Forecastle Day 1 Had Some Rain In The Forecast(le), But The Artists Still Brought The Heat
Forecastle Festival is finally back after a two-and-a-half year hiatus! The first day saw plenty of exciting performances and plenty of rain. Thankfully, there was no lightning to stop the festival, and every act we saw brought their A-game to the festival’s return to Waterfront Park in Louisville, Kentucky. While extra tough decisions were made regarding scheduling (as is always the case at festivals), we got around to a lot.
Our day started off with an interview. Maddy O’Neal was gracious enough with her time and her energy before her set on the Ocean Stage, and we’ll have the video of that up soon! Be on the lookout for that.
After our time with Maddy O’Neal, we explored the grounds a bit. The Liquid Death Country Club stood out the most, especially given the massive grim reaper statue outside. There wasn’t all that much time to explore, though, because we had to get to the Ocean Stage for Louisville’s own, The Homies.
The Homies opened the Ocean Stage with their first official festival performance, and it could not have gone any better. The energy was palpable, and it was apparent that they were just having an excellent time putting on for their hometown. They bounced around the stage with reckless abandon, drawing in the crowd and getting everyone involved. It was, and I quote, “lively and spirited, just like their camaraderie.”
Following The Homies, we were able to catch a little bit of Indigo De Souza. She was opening the Boom Stage, and her voice absolutely carried. Her band was excellent, and she was killing it on guitar, but her voice was absolutely the star. It was also super cool to see her wearing a shirt from Tyler, the Creator’s IGOR album cycle in a nod to Sunday’s headliner.
The reason we could only catch a little bit of Indigo De Souza was because we had another interview to conduct. This time with… The Homies! Louisville’s native sons were so much fun to have in the press lounge, so be sure to keep on checking for that video to get posted as well.
Having finished with our interviews for the day, it was time to just bounce around. Starting back at the Boom Stage with Wale, we caught insane performances from two hip-hop legends and one upcoming legend all in a row. Wale at Boom into Earl Sweatshirt at Mast into Maxo Kream at Ocean. We covered a lot of ground and it has to be noted that all three of these artists raised the bar. Having seen Earl and Maxo before, I was blown away by how different their shows were from the last time and how much energy they brought in the middle of the day.
That’s when the rain started to come. It had been raining intermittently throughout the day, but when Clairo took the Mast Stage, that’s when the rain became more of a nuisance. Clairo had to deal with that rain, but she dealt with it like a champ. One of the moments that will stick with me from this weekend is Clairo asking for a poncho from the crowd while her band vamped into “Amoeba” off of 2021’s Sling. Excellent stuff from an excellent artist.
We caught a little bit of Still Woozy at the Boom Stage, and he brought the vibes in the rain as well, but the highlight of the night had to be Porter Robinson on the Ocean Stage. Porter has become well-known for his live performances, and Forecastle was no exception. The lights and visuals were on point, and Porter’s vocals were exceptional throughout the performance.
Day 1 of Forecastle brought the heat through the rain, and we’re so excited to get back at it for day 2!
[…] despite its weather, was a busy day for us. We interviewed Maddy O’Neal and The Homies, and caught exceptional […]