FIU comprises a student body whose after school activates expand the bounds of our campus. From Brickell, to South Beach, Wynwood, and more, there are countless places a Panther might be spotted. Just like us, the music scene has touched every inch of Miami.
However, Wynwood is where the art district has laid its roots. In full recognition of what the community could provide, David Sinopoli and Erica Freshman founded III Points Music Festival in 2013.
“I feel like Miami itself had this identity of being really fun and club oriented- really ‘south beach’. The commercialization of a lot of nightlife is a very profitable industry, and there are a lot of places for that. We were trying to do something different; something that spoke to another crowd that maybe was lacking this cultural or musical representation,” Sinopoli said.
“III Points is a festival that showcases the urban party culture of Miami that people don’t see on TV too often,” the III Points marketing manager Carlos Saavedra said.
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FIU students felt the same way. When asked what he thought of the festival being in Wynwood, Sebastian Munoz explained it was something different that complemented the III Points aesthetic pointed out by Sinopoli and Saavedra.
“It sounds like something fun and unique since Wynwood is in the center of Miami’s artsy neighborhood,” the senior marketing major Munoz said.
Location is not the only thing that sets this festival apart from others Miami has seen. III Points is also known for its more alternative lineup. It starts with headliners such as Gorillaz, The xx, Nicolas Jaar, Bonobo and more.
“The minute they released [the lineup] I was screaming, because The xx is headlining,” junior and mass media communications major Stephanie Estrada said.
It’s not just the big names that Sinopoli and Freshman designed this festival for. Getting smaller and lesser-known bands booked, especially local ones, was also a priority for what would characterize III Points.
“Maybe people do buy just for the Gorillaz or The xx, but then they see an act like Badbadnotgood, Kali Uchis, or somebody local. Then this newer or maybe more alternative act they’ve never heard of opened their mind to all this new music,” said Sinopoli.
Since its inception, III Points was meant to act as a coalition between the community, music, technology and art.
“We really care about the atmosphere. I’m talking about the actual physical space, but also the disorientation of physical space. I mean taking people in and flipping people on their heads so that they feel a little uncomfortable, open, and vulnerable to the transcendence experience,” Sinopoli said.
In order to do this, he and the III Points team themselves curated a group of local artists to present work focused around a base idea. This base idea is what unites every department of the festival into one sensory experience.
“We aren’t outsourcing anything. It’s all local and raw, built together over these six or seven months leading up to III Points… Then you guys go in there and you feel something that’s very cohesive, because it was a very small group of people that were putting it together,” Sinopoli said.
Martha Perez-Mendez/PantherNOW
In order to further expand their impact on the local community, III Points has partnered with venues throughout the neighborhood. These venues will hold performances before, during and after the festival all weekend long. There are sevens spots, but as of now they have only announced the lineups for The Electric Pickle, Made In Miami, and Link Miami Rebels. These lineups include Lazaro Casanova, Dude Skywalker, Fort Romeau (live), Nico Stojan, and some of the venues’ local resident DJs.
The festival doesn’t end when the gates close until next year. A post-show was recently announced as part of III Points. Last year’s headliner, LCD Soundsystem backed out due to a possible hurricane hitting Miami at the time of the festival. Now, III Points has brought them back.
“We bounced back [from last year’s complications] with a huge lineup for 2017, and committed ourselves to keeping the promise we made to Miami to bring LCD back! And now we know when!” said III Points on a recent Instagram post. This performance will take place October 25 at the James L. Knight Center.
So whether you are planning to hang out at the main festival, bounce around the local stages or catch up at LCD Soundsystem, the III Points experience is ready and available for everyone.
“Expect the unexpected,” Saavedra said.
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