A couple of weeks ago, TNF had the great pleasure of attending the Blaze N’ Glory festival which took place June 4th @ The San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California. The festival consisted of a day full of Hip Hop, Reggae, carnival rides, tons of different clothing/lifestyle vendors & a huge variety of food/beer to taste! It was one of those events that has a little bit of something for everyone. This rings true by the widely diverse crowd that attended the festival.

There were so many great performances across many genres from the old school hip hop sound of Dilated Peoples to the legendary reggae sound of Stephen Marley. I had the great pleasure of taking photos of Nas, Atmosphere, The Growlers & Stephen Marley. View some of these images below:

STEPHEN MARLEY

It was a great honor to be able to witness Stephen Marley perform. The whole crowd felt the strong reggae energy that Stephen definitely inherited from his late great father Bob Marley. During his whole performance, there was this incredible vibe of relaxation, love & emotion that you can only truly experience in person. Perhaps the greatest moment was his cover of his father’s classic track “Jammin”, which set off the entire crowd singing along.

THE GROWLERS

The Growlers were definitely the standout artists of the festival. Instead of the prominent reggae & hip hop sounds that emitted throughout most of the stages, this Costa Mesa based band brought a fresh blend of indie, surf rock which they have dubbed as Beach Goth (named after the popular indie festival). They definitely did not disappoint! Many of the festival-attendees were enjoying their sound, whether they were longtime fans or first time listeners. The band played a lengthy set that lasted until the sun set.

ATMOSPHERE

Words can hardly describe the intensity of Atmosphere’s set. From the moment SLUG took the stage, the crowd was roaring with intensity and excitement. Atmosphere’s stage performance as a whole was just absolutely thrilling. From the way he interacted with the crowd, to his very aggressive and emotional flow delivery of his lyrics, you could feel the pain, hate, love & integrity of his words. SLUG did something that is hard to do at a big scale festival, he made it an intimate RAW performance. His hits such as Fuck You Lucy & Trying To Find A Balance got the crowd rapping/singing along with just as much emotion. It was a beautiful performance that everyone in attendance with certainly remember.

NAS

Nas dominated the stage in every way possible. He performed a flawless set and included many of his classic tracks from the incredibly influential album ILLMATIC including “The World is Yours” & “One Love”. People were captivated by his performance, and it was no surprise as Nas is a hip hop legend and his music brings such a nostalgic vibe that can’t be reckoned with. Once you hear his classic beats drop and his smooth flow, you’ll be bobbing your head and following along with his clever word-play.

Blaze & Glory 2016 was an outstanding festival that not only did the audience enjoy, but all the media & staff involved seemed to enjoy as well. It was ran very smoothly, and overall just had great vibes and great times. We want to give a huge shout out to Kristine Ashton-Magnuson, Ashley Di Buduo, Maria Gonzales & the rest of the Blaze N’ Glory staff for inviting The New Fury to cover this event and making this whole festival happen. We had an outstanding time and hope to be back next year. This concludes THE BLAZE N’ GLORY EXPERIENCE: TNF EDITION. Hope you all enjoyed!