Day two, here we go. And once again, not a single cloud in the sky. Happy Forecastle, indeed. Today, we were in for a slower-paced day – the acts we were interested in were more spread apart today, which was a relief. Having some downtime was a blessing. Day one kinda wiped us out.
We started our day with CAAAMP who at the last minute announced Houndmouth would be joining them on stage, a midwest mishmash. CAAMP, who is from my home state of Ohio, just released their first full-length album earlier this year. The fan in me felt almost like a proud parent. The crowd danced and sang along as if we had known their music all our lives.
Next, we headed over to the Port Stage to see Israel Nash for a little bit of downtime. We welcomed the little bit of shade that we could. A perfect set to sit in the grass and zone out a little.
Nelly was one of the most welcomed surprises of a night. I’ve had very mixed experiences with rappers at festivals. A lot of them tend to basically hypeman their own music, not even attempting to lipsync, just adding the occasional “WHAT” to the mix – unfortunately much like Playboy Cardi who played earlier in the day. But not Nelly. He rapped, he sang, he made us all travel back in time 20 years and brought us back. His set shook Interstate 64, and possibly the entire state of Kentucky.
I was thrilled when I saw Maggie Rogers on the lineup. After seeing her, I can only describe her performance style as the way you dance in your mirror when you’re home alone – she hopped around, she gyrated, she pulled out some body rolls. Purely adorkable. And she seemed just as happy to see us as we were to see her, even saying we were a better audience than her Glastonbury crowd, “and I don’t know how you’re doing it because it’s FUCKING hot out.” Yes it was.
I am now embarrassed to admit I was unfamiliar with Anderson Paak and the Free Nationals before tonight. But now I think they’re one of my favorite bands? They opened their set with a muted trumpet solo, a solid start in my book. They had back up singers with choreography, and I’m a sucker for back up singers with choreography. The entire band coordinated in shades of blue. He was such an incredible performer I found myself questioning if he was lipsyncing at multiple points, but the conclusion was, I think he’s just THAT good. He ended the set with a touching Mac Miller tribute.
Then they went into “Dang!” a Mac Miller song that featured Anderson Paac. I. Was. Emotional. I think the night ended exactly how he hoped it would, people talking about not only him, but remembering Mac Miller.
Day three, bring it on.
