music midtown, et cetera.

monday, september 18th, 2023.

We got back from Music Midtown late last night. It was rainy or drizzly a good chunk of the weekend, so the ground was quite muddy. Still, the temperature was perfect for a music festival and we had a great time!

In chronological order, we saw:

• Friday:
  • P!nk - I'm familiar with her music, but not a die-hard fan. That said, she put on a killer show, as seen in the picture above. She kicked off her set dropping from the lips above the stage. There were plenty of dancers and acrobats, and she closed out her set by flying over the crowd suspended in a harness while singing. Just... wow.
• Saturday:
  • Yung Gravy - I was pretty excited about Yung Gravy's set, but I wasn't too into the performance. Plenty of banter with the crowd, at one point with an older mom (you know, with all of his MILF lyrics), but he didn't draw me in. So we left early to get to the second row for...
  • UPSAHL - A by-the-books good performance from my favorite musician leading up to the festival. I really enjoyed the set, though it felt apparent that she and her band were glad that this was the last show of their tour this year. It was really cool to see one of my favorite musicians that close, though!
  • FLETCHER - We were snagging food from the food trucks while FLETCHER was playing. Can't say much about the performance, but it sure sounded good from where we were.
  • Billie Eilish - There were two facets of this show that were diametrically opposed. Firstly, Billie Eilish is a great performer live and the set design was beautiful. Unfortunately, this was marred in our view by the pushiness of the crowd. So many folks pushing and elbowing their way to the front of the crowd despite there being no friggin' room. It really soured the experience and we wound up leaving early. I suppose this must've been what Michael Jackson and the Beatles' crowds must've been like. Eilish is ridiculously popular and it shows.
• Sunday:
  • Magic City Hippies - We wanted to really take it easy on Sunday, so we set up our chillbo schwaggins inflatable lounge chairs between the stages that Magic City Hippies and Joy Oladokun played on. Hadn't heard this band before, but they were in the pocket for their entire set. Had a really jam band vibe, but played a lot of different genres. They even covered Nelly's "Hot In Herre"! Great music to listen to while we relaxed in the park.
  • Joy Oladokun - We kept relaxing in our chairs through Joy Oladokun's set. She put on a great performance, just like she did at Shaky Knees in 2021. The sound kept cutting out, which is quite unfortunate, but these things happen!
  • Tove Lo - Tove Lo was definitely my surprise hit of the festival. I'd become familiar with her music through the festival playlist, but wow did she rock her set. Very high energy and dancing throughout the set, even flashing the crowd. She also brought First Aid Kit on stage to perform the song they recorded with her. Hearing them sing together gave me frisson, which is always a beautiful experience.
  • Incubus - This is my third time seeing Incubus live and they didn't disappoint! They played a set list of their greatest hits, which were definitely crowd pleasers. They also covered the Beatles' "Come Together". Incubus was one of my favorite bands growing up and they were also my first concert I got to go see (in college, mind!). I got a little teary eyed, not only because it was a good performance, but also because I kept thinking "man, I don't know how long they're gonna keep performing— this might be the last show of theirs I get to see." Bittersweet, but a great set to close out the festival. We left before Guns N' Roses took the stage.

et cetera.

My new set of bike tires came in and I finally got my bike back up and running. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires are definitely heavier than the set I had on the bike, so it takes a little more oomph to get rolling but once I get to speed it's smooth sailing. I hope to get back to the commute later this week.

Finally, the cat that my coparent and I had together, Callie, crossed the rainbow bridge after a fight with feline diabetes. I'm pretty upset by it, honestly. I haven't really gotten to spend time with her in the last year, and it really stings that I wasn't able to say goodbye.

Adieu, Callie. 💔🥺