I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 30, 2023] All Things Go [Day 1]

Sometime in April, my daughter asked if we could go to the All Things Go Festival.  I had never heard of this Festival and assumed the answer was no.  But then I saw that it was at the Merriweather Post Pavilion which is exactly three hours away from us.  So when tickets went on sale, I managed to get two pre-sale tickets for Sunday.  And then when they went on proper sale, I managed to score two more for Saturday.

If I had managed to get tickets to see boygenius at the Mann Center, we would have blown off this day, but that didn’t happen, so we hunkered down for our first Festival day (and her first Festival).

I was excited for the Festival too, as there were a bunch of bands that I wanted to see.  But this was a Festival for her, so I told her, that I wanted to arrive in time to see Sudan Archives and then the rest of the day was up to her.  I wanted to see Maggie Rogers and a few other bands during the day, but I’d go where she wanted.

I’ll write a separate post for each band we saw.

The Festival was set up very nicely with the Chrysalis Stage within easy walking distance from the main stage (and from the food and merch).  And there was free parking.

We arrived and, even though we had VIP entrance passes, we waited on line, not quite realizing how it worked.  Well, they sent us back to get our wristbands which allowed us quick entrance (very useful on Sunday).  These wrist bands also go us a swag bag full of weird goodies.

The rest was a Festival.  The food was overpriced, the bathrooms were inadequate, the water lines were really long.  At least it was September and not July.  The first day worked out great weather-wise as it was overcast and a little cooler.

I felt a little bad because we didn’t stop for lunch on the way down (tight schedule), so I made my daughter wait in line for food so I could see Sudan Archives.  I told her, that it was the last time that I’d make her do anything like this, and she was cool with it.

I enjoyed Sudan Archives in the sun, she sat in the shade and enjoyed the video screens.

The music setup was excellent, with video screens around the grounds.  They showed the band that was on with excellent sound.  So when Sudan Archives was on, my daughter could watch from the shade and enjoy.  This worked out especially well while they were switching from one band to the other, because they showed the band that was on the other stage.  Excellent!

We watched a little The Wombats while we had lunch and then we walked to the Main Stage for Suki Waterhouse.  I had heard that Peach Pit was great live and I had wanted to check out Tegan and Sara, but my daughter was very interested in the ConAir booth which was offering free ConAir products and a hairstyle makeover.  So we waited there and she got some hair work done, and I had gems put in my hair.  Then we checked out to Cotopaxi booth and had glitter makeup applied.

I could hear the one Tegan and Sara song I knew best, so that was fun.

Then she had to use the bathroom and the line was so long that we missed pretty much all of Fletcher and I watched (on the screen) Dayglow who I didn’t know but who I liked.

We rested and had some food while Lizzie McAlpine was playing and then we hoofed it over to the Main stage for Carly Rae Jepsen.

We were both pretty exhausted (I was surprised how tired I was), so we left Carly after a few songs and investigated the Spotify beanbag lounge.

We headed over to the Chrysalis stage to relax on the ground and listen to Mt. Joy while we waited for Maggie Rogers.  But I sensed that we were both pretty tired, so even though she insisted that I get to see Maggie Rogers, I told her it was okay if we left.  So we did.

The hotel was less than 10 minutes away (the whole process of hotel and festival was excellent).  Then we decided to get some proper food and went to Cinco de Mayo and had THE WORST Mexican food I have eaten.  Her quesadilla was made with, possibly mozzarella cheese?   Wow, it was terrible, and surprisingly not cheap.

Then we crashed on got ready to see more music the next day.

DID NOT ARRIVE IN TIME FOR:
Jensen McRae-a folk singer with a nice voice
Hemlocke Springs is an 80’s inspired alt pop singer who is massively quirky and cool.  I hadn’t heard of her before the show but now wish I’d seen her.
Vacations are an Australian pop band with glossy production and an upbeat feel.   Enjoyable for sure.
Last Dinosaurs are another Australian band who play dreamy pop.  They were playing as we arrived but I couldn’t really process them.

SAW
Sudan Archives–she’ll get her own post

MISSED:
Raye-There wasn’t a ton of of overlap between bands, but for one reason or another, Raye almost completely overlapped Sudan Archives.  She is a British singer who writes pop hooks.
The Wombats-I would have liked to see them…and we were even told not to miss them.  But it didn’t work out.  We saw some of their show on the big screen as we waited for Suki Waterhouse and it looked like they were really fun.

SAW:
Suki Waterhouse–she’ll get her own post

MISSED while at the ConAir booth:
Peach Pit-a band that I almost bought tickets for once because I thought they were someone else.  I find their music rather slow, but their live shows are apparently fantastic.
Tegan and Sara-amazingly, they are (as far as I can tell) the oldest performers at the Festival.  I would have liked to see them as I like a lot of their songs, but I did get to hear my favorite one when we left the booth.

SAW ON SCREEN (lengthy bathroom break):
Dayglow–the creation of Sloan Struble.  They played delightful pop music that floated over the fields as I sat and waited for my daughter.  They have a Phoenix vibe.
Lizzie McAlpine-I had heard great things about Lizzie McAlpine and have wanted to see her.  But before the Festival I listened to her music and discovered that she’s more of a folk singer than the rocker I assumed she was.  Her voice is lovely and her music was very pleasant.

MISSED:
Fletcher-My daughter had wanted to see Fletcher without knowing all that much about them.  But the bathroom line and a few other things contributed to us missing them entirely.  After the show, she listened and decided she didn’t like Fletcher’s voice all that much anyway.

SAW:
Carly Rae Jepsen–she’ll get her own post

LEFT DURING:
Mt. Joy-WXPN loves them.  I like two of their songs, reluctantly (I didn’t like them at first but they wore me down).  I wasn’t in the mood to see them at all.  We were both really tired and were lying on a blanket and we both decided it was okay to leave the festival.
Maggie Rogers–She’s huge and has some great songs.  We were just too wiped out.