Savoy and Bassnectar keep Snowball sweating on second night, 3/5/11

Photo Britt Chester

The weather for the second night of Snowball was very similar to the first night of the fest, hosting the likes of Paper Diamond, Lotus, Savoy and the bass-master himself, Bassnectar. But again, freezing temperatures or a little bit of snow falling toward the end of the show dampen the crowd. Twin Shadow was finishing its set as I walked into the festival, this time arriving almost on time, but still not at the opening of the gates when the security opened up shop.

The sound check for Big Gigantic had people fleeing the surrounding tents to catch the opening track from the Boulder locals. "Wide Awake," the title track from the act's latest effort, opened the set, which turned the ice skating rink of a field, into a chilled frenzy of swaying bodies accidentally moonwalking on the slick surface.

Photo Britt Chester

Dominic Lalli threw props to Ben Samples when he dropped the "Black and Yellow," remix, but didn't do the same for Aloe Blacc when "I need a dolla" came blasting out of the speakers. The drummer, Jeremy Salken, made few mistakes throughout the set, and for any Big Gigantic fan, the missteps were obvious.

When BG transitioned into "Step Up," a song with a strong keyboard laid over a deep and dirty, electronic bass line, the mid-day crowd who was aware of the onslaught of beats that BG was about the deliver, the entire field blew up. Regardless of the slick conditions, people were jumping and two-stepping to the sound. After passing through Boulder and Denver just a few weeks ago, high expectations were firmly in place -- and subsequently surpassed.

At the close of Big Gigantic, the field cleared momentarily, but only until the strains of Local Natives hit the air, and loyal fans filled in blank spots.