Since it’s start in 2015, KAABOO has become increasingly popular over the years. This year, it was hosted at The Del Mar Fairgrounds from Sept. 15 to Sept. 17. This year’s event, however, is one of its most colorful, vibrant, and fun out of all them. The lineup was filled with phenomenal standout bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, X Ambassadors, Ice Cube, P!nk, Muse, Tom Petty, and Jackson Browne.

As I hoped, I still had just as much fun as last year, probably more since I was able to see more bands than the year before, thanks to the better organization. What made this year excellent was the way they were able to space events out and have more room. By making two larger stages instead of one and having two huge performers on one of those stages, it made the areas less crowded to where you could actually move with the music compared to the year before where you just had to stand like a statue and nod your head due to no room.

On Friday, the first day of the concert, Smash Mouth preformed, and plenty of people came dressed in Shrek gear.

Later, the notorious basketball player Shaquille O’Neal made his debut DJing live. Contrary to what most thought, O’Neal was decent, and made the whole place go crazy with his ‘hype-man.’

After O’Neal’s performance, X Ambassadors performed, and he gave a moving speech on loving one another no matter what and that it’s good to be different, all while playing the hit song “Renegade,” which is about running wild and free.

After that, Weezer and Red Hot Chili Peppers performed. The Red Hot Chili Peppers opened with “Can’t Stop.” Because of the excitement in the crowd, it was hard to truly listen to the song. This tumultuous crowd implied that even though they are an old band and haven’t written anything in comparison to their earlier hits, the younger generations still admire their songs. They also made some ridiculously funny comments about how he’s throwing a party in his hotel room to having a baby elephant inside his house.

Overall, KAABOO 2017 created a memorable experience with its standout lineup and superb organization.