Day one, we got there early to reserve a close parking spot anticipating the massive crowd of fans to later come. Today is expected to be a beautiful South Carolina sunny day so I am sure the turn out will be good because of the expected rain on day two, we are hoping it passes us by. This is our first time attending the festival, so we are not sure what to expect. It is located at Riverfront Park in the heart of the North Charleston Lowcountry right off the banks of the Scenic Cooper River. The gates are about to open, the fans are lined up ready to enter and enjoy a musically packed day.
Once getting in we walked around checking out the layout of the venue and was incredibly pleased with the way everything was very accessible. The two massive stages were facing the cooper river which as though out the day filled up with boats anchored and partying listening to the bands.
The band started right on schedule and from stage to stage it was a seamless transition. No dead air and the bands went on exactly when they were supposed to throughout both days. There were no issues with any kind of delay. I was extremely impressed with the fact that after being at hundreds of different festivals throughout the country this was one of the top well-run clean festivals I have been to in a long time.
The lineup was truly diverse from bands that have different genres such as alternative rock like Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Wilder Woods, Guster and Orville Peck. They had a variety of Indy Rock and Indie folk bands like Angel Olsen, S.G. Goodman and even had some pop folk like Madi Diaz and Sierrell Ferrell then several Americana bands. They even had a rap act Big Boi one of the members of the southern rap band Outkast.
The crowd was as mixed and diverse as the music. From old to young, different ethnic groups, it was very laid back, everybody was there to have fun. The band Bleachers gave the fans a special treat by having Lana Del Rey come up to sing with them. What a night by far. As the evening winds down, everybody was gathered at the main stage ready to watch the Saturday night headline Rainbow Kitten Surprise they were all sitting on blankets under the stars as the rest of the crowd was packed in enthusiastically waiting on the band to start, and they did not disappoint. It was a great ending to a wonderful day. We are excited for day two.
Day two we started out with a few showers early before the gates opened and before everything got started. The sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful sunny South Carolina day with a little breeze you could not ask for a better day.
Just like day one the band started right on time, and it was in in seamless transition from stage to stage. The production was top-notch, everything sounded as good as I have ever heard a festival sound. Because of the threat of rain earlier the crowd was smaller, but the fans trickled in as the day went on. Even the boats showed up again and everybody had a wonderful time.
One of the bands, Ezra Furman had to cancel so they replaced them with a band called Plam Plam out of Richmond Virginia which was very entertaining.
As the day went on everybody was ready for Beck the headliner for day two. The first four songs were an acoustic set with just him singing, getting the crowd involved doing “Old Man” by Neil Young and doing one of his new songs, then came out with a full band and rocked out the festival.
All and all we were incredibly pleased that we attended this festival. It was one of the nicest, cleanest festivals that we had attended in a long time, very professional and we would definitely put this on our list for next year. If you did not make the show, make sure you make plans for it next year, you will not be disappointed.
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