The Coral Skies Music Festival premiered at the Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm Beach on Oct. 26.

Two different venues and cities hosted the festival.  Beginning at the Credit Union Amphitheater in Tampa, the festival proceeded to West Palm Beach were many students were able to attend.

“It was a pretty long drive up to West Palm but it was really worth it.  Cage the Elephant (a headline band) is one of my favorite bands of all time!  I had already seen them live but they have so much energy that I was dying to see them again. The festival itself was also really cool.  There were different stations surrounding the stages where some artists put up their artwork.  I loved it,” said senior Angelica Bourland.

The festival was able to book twelve different bands, all whom performed their sets in eleven hours.  It was a pretty impressive lineup including big names like Cage the Elephant, Bombay Bicycle Club, and Julian Casablancas & the Voidz.  Many fans were excited to see Julian Casablancas, who is most known for being the former lead singer of the Strokes.  Recently broken up, The Voidz is Casablanca’s fresh return to performing.

The festival faced some controversy since many fans claimed that they copied the style of the Coastline Music and Arts Festival.  Last year, Coastline was another small indie rock festival that included attractions like the “Food Trucktopia,” which is basically a space dedicated to local food truck vendors from the Greater Miami area.

“Last year, there was a festival pretty much exactly like Coral Skies except the name was different (Coastline).  Both festivals were really fun but Coral Skies was just a copy of Coastline’s original ideas.  I also felt like there were less people this year,” said junior Jake Soria.

Coral Skies is another addition to the growing music scene in Miami.  It was a festival dedicated to promoting indie rock bands.  Coral Skies will host the same festival next fall.