Photos by DubEra courtesy of North Beach Music Festival

Over the weekend, North Beach Music Festival celebrated its second iteration at the historic Miami Beach Bandshell in Miami Beach, Fla., spilling over into the adjacent Bandshell Park on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend saw many highlights over the course of the event, with sin-ins, ensemble collaborations and gold-standard festival sets.

Friday, Dec. 9, saw the now-established Miami festival kick off with a jazz performance by the city’s Lemon City Trio, along with the return of Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, who showcased not only originals but also a cover of “Red Hot Mama” by Funkadelic with artist-at-large Skerik on saxophone. The evening was closed out by the beloved ensemble moe. who played two sets; highlights included Skerik joining for Traffic’s “Low Spark on High-Heeled Boys” and Lotus guitarist Tim Palmieri joining for the second set-ender, “The Pit.”

Saturday’s performances were just as lush with excitement, if not more so, with performances by Keller Williams, Melt, Doom Flamingo, Trouble No More, and a closing set by Lotus. Williams’ set saw a beautiful rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “St. Steven” along with his iconic hits “Freaker By the Speaker” and “Doobie in my Pocket” on acoustic guitar. Melt was right at home on the beach and performed “Waves” from their debut release West Side Highway, and their set maintained a high standard as they closed with Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” During Dopapod’s set, Palmieri joined, subbing in for Rob Compra, who is welcoming his new child to the world, as the sun set over the festival grounds. Once the sun was down, Charleston, S.C.’s Doom Flamingo ushered in the night with their high-octane synth wave as lasers cascaded on over palm tree-silhouetted skies. The evening also saw the Allman Brothers Band tribute supergroup Trouble No More, comprised of Taz, Daniel Donato, Nikki Glaspie, Peter Levin and Roosevelt Collier alongside Dylan Niederauer, Jack Ryan, and vocalist Lamar Williams, Jr. They were joined by Skerik for a true to form cover of The Allman Brothers Band “Southbound.” Lotus’ closing set on the Park Stage opened with Todd Terje’s beloved dance tune “Inspector Norse” and continued to bob, groove and weave through their catalog.

On the final day of North Beach Music Festival, the standard remained high as the artists dug their heels into the soft sand for one more full day. Miami-based duo Afrobeta started the day with dance tunes on the Bandshell Stage under the sun before South Flordia’s Guavatron jammed through an hour set. Next, Cool Cool Cool, the new project by former members of Turkuaz–Craig Brodhead, Chris Brouwers, Michaelangelo Carubba, Shira Elias, Sammi Garett, Greg Sanderson, and Josh Schwartz–ripped through some soulful tracks and welcomed bassist Rodrigo “Digo” Zambrano, including Marvin Gaye’s “Baby Don’t You Do It.” Palmieri also joined them for covers of Brodhead’s DJ Yesmann’s “Tied Up” and Graham Central Station’s “Hair” before they closed the set with Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” The day also saw performances by jamband Neighbor,  the Brooklyn-based afrobeat ensemble Antibalas, and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. The festival was closed out by the beloved funk band Lettuce, who brought all the energy from the weekend to a tight, bright and locked-in culmination. The powerful performance saw sit-ins from Skerik, and Karl Denson–which marked his first time joining Lettuce in nearly 10 years) and Glaspie on percussion. They performed with intensity and immense joy until the festival grounds curfew.

Enjoy a photo gallery by DubEra courtesy of North Beach Music Festival below.