OffBeat’s Dalton Spangler hit the pavement again at BUKU Day 2 and gives you a minute-by-minute of crowd joy, Vince Staples, Kali Uchis, Tyler, The Creator, a power outage and more. On to next year’s 11th Annual…

12:47 p.m.: After a long first day, festival goers were still out to the ground early, waiting for gates to open while taking shelter in the shade. There’s no breeze and the sun is bearing down but people are ready to celebrate another day at BUKU

2:16 p.m.: An ice shelf in Antarctica the size of New York City collapsed last week as places worldwide continue to experience record heat. The New Orleans music collective glbl wrmng flip the script on the catastrophic climate change impacting the globe, especially coastal cities like New Orleans. And as the group gears up, the audience is feeling the heat too. It’s their first time performing at a music festival as 12-plus emcees, musicians, singers and others fill the skyline stage.

“I’m f*cking tired of the world taking New Orleans sound and not giving New Orleans their f*ckin’ credit,” the recorded quote from Lolly plays over the massive sound system kicking off the set, “If y’all wanna use our sh*t, show f*cking love.”

Tank and the Bangas management team member/tour manager Nate “Suave” Cameron Jr. guides the group from off stage and on, providing backing vocals. Emcees Pell and Kr3wcial, hot off their “Am I Still Dreaming Tour,” lead the first track introducing the group. Most of them are wearing floral print jerseys and glbl wrmng gear. They run through the band’s album “glbl wrmng, vol. 1” playing “Take Time” followed by the LeTrainiump! and Dominic Scott song “Technicolor.”

It is much of the audience’s first time seeing the act but there are a few fans in the audience singing all the words already. Uptown emcee Alfred Banks slows it down with the track “On Everything,” opening like a lyrical ballad before tearing into its catchy chorus. $leazy EZ performs her new single, “Stuck Inside,” telling audiences she wants them to feel free today. They close out their set with the NOLA anthem “504” which seems all the more impactful at the big stage with the Crescent City skyline and Mississippi River bridge setting the backdrop.

3:24 p.m.: After Wreckno made a guest appearance for New Orleans’ sfam, it seemed like the duo were unstoppable. Jacob Hoerner brings an energetic hype to the stage while his partner Michael Pearson keeps things cool and collected.

But then the sound system cut out.

It sucked, but fans stayed and supported the group chanting “sfam” and sticking around while the sound crew got things back up. They had about 20 minutes left in their time slot and by 3:28 p.m., people started chanting “f*ck TVBOO,” the next person to take the stage. TVBOO and sfam regularly collaborate, both being artists in New Orleans. The sfam boys got a kick out of it.

The sound finally came back for a song, died again, came back, died, and this continued for the remainder of the duos set. It was a bummer for everyone but the fans stuck around to support them through it.

3:46 p.m.: Maybe wharf rats chewed up the wires because the stage was still dead as TVBOO’s allotted time came around. Despite no sound, TVBOO ran out on stage wearing a Saints jersey with the number 69 on it to greet the crowd. They were cheering but he hushed them down and they played a game controlling the audiences cheering with hand gestures and no mic.

3:57 p.m.: Almost 15 minutes into TVBOO’s set, the sound finally comes back on, flying straight into “Clawdaddy,” a track TVBOO once said on his podcast best represents him as a person.

5:30 p.m.: The Vince Staples Show opened up like a cable TV show with Staples appearing in everything from “That ‘70s Show” to “Rick and Morty” on the video screen. Staples is known for being a bit antagonistic with audiences and as he’s running through the first track, he pauses multiple times to scold the people not doing enough.

“I know this is a big festival and you came to see the Chainsmokers or whoever the f*ck is here,” he said, “But we gotta do better.”

He’d get really specific targeting parts of the audience like, “I’m not f*cking with you back-left corner.” It paid off though, because once the audience was into it, they stayed into it.

After another song, Staples must have been bored because he was finding people in the audience to finish the song for him. A superfan on the railing was shouting the words to the track so Staples asked him, “You know this song?” before tossing him the mic. He knew the chorus but went blank halfway through the verse.

“Why you get nervous?” Staples asked him, “What’s your name? Nathaniel? That’s my pop’s name. Make some f*cking noise for Nathaniel.”

The crowd cheered and Staples got his crew to get the fan shirt out of the bus. He gives Nathaniel another shot on the next one and he does way better.

“I am really f*cking with Nathaniel. He knows the shit I barely know,” Staples said, “I don’t really don’t care about the songs, I just like hanging with y’all, to be honest.”

He’d chat up the audience like that for the rest of the set, getting another guy who was possibly high, allegedly, up to the stage. After almost five minutes of complete silence and Staples being off backstage somewhere, he comes back and says, “I had to make sure I wasn’t going to jail if he gets hurt,” before the guy climbs on top of the speakers to stage dive into the audience. He chickened out and climbed up the railings instead.

“He tip-toed off the speaker and then didn’t jump,” Staples said, “Nathaniel, you seen that? That was the weakest sh*t I’ve ever seen in my life, right?”

I have never seen an artist keep it so real with the audience. Before the end of the set, he promoted another guy in the crowd, Jake, by having him sing some bars like Nathaniel. They were like the generals Staples appointed to hype up and create a Staples army out of a half-hearted audience. People loved it.

6:52 p.m.: As the sun sets, a cool breeze makes tonight even colder than the last.

7:01 p.m.: Crowds at the Baby Keem show bring the energy to him rather than the other way around. Keem’s a laid-back artist, seeming awkward in his steps but confident in his lyrics. He’s the kind of artist that doesn’t need an extravagant production or choreographed dancers to make you want to listen. Pits open even for mellow tracks like “Durag Activity.” The big surprise of the set was him pulling out Kanye’s “Praise God” which Keem is featured on but not his own.

7:44 p.m.: On the Ballroom stage—the auditorium turned nightclub—Maxo Kream’s DJ warms up the audience for Maxo Kream, an old-school style rapper who puts in as much energy telling stories as writing beats. His last LP, Weight of the World, goes into the deaths of his brother and cousin, his grandma’s battle with COVID-19 and other family trauma.

And while most the festival is off seeing Glass Animals, Kream has made the Ballroom feel like hotboxing in the man’s living room.

“New Orleans, let’s get one thing clear,” Kream says, “Y’all not fans of me. Y’all my family.”

8:40 p.m.: The most annoying song in recent human history is projected across the entire festival grounds. I regretfully inform you of the inescapable chorus, “Sometimes, all I think about is you / Late nights in the middle of June / Heatwaves been fakin’ me out / Can’t make you happier now.”

8:44 p.m.: Lights go up as a growing audience chants “Kali!” in anticipation. A tarp covers the entire stage as an eerie bass grows and falters for nearly five minutes before mythological sirens sing.

8:49 p.m.: The droning bass halts and tarps drop, revealing the silhouette of Kali Uchis bound to a pole on top of an elevated platform. Despite her chains, she’s poised like Aphrodite as her choreographed dancers begin to unleash her. She starts singing “Dead To Me” as she makes her way downstage with an otherworldly backdrop projected behind her as though she were an interplanetary queen. The lights refocus, revealing her glittering orange garms to a screaming crowd.

9:15 p.m.: People are piling in for Tyler, The Creator, 30 minutes before his set.

9:48 p.m. For the final performance of the 10th BUKU, Tyler has a lot riding on his shoulders. The lights go down as familiar flute soundtracks a video on stage depicting a faraway land before Tyler enters, strolling in carrying his “Le Fleur” suitcase. He stops center stage as DJ Drama on “Sir Baudelaire” introduces the show.

A sea of cell phones record in anticipation of what will happen before the crack of fireworks hit right as the bass drops for “Corso.” Tyler throws off his jacket into the VI

P audience making that expensive ticket worth it for whoever caught it. Between songs, he pauses to welcome New Orleans to the international experience of “Call Me if You Get Lost.”

“People are so full of life here and the food is crazy,” Tyler says, “I had jambalaya pasta, y’all put fish in everything. Some bitch offered me turtle soup.”

He went on to perform a few old tracks from “Flower Boy,” “Igor” and even tracks from the early part of his career like “She,” “Tamale” and “Yonkers.” Fire blasts out of the stage for his hit “Who Dat Boy” and sparklers rain over the stage on “Earthquake.”

He closes the night out with “RUNITUP” and a massive fireworks display capping out BUKU 22 with a bang.