When I first showed up at SoundHarvest Music Festival, I noticed an almost empty lawn and a lack of the typical chaos you’d find at a music festival. Honestly, I was a little worried that Nashville’s ego might get in the way of the turnout, and the first half of the day wasn’t looking so good. But the lack of people didn’t bother me. Who’s going to complain about a lack of food and beer lines? And everyone seemed pretty happy about getting a front row seat to the shows.
The bands that performed the first half of the day included headliners Scotty Bratcher, The Weeks, Goodbye June, Benjamin Booker and The Last Internationale. I was impressed. (I was partial to The Last Internationale because of vocalist Delila Paz’s checkered bodysuit with teal and black geometric shapes on it. And the band’s overall badassness.) Unfortunately, I missed Scotty Bratcher’s opening performance, but I had the pleasure of sitting down with him later that afternoon.
“It was symbolic for us. This is the first time we’ve gotten to put on our rock-n-roll suits and just rock in Nashville. Which brings on another point, that there is a rock festival in a town that is primarily known for country music. I’m out there with both hands up saying ‘Shoot, yeah, this is what this city needs’,” Bratcher said.
Shoot, yeah. I couldn’t agree more.
Lightning 100’s 615 stage delivered some surprisingly talented acts. Derik Hultquist, Cardboard Kids, Easy Roscoe, Them Vibes and Vinyl Thief repped the local music scene. As a native I’ve seen my fair share of rising stars, house shows, open mics and garage bands. I’m pleased to say that Them Vibes and Vinyl Thief hit the Nashville rock scene on the dot, and could have easily fit in with the headliners.
Then Allen Stone took the main stage. I returned to the media tent after photographing the first three songs of the set and sat down to give my body a break from walking around all day. I got into a conversation about Them Vibes with the woman sitting next to me, but I couldn’t focus. I kept stopping mid sentence and closing my eyes to listen to the sweet sound of Allen Stone’s soulful voice.
I hurried back across the field to soak in the rest of Allen Stone’s set. The crowd had grown drastically since the beginning of the day. And Allen Stone had everyone feelin’ some type of way. He picked up the energy with audience participation to his song “Freedom” toward the end of his set. Singing and dancing in unison with a large crowd is a staple of the music festival experience, and Allen Stone delivered.
The Flaming Lips wrapped up the day in the way that only The Flaming Lips can. Dancing rainbows, mushrooms, aliens and “red devil weirdos” joined the band on a stage filled with confetti, string lights, fog and balloons big enough to sit in. Lead singer Wayne Coyne even got inside a giant ball and walked on top of the crowd like a god. And to some people, I’m sure he was.
“Each and every single one of you is important. You motherf***ers matter!”
I was never a huge Flaming Lips fan, but I know every word to “Do You Realize??”. I had never given much thought to the song, but watching Wayne connect with the audience outside of his music in a very real and very personal way was inspiring. He talked about the all too real fact that some people in the audience were at the show hoping the music would help them escape whatever was troubling them and allow them to just be for a night.
The connectedness I felt with the audience and the band during their last song was what I look for in every music festival. And I’m glad I found it. Here’s hoping to round two of SoundHarvest Music Festival!
