Well that’s a wrap, Forecastle! Today was the final day of Forecastle 2018, and we are already planning our trip for next year.
We arrived early today for Ron Gallo. He was wonderful, even through the rain. Oh yes, the skies opened up this afternoon. It was not completely unwelcome though. The temperature dropped, and our energy spiked. It was a fair trade.
Louisville natives, White Reaper, was the dose of rock’n’roll today needed. They gave us the laugh we needed with a little audience banter between songs. “Guess what song we’re playing next! ….no….no….yep!” At this point in the day, it was hot out, we were all wet from the rain, humor was welcome. White Reaper might have been one of the most captivating performances we saw today. The quippy singer, the headbanging keyboard player who stole the show, and the drummer who looked like he could throw up at any minute. We couldn’t look away.
Trampled by Turtles livened up the day with their upbeat, and I mean UPBEAT set. Their set started off a little slower, but they were breaking mandolin strings in no time.
Punch Brothers made us all say “WHY?!” when they walked out in full three-piece suits. Did I mention it was one of the hottest Forecastles on record? It soon cooled down when the second wave of rain came through their set. Zero to downpour in just a few seconds. But they didn’t miss a beat. My favorite part about their set is they didn’t just have people singing along, they had people singing along in three part harmony. Those are true fans.
Jason Isbell always puts his heart and soul into his performances. He’s an open book. He sings about addiction, and heartache, and everything tragic that happens in life. That’s part of what makes their music so captivating, and why I keep seeing Jason Isbell over and over again. It’s timeless.
Courtney Barnett was nonchalant and blasé, which is exactly what I expected. To be clear, neither of those are bad things. That’s just her style, and part of why her fans love her. I wish I got to see more of her set, but we really wanted good seats for Arcade Fire.
As the sun started to set, and the day was coming to a close, people were trying to soak in as much Forecastle as they still could. That, and bourbon. Once we had our final drinks of the evening, we went to go find a good spot on the lawn.
Arcade Fire closed out Forecastle 2018. The crowd was a sea of goosebumps. We drank. We danced. We screamed the lyrics at the top of our lungs. The treated fans to rarity “Half Light I”, which has only been played a couple times EVER live. They closed out the night with “Wake Up”, the perfect choice. The very last notes ringing over Forecastle was the audience singing the iconic melody, no instruments, just us.
Happy Forecastle, everyone! See you next year!
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It is a nice blog about Forecastle festival.. Keep it up 🙂
Thank you!
I have never heard of this festival but it sounds and looks amazing! Lucky for you that you also had beautiful weather after the rain 🙂
lol yes it was incredible once the rain stopped!!
Have never heard of the Forecastle Festival, probably because I came from the other side of the world, but sounds like a great Festival, worth visiting. So yes, maybe see you next year 😉
Yessssss! It’s worth the trip!
Really looks like a wonderful festival and it looks like you had a great time.
We had a blast!
Man I am dying to go to a music festival like this!
It’s my favorite festival!
Sounds like a fun festival! I can’t believe Punch Brothers came out in 3 piece suits! I bet they were melting by the time their set was over, no matter how much the temperature dropped! I haven’t seen Arcade Fire live yet, but I bet it was amazing!
I was melting just LOOKING at the Punch Brothers! lol. And Arcade Fire was definitely incredible – go see them whenever you have a chance!
Hadn’t heard of Forecastle before but sounds like a fun time!
Music festivals are so much fun. Looks like this Forecastle Festival was a blast.
It’s one of my favorites <3
Looks like you really enjoy the festival. The weather didn’t stop everyone else’s fun. Thats a good thing 🙂
I’m no fan of crowds, but I think good music is enough for me to attend a fun event like this forecastle festival.. sounds like a lot of fun!
looks like an awesome festival to explore. You’ve put it on my bucket list
Looks like such a fun festival! I haven’t heard of some of the bands, but I’ll go check them out now 🙂
I would’ve loved to see “the turtles” play…..
I haven’t seen Arcade fire live yet but I heard controversial things about them, but the way you have described their gigs makes me want to see them!
Rock&roll!!!
I love hearing about festivals that I don’t know about, it gives me a bunch of new bands to check out on itunes 🙂 Sounds like you had an epic time!
We absolutely did!
Heard about Forecastle festival for the first time but really it looks like a wonderful festival. Thanks for sharing information about this festival.
It’s one of my favorites!
Sounds like you guys had an amazing time and I hope that you have even more fun next year! Thanks for sharing your experiences.