearing powers to defeat villains in the recent Netflix series. how Fisk turned into such a sadistic person. This helps develop Fisk’s character and lets the audience know more about Fisk and why he acts the way he does. Fisk still makes a worthy opponent for Murdock due to his brute strength. Murdock may have better fighting strategies than Fisk, but Fisk’s stature almost resembles the Hulk, allowing him to deliver powerful blows that plow through Murdock’s defenses. The last fight between Fisk and Murdock is one of
the best scenes of the show and gives the season a great finale. Overall, Daredevil is a fantastic show that combines intense action and interesting twists to keep the audience excited to see what happens next. Marvel fans should be impressed by this show’s change in tone, but they may be a bit surprised at just how violent and disturbing the show actually is. The show is rated TV-MA and all of season one is available on Netflix right now, so start watching, CHS.