Boosted by an outlandish show by of Montreal and record attendance, the second annual Norman Music Festival grew leaps above the previous year’s and has everyone all wondering where it will go from here.

Lead vocalist for of Montreal, Kevin Barnes, sings from the shoulders of one of the many performers who accompanied the band on stage during their set Saturday night on the Main Stage of the Norman Music Festival. Eli Hull / The Daily

Last year, Polyphonic Spree and a reunited Chainsaw Kittens blew everyone away in NMF’s debut. So everyone was curious what would happen to the beloved festival in its second year. After deciding to add several more stages to the festival, the number of bands exploded from 22 in 2008, to 94 performers in 2009. Festival organizers also choose to showcase a wider display of genres, introducing hip-hop, country, blues and punk to the festival. The public responded to the success of the previous year and the bolstered number of performers by coming out in record numbers – an estimated 25,000 total.

The largest change was the number of fans that showed up earlier in the day. There was a good crowd out when the festival’s music began around noon, and this crowd grew and grew throughout the day. Main Street was bursting at the seams by the time Starlight Mints took the stage at 9 p.m.

The crowd was wowed early in the day by diverse local acts of every genre imaginable. The blistering noise of one-man band El Paso Hot Button gave way to the experimental rock of Student Film. Here is There got the blood flowing over at the Sooner Theatre stage while Mayola and Gentle Ghost pulsed through a back-to-back showcase of energetic indie rock.

Stardeath and White Dwarfs warmed things up in the early evening with Sugar and Gold getting the crowd dancing with their sugary dance funk. That’s when things started getting weird, in a good way.

Man Man hopped onto the stage like they came straight from the loony bin. Sporting white jump suits and face paint, the Philadelphia band rattled, hummed, shook, banged and thumped through a chaotic hour-long set that left the crowd on the brink of insanity. A shower of green balloons accompanied by fast-paced percussion was both disorienting and exhilarating.

Photo by Eli Hull

A Man in a tiger mask, accompanied by several other costumed performers, gets the crowd pumped up before of Montreal took the stage Saturday night on the main stage during the Norman Music Festival. Eli Hull / The Daily

Norman’s own Starlight Mints then stepped in to showcase their well-honed jazz rock that was catchy and irresistible. Their set was as sweet as candy and nearly as addicting. They were a nice reminder of how great Oklahoma music can sound.

Of Montreal closed the night on the Main Stage with Tea Leaf Green closing on the opposite end. With Calaveras, velvet suits, feathers, smoke, gas masks, ninjas and a Tiger ringleader, the show was unforgettable and the perfect closer to a awesomely weird night.

And so the anticipation for next year’s festival begins; I can hardly wait to see what the festival will have to offer next year. It is already becoming a yearly highlight for me. The mix of national and local acts, phenomenal downtown setting, and mass numbers of music lovers creates the perfect storm of musical enjoyment.

As the crowd slowly marched away from the festival shortly after midnight, I could not help but feel a little closer to the Norman community, and isn’t that what music is all about?