Last weekend at Firefly:
๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ reminded me that everything will be alright, weโre in the middle of the ride; ๐ ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ gave me that coming of age feeling; ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐๐ฌ hung me up to dry; ๐๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ made me want to be alive; ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ค๐๐ฒ๐ฌ kept making those eyes at me so R they Mine?; ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ let the good times roll; ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฉ๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฌ kept me dreaming; ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ง๐ dropped the world on me; ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฒ knew Iโd sing the words wrong; ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ฌ remembered the way it was when we were young & all the things weโve done; ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฆ told me to lose myself in the music; ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ฑ did it in the name of love; ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ regulated the G-funk; ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐จ๐ง took me back to my roots; ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ง captured the night we met & showed us weโre all just fools for love; ๐๐๐๐ made us feel like kids again; ๐๐ฅ๐ญ-๐ revealed where the wild things go; ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ค ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ taught me that even if itโs in my DNA, I gotta stay humble; and ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ณ๐ shut it down, showing us that music is all we need.
This time last week I was at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, and as you could probably guess from the lineup: IT WAS AMAZING. Now Iโve been to this music festival in the past, as well as other festivals, and thereโs just something about a dirty weekend with your friends in the Woodlands with nothing but music and good times (and the scorching sun) that you canโt get any where else than at Firefly. Thereโs definitely something indescribably special about it that has made me want to come back more and more each year.
Firefly 2018 had me at The Killers, don’t get me wrong the entire list of performers is enough to make you want to buy a ticket, but if you know me at all you’d know I am a HUGE Killers fan and when I saw their name on the lineup I knew I had to go. It was actually my 4th time seeing them just this year. I know 4 times in one year? I’m basically a certified groupie at this point aka Victim (for all my true Killers fans out there). The other headliners included Arctic Monkeys (Friday), Eminem (Saturday), and Kendrick Lamar (Sunday). The rest of the lineup consisted of about 80-90 other bands whose genres ranged from hip-hop to alternative to pop to rock to edm to everything in between and even genres I’d never heard of before. That’s probably what I love most about this music festival is the range of artists they bring together so that there is something for everyone. Or if you’re like me and have a wide range of music tastes then you get to see it all in one place. My music interests are… eclectic to say the least. I know people say they listen to “everything” (insert eye-roll), but honestly I really do. What you’ll find playing on my Spotify playlist is just a weird mosh posh of songs. Now while I will say that I tend to lean toward more alternative-rock/indie bands doesn’t mean I won’t jam out to mainstream, country, or R&B. Bottom line is: I like music and I think if you really like music then you’ll realize that it comes in many different forms. As long as there is a story to be told through music and as long as it makes you feel something, then that in itself is worth appreciating.
In the past, I have stayed in a hotel and I’ve also camped for this music festival and there are pros and cons to both, (perhaps I should do another blog post on that? ๐ค). Anyway, this year I decided to change it up a bit and do carefree camping which I surprisingly really enjoyed. I’m sure this type of camping wouldn’t be ideal for some people who are all about partying into the early morning and would rather set up the campsite to their liking, but it seemed to really fit my needs considering I didn’t take off of work for the festival this year, and I had little time to prepare my camping gear. Carefree camping allowed me to pack light and I was able to just show up and enjoy the music, which is what we all come for anyway right? The campsite was so cute! Firefly provides and sets up your entire tent for you complete with 4 sleeping bags, 2 air mattresses, and a lantern. The best part is that you get to take all of the awesome stuff home with you. Also, something I really enjoyed about carefree camping is that we were able to keep our car in the overnight parking lot right across the street from our campsite and had in-and-out car privileges which really helped when we needed to make a Starbucks run every morning. Our neighbors were really nice too and so sweet tending to our stuff while we were away. If your worried about room in the carefree area, don’t be. Honestly the lot that you’re given is so spacious and there’s even enough room to put up a whole other tent/canopy which most people in our area did. When I was choosing carefree camping for the festival I couldn’t find many first-hand experiences about it, so it did make me nervous to opt for the more expensive carefree camping without knowing much about it, but I am really glad I did and if anyone has more questions about it I’d be happy to answer ๐. Next year my friends are looking to get an RV though sooo yea we’ll see how that one goes.
On to the music and overall festival experience. Although, it was hard to distract myself from the thought of The Killers playing on Saturday night, I definitely had to check out some of the amazing acts playing before them. I caught a good amount of Logic’s set and woah does he know how to draw a crowd. I think what I enjoy most about his music is his relatability and realness. His lyrics are so impressionable and much needed especially during trying times. I’ve been an avid Arctic Monkeys listener for years now, but seeing them live for the first time on Friday night really did a number on me. I was familiar with a lot of their hits like: Mardy Bum, Fluorescent Adolescent (still my fave), Do I Wanna Know?, and R U Mine?, but it was something about their other songs that had more rock n roll elements that struck a chord with me, like Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair which I couldn’t get out of my head for the rest of the night. I’m not sure if it was the accents or the slick-back retroesque 70’s look that did it to me, but let’s just say they I now have a whole dedicated Arctic Monkeys playlist on my Spotify.
Saturday and Sunday were jam-packed with music and while I wish I could recap them all for you, this post could go on forever. So here are some of the highlights and standout performances for me: Alex Lahey is an Australian indie-rocker who if you haven’t heard of, well now you have. A band I have been waiting to see for a while now is Smallpools and I was so excited to see them at Firefly this year, you might recognize their songs Dreaming, Passenger Side, Over and Over, but if you haven’t you should definitely take a listen their music, it’s a genre I like to call indie-fun. A new find for me was Jade Bird, who I absolutely loved seeing in the intimate Toyota Music Den this year. She was so fun and had a feel-good folk vibe to her music that made watching her performance so enjoyable. I actually found her by accident while getting my hair braided in the Toyota tent. Other great performers on Saturday included: Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Middle Kids, Vance Joy, Mike D, Chet Porter, and San Holo. During Lil Wayne’s set I knew I wanted to claim prime real estate for my beloved Killers who were taking the main Firefly stage directly after. Lil Wayne did not disappoint in getting the crowd hyped up. Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, Weezy Baby, Tunechi, Lil Wayne, or whatever it is you want to call him, dropped his Young Mula Baby line and the crowed went crazy. I was able to get an awesome view for Lil Wayne and he absolutely killed it with old hits.
I had some downtime between sets after Lil Wayne’s performance wrapped so I staked out my front row spot for THE KILLERS. In order to pregame The Killers, we obviously went for the Mr. Brightside drinks in the souvenir Firefly cups which are in my opinion definitely worth splurging the extra money for! We just so happened to be next to some people who had never seen The Killers live and we prepared them for what could possibly {most definitely}, be the best night of their lives. The moment I had been waiting for The Killers took the Firefly stage and the crowd (particularly myself) went wild. By this point I pretty much know their entire setlist by memory or can guess which song will play next just by their moves. They opened up with their hit ‘The Man’ off their latest album “Wonderful, Wonderful,” and man was it magical. This was the closest I had been during a Killers concert all year I was losing it; screaming the words to every song, jumping up and down, and yelling “I love you Brandon Flowers” any chance I got. Let’s just say, I left this concert with no voice for the rest of Firefly weekend. They always bring the glitz and glam of their hometown Las Vegas with them and trust me when I say no band seduces you like The Killers do. The energy was infectious and their top chart hits like Somebody Told Me, The Way it Was, Smile Like You Mean It, Human, Read My Mind, When We Were Young, and my favorite All These Things That I’ve Done never fail to entice the thousands of people that show up to see them. One of the highlights from their set was bringing a fan from West Chester, Pennsylvania named Brian to play drums during the song For Reasons Unknown. It is something I first saw The Killers do at the Wells Fargo Center during their performance in Philadelphia and they have been known to do it at shows across the country. It is not staged and it makes the performance all the more thrilling. The crowd started chanting Brian’s name as Rob Loud (The Killer’s drummer) passed his sticks to the West Chester native, who absolutely stole the show. Confetti engulfed the crowd as The Killers closed the show with Mr. Brightside. Even after the set wrapped, the euphoria remained. It was awesome hearing from the crew next to us, who had just witnessed their first ever Killers concert, how much they truly enjoyed it. I remember a guy turning to me and yelling “you were right, they are amazing!” in the middle of a song. They prove time and time again that they got soul even if they’re not soldiers. I seriously cannot wait to see this band again — for a 5th time โค.
Next up was Eminem, and people came out of the woodwork for him. Pretty sure everyone at Firefly and their mom came to his show, but they had good reason to. He put on an epic performance consisting of all his oldies but goodies. 28 songs in total he sang; 28! I mean Eminem came out guns blazing (figuratively). He even kept his controversial pyrotechnic concussion noises in his set that have been making quite the headlines. Eminem played everything from Stan to The Real Slim Shady, Cinderella Man, Without Me, Love The Way You Lie, and encored with Lose Yourself. If you grew up listening to Eminem, it was a perfect night of nostalgia. Finishing out Saturday night was Martin Garrix who has made a pretty big name for himself in the electro-pop world. I actually really like a lot of his songs, but I was unprepared for the edm madness that ensued. Let’s just say there were people hopping, skipping/dancing with glow-sticks and glowing balls everywhere. In other words Saturday night at Firefly was absolutely insane and if there was one day you definitely wanted to be there it would have been this night.
Sunday was much more relaxing, I was able to use my inflatable lounge chair a lot more on this day which meant less time on my feet ๐๐ฝ. I saw Warren G (throwback), Lewis Capaldi (go check him out!), Terror Jr (questionable lyrics tbh), Alice Merton (loved), Lord Huron (Amazing), MGMT (so fun), and alt-J (also loved). Before the Lord Huron set at the Lawn Stage, I had the pleasure of meeting up with the guys from que Bottle, one of the sponsors for Firefly 2018. que Bottle is an awesome collapsible water bottle. It is super lightweight and fashionable so you can stay hydrated in style. I had so much fun taking over que Bottle’s instagram with a mini-photoshoot around the Firefly festival grounds. I’ll be doing another more in-depth blog post about other Firefly experiences/sponsors/food vendors soon! You’ll definitely want to check it out as I explore the best foods at Firefly 2018. I even got to go behind the scenes into some of the kitchens ๐ special thanks to Shake Shack, Big Mozz, Ozark Biscuit Mountain Company, Alma Food Truck, Taiyaki NYC, and more. Also huge shout out to que Bottle for hooking me up with VIP passes for Sunday, just in time to see Kendrick Lamar.
If you know me, or ever worked night shift at the hospital with me, you know Kendrick Lamar was my go-to when trying to stay awake. I can probably rap the his entire Section 80 and good kid, m.a.a.d city albums by heart. So seeing him in the VIP section was a highlight of my weekend. The people I met while waiting for him to come on were also some of the nicest people I have ever met. They all pushed me to the front because ya know ya girl is tiny. I had unobstructed views as k.dot took the stage; it was unbelievable. Fireworks capped the night off as Kendrick closed with Humble. A perfect ending to an amazing weekend.
Music bring people together it’s what I love most about it. It defies barriers and is the ultimate ice breaker. Music fans are my favorite kind of people. Thank you Firefly for bringing us all together. Not going to lie, I’m still going through Firefly Music Festival withdrawal but thanks for the memories! Woodlands, you never cease to amaze me. Until next time ๐๐ถ
Stay tuned for more adventures…
xoxo Mimi
