Three things can make or break a music festival: the music, the food and the people.
The Sweetlife Festival held last Sunday at Merriweather Post Pavilion had all three in vast quantities, and on top of that, quantities of more than impressive quality.
The three also managed to overshadow a fourth factor, nice weather, turning a rainy Sunday afternoon into a wild and exciting, if a little muddy, dance party.
Sponsored by sustainable eatery Sweetgreen, the second annual Sweetlife Festival was devoted to environmental awareness and it was clear the organizers did all they could to keep the event carbon-neutral.
From organic and sustainably grown munchies including cheeseburgers from Applegate Farms and chips from Popchips, to a “human-powered arcade” that used people pedaling on bicycles to run games, people saw how effectively a small change in food or energy choices could improve carbon emissions.
Of course, the paradox remained that at a 10-hour music festival where concertgoers had been drinking since before noon, the venue was trashed by the time the last slaphappy straggler made it to his car.
By 6 p.m. plastic cups and beer bottles covered the mud-soaked lawn and the bathroom trash cans were overflowing with mountains of paper towels.
The clearly labeled bins left out for trash, recycling and composting were largely ignored by the end of the night.
Still, there were many who took the time to sort their trash and considering the mental state of many of the patrons, it’s impressive that they even threw their trash away.
Despite the well-meant purpose behind the festival, it was certainly the lineup that brought the crowd.
$55 bought you the privilege to camp out on the lawn while $100 allowed you to sit in the covered amphitheater or stand in the pit, and either ticket got you Ra Ra Riot, Cold War Kids, Crystal Castles, Lupe Fiasco, Girl Talk and the Strokes as well as several smaller bands including U.S. Royalty and Walk the Moon. Seeing how as many people would pay as much to see the Strokes by themselves, this was a solid deal and all the artists performed brilliantly.
While the lineup catered to younger generations (the Strokes were the oldest band, formed in 1998), its eclectic nature invited all genre-defining individuals.
Devoted fans arrived early to squeeze themselves against the fence and be front row and center for all 10 hours.
Others chose to commune on the lawn, braving the occasional downpour to lay out comfortably for the first few acts. Nearly the entire field was on its feet by the time Lupe Fiasco made his way to the stage.
With inspired face painters roaming the place and the ever-present smell of marijuana masking even the strongest B.O., the field was the perfect spot to make new friends and enjoy a cold drink or some healthy popcorn, pita chips or quinoa between bands.
The News-Letter arrived just in time to catch the end of Ra Ra Riot’s set where the indie sextet kick-started the afternoon excellently with new singles “Boy” and “Too Dramatic” being particularly fantastic.
The Cold War Kids’s set had people bouncing on their toes, but it was Crystal Castles that really got the party started. Singer/lyricist Alice Glass writhed on the stage like an electrocuted banshee as producer Ethan Kath blew out the beats.
While all the sets were superbly energetic, Lupe Fiasco was arguably the most entertaining in his music and as a frontman. Between spouting raps and inspired freestyles off of his last two albums, he waxed political to his commanded audience, praying for peace while dazedly staggering around the stage.
The penultimate act of the evening became the loudest dance party of all with Girl Talk taking the stage and bringing his bevy of antics and merry pranksters with him.
Confetti exploded over the amphitheater not even halfway through the second song, and both field and amphitheater were a mess of jumping and gyrating. The man behind the mixes, Gregg Gillis, said little during the set, letting the party do the talking for him.
Finally, nine hours after the first band stepped out, the Strokes took the stage in all their swaggering glory.
They went through most of their latest album, Angles, though crowd pleasers such as “Reptilia” and “Last Nite” were also played to the ecstatic screams of the audience.
Frontman Julian Casablancas was also short on speeches and only stopped crooning to exclaim, “I think this is the biggest crowd we’ve ever played to.”
The Strokes ended on “Take It Or Leave It,” sans encore, though not for lack of audience demand. As the hordes of people left the Pavilion, you would have been hard-pressed to find one face without a smile.
Sweetlife lived up to its name and while the main message may have been minimized by the music, the support and exposure received no doubt left both concertgoers and organizers fully satisfied.
