Made in America Day 1 Highlights: Beyonce, Modest Mouse, Meek Mill (and Nicki Minaj) & More

The Made in America festival, Budweiser's coup of patriotic branding, got off to a star-studded start Saturday, Sept. 5, as crowds of (mostly young) people flocked to Philadelphia's Ben Franklin Parkway to see everyone from Nick Jonas to Modest Mouse to the day's headliner, Beyonce.

The diverse lineup, while occasionally discordant, provided something for everyone, as the red, white and blue clad masses (complete with the gratis American flag bandannas that said "Made in China" in large letters along the edge and George Washington temporary tattoos) danced as willingly to DJ Mustard's hits-laden set as the Struts' Brit-rock.

Read on for the highlights from day 1:

2:29 p.m.: "It's a beautiful-ass motherf---ing day," Earl Sweatshirt told the crowd over gut-grinding bass, before reciting a few of the usually-gloomy cuts off his most recent album I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside. He made them party-ready, though, compelling the crowd to shout along to refrains like "Imma f--- the freckles off your face, bitch!" before debuting some three new songs.

3:27 p.m.: Vic Mensa paused briefly during his wide-ranging set to lead a group sing-a-long: Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (inspired, Mensa said, by a positive tour stop in Seattle), perfectly suited to the mosh-ready teenaged throngs. "Go on and get it, white boys!" said Mensa as he egged on the crowd, thrashing around the stage with equal enthusiasm.

4:49 p.m.: De La Soul charmed the crowd completely with their energetic set, opening with Otis Redding (a nod to festival curator Jay Z) before launching into a slew of their most memorable hits from "Potholes in My Lawn" to "Stakes Is High" -- though the group mentioned their 27 years in the game more than once, heads about half that old nodded along just the same.

5:44 p.m.: The crowd loved "Chains" and "Levels," but it was when Nick Jonas went for the high notes on a cover of Outkast's "Roses" that the audience participation really kicked in. Jonas, still not completely shaken of his Jonas Brother-era coyness, said he picked the song because it's "a tasteful way of saying, 'F--- you!' to a person you don't like." The aspiring R&B star also put his own spin on Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison" and The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face."

6:25 p.m.: DJ Mustard led one of the festival's most enthusiastic dance parties with his trademark formula: the most memorable 10-20 seconds of all your favorite hip-hop hits, back-to-back-to-back. Though the set certainly skewed towards his own productions ("Rack City" was his first pick, as is traditional), he also paid tribute to his Roc Nation sponsor Jay Z with "I Just Wanna Love U" as he implored the crowd to "get their diamonds in the air."

7:01 p.m.: Meek Mill pleased and confused his massive hometown audience by playing a series of hits by his girlfriend Nicki Minaj, which turned out to be a prelude to her joining him onstage for their duet "All Eyes On You." Mill also brought his son out, who showed off his whip and nae nae skills to crowdwide awws.

8:45 p.m.: Modest Mouse, confronted with a massive crowd of Beyonce fans, kept things light with a mix of their biggest songs -- 2004's optimistic hit "Float On" still sounded brand-new 11 years later. 

11:15 p.m.: Never one to shy from a timely reference, Beyonce busted out the whip to T-Wayne's "Nasty Freestyle" in the middle of her classics-driven set (she also fit in "Trap Queen" and "Commas" before closing out the show).

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Beyoncé Stays 'Flawless' at Made in America 2015, Encourages Same for Her Fans: Live Review

Beyonce performs onstage during the 2015 Budweiser Made in
America Festival at Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sept. 5, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Anheuser-Busch

The Pope is visiting Philadelphia (his first official sojourn to the U.S.) in just a few weeks, but Saturday night (Sept. 5), the city was flooded with people on a different sort of pilgrimage. Beyonce was in town, headlining day one of the holiday weekend's Made in America festival, which meant the Beyhive was also there seeking one of the singer's empowering sermons. Needless to say, she delivered.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity among the festival-weary throng (and following a set from maybe her most improbable openers ever, rock band Modest Mouse), a chorus of "Happy Birthday" broke out in the crowd for the just-34 Bey (her birthday was Friday). As if on cue, anonymous synths that would become her most recent release, the melancholy "Crazy in Love" remix kicked in and the crowd got its first glimpse of the woman leading the night's revival, clad (per usual) in an impeccable sequined leotard and thigh-high red boots.
The performance was bulletproof, as Bey translated much of her latest self-titled release (and a healthy number of Destiny's Child cuts) onto a stage set that could have easily been borrowed from the New York City Ballet's storage locker (with the addition of some sturdy poles, of course). Her current show has an arthouse edge, as dancers move fluidly from "Bootylicious"-provoked twerking to black box theater-ready solos in front of a flexible (but understated) grey cube. Beyonce plays with her songs, too, teasing gritty, robotic variations of warm and friendly classics -- yet keeping her finger on the pulse with "F--- Some Commas" and "Trap Queen"-inflected interludes (never more than the beat, though -- this is Yonce's show, after all).

Her evolving aesthetic comes in service of a grander mission, however. Throughout the set, Beyonce paired her own empowering anthems with famous quotes from fellow vocal feminists: Ronda Rousey's recent treatise on "do-nothing bitches" with "Diva" (you can't be a "female version of a hustler" and do nothing at the same time), Eartha Kitt's reaction to the suggestion that she compromise for a man after "Survivor," Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman" with a pre-"Grown Woman" ballet interlude, and of course, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's definition of feminism into the song that made it iconic, "Flawless." There are few more moving sights than a crowd of thousands cheering wildly for the idea of a "person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes."

By inserting her voice among these historically brash and outspoken women, Beyonce is getting out in front of the next thinkpiece, claiming her spot among the trailblazers before anyone else can question her role. Ever the self-aware documentarian, she's showing fans exactly how she wants to be remembered: a beautiful, self-possessed woman who wants her fans to believe that they are too -- a daring proposition if there ever was one.

Beyonce's shows are rarely off-the-cuff, but during "Flawless" the singer gave the audience a brief ad-lib. After a tiny, seemingly-unchoreographed flex of her arm, she quietly shared her most important directive: "Stunt on me."

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