Festival Recap: So What?! Music Festival
Review and Photos by Patrick Le
Formerly known as South by So What?!, the three day festival brought a wide range of fan bases together and showcased over 200+ artists in the Texas heat at Choctaw Stadium. Throughout my time at the festival, I definitely was out of my comfort zone as I honestly did not know more than maybe 10 artists on the lineup. But to my surprise I definitely found new discographies to keep up with. From endless crowd surfers, head banging fans, and the biggest most pits I have ever seen, this weekend was definitely one to remember.
Day One
I started out my weekend by seeing LOLO at the Idobi Music Stage, one of the seven stages setup for fans to see their artists of choice. Long time music entrepreneur, Mike Ziemer did an incredible job bringing so much new talent like LOLO, and household names like, 100 Gecs, Underoath, Blackbear, Rae Shremmurd, etc. Even throughout the blazing triple digit degree weather, the stadium provided many seats for shade and other amenities to stay hydrated and cool. As the first day went along, I mainly hovered around the Hot Topic and Stay Lit stages which featured pop punk bands like 3OH3! and hard metal bands like I Prevail respectively. My highlight of day one was definitely seeing Rebecca Black perform. As most people know of her widely popular hit, “Friday,” Black has drastically upped her style and music production to a whole new level.
Day Two
Day two was definitely a metal focused day, with a couple of pop punk bands mixed in. I started off my day, seeing a band I actually knew, Veil of Maya. After ending their set with their most popular song, “Mikasa.” The Stay Lit Stage kept its energy up with Polyphia, a local instrumental band out of Dallas. As most metal bands have a high/chaotic energy, Polyphia mesmerized the crowd with their musical talent without singing a single word. As the sun set, it felt as if I was back in the early 2000s listening to Simple Plan perform timeless classics like, “I’m Just a Kid,” and “Perfect.” To my pleasant surprise my day highlight goes to Florida natives, Traitors who I was introduced to by an avid metal fan.
Day Three
On the last day of the festival, I was super stoked to see Against the Current, Blackbear, We Came As Romans and Devil Wears Prada. Chrissy Constanza of Against the Current, started out the day at the Hot Topic Stage, with the sun at its peak. As it felt like the hottest day of the weekend, the band pushed through with an amazing set. After jumping to the Stay Lit main stage to watch We Came as Romans, Devil Wears Prada and Underoath, night had fallen and I transitioned back up to the Hot Topic stage to see Australia natives, Chase Atlantic and industry icon, Blackbear to end the long weekend. Unfortunately due to power issues, Chase Atlantic’s set was cut short. As they tried their best to keep going, the band had endless support from the crowd to even sing without any speakers. After following Blackbear for almost a decade, it definitely made my day finally getting to see him after so long, performing acoustic versions of, “idfc” and “i miss the old u.”
Seeing so many different walks of life coming together, with their unique music taste, I was taken back by the community that formed over the three days. Seeing little kids in the center of mosh pits, the revival of bands that were broken up, and the commitment of fans just overcoming the Texas heat was something special.
Check out our full So What?! Gallery here!
