Treefort Day 3 Saw Us Crying, Raging, and Dancing

It’s all right there in the title, isn’t it? Treefort’s midpoint might be where some get a bit tired, but if one paces themselves properly, they can experience a wide range of emotions before dancing themselves clean at the end of the night. That’s exactly what we did.

To start the day, we got over to The Hideout to see Rosie Tucker on the day their most recent album, UTOPIA NOW!, was released. With music reminiscent of the tenderpunk of illuminati hotties and a stage personality that is, in this writer’s humble opinion, the best kind of quirky, Tucker breezed through a set that covered their entire career up to this point. They paired excellent music with great banter, pointing out while they were changing guitars that “We all got heckled by a goose,” before acknowledging, “it could have been positive goose input, we don’t know.” My guess is it was the latter. The goose is also a big fan of Rosie Tucker.

Following Rosie Tucker was Nabihah Iqbal’s set on Treefort’s Main Stage. Another of Treefort 2024’s many Idaho debuts, Iqbal was gracious enough to share the stories of how many of the songs on her 2023 album, DREAMER, came to be. Inspired by the works of British literary giants like Thomas Hardy and John Keats as well as the music of artists like Jeff Buckley, Iqbal created some of the most beautiful songs of the last few years, but we’ll get to that in a separate piece. For her Main Stage set, Iqbal brought along Al Al Robinson to play additional guitar and saxophone parts, acknowledging that “Normally there’s four of us in a band, but the cost of touring is insane, so we couldn’t afford to do more than a duo for this one.” It didn’t feel like anything was missing at Treefort, though, and we can’t wait for another opportunity to see Nabihah Iqbal perform with a full four-piece band.

We decided to just wait at the Main Stage for the rest of the day because zzzahara and K.Flay took the stage in back-to-back time slots. The former brought their brand of rock to the middle of the day, showcasing their affinity for writing memorable melodies and outstanding riffs. Though there was one gear issue – broken cymbal stands are not fun, Josh, I’m sorry – it didn’t throw anything off at all, and it gave zzzahara a chance to show off the chorus of their song “Girls On SSRIs Don’t Cry” at a slower tempo before their full band kicked back in to shred through the song in full. K.Flay was similarly impressive, taking the stage in prizefighter boxing shorts with her name on the waistband, powering through a set of cathartic rage and occasional tenderness supported by a drummer and a guitarist/bassist. Tracks like “Blood In The Cut” and “Punisher” cut like knives, but they also gave the Treefort crowd a chance to be a little more aggressive in their angst for an hour.

For the end of our Day 3, there was really only one artist to see. Channel Tres has been on our radar for a while given his knack for blending Chicago house grooves with West Coast hip-hop, but even we couldn’t have imagined what his first show back in the US after a year abroad would be like. Mask-off moment: I’ve seen a lot of incredible shows by amazing performers throughout my lifetime, and I feel blessed for that. I also tend to be a bit hyperbolic in the immediate aftermath of enjoying an experience. That being said: this is the first time in a long time – potentially ever, honestly – that I can say I’ve seen a performer who has “it.” I’ve always hated references to that nebulous “it” that some people just innately have because there’s no way to really verbalize what “it” is. So I’ll verbalize my experience with Channel Tres’ Treefort headlining set to try and give some context as to why I am now using that vague and nebulous “it.”

Within 5 minutes of Channel Tres and his two dancers taking the stage, despite my back pain (thank you, residual effects from a car accident), despite my partial dehydration, despite my concern for how much sleep I’d be getting, I knew I wasn’t going to leave this set early. I couldn’t. I’d be doing myself a massive disservice and missing out on what should become a cultural moment. Channel Tres had the crowd in the palm of his hand, and I was part of that. We heard some new tracks, heard him announce his new album coming out soon, saw some of his classics (can we call six-year-old tracks classics?), and got him to run “Topdown” back because, in his own words: “This is my first show back in the states, and you all have been so cool.” His performance was effortlessly incredible, and dropping a mic on accident just grounded us in the fact that he is still somehow human while appearing to be so much greater than that. Someone behind me in the crowd loudly proclaimed to their friend(s), “He’s an icon.” That’s the best way to describe him.

I don’t know what Day 4 of Treefort has in store for us, but I’m excited to get back out there this afternoon and go for it. It should be an exciting festival Saturday! Be sure to follow along with our morning-after recaps on Instagram, and check out our full coverage of Day 1 and Day 2!

Andrew Gardner Editor

Obsessed with all things music. Finished that MFA, so now I’m apparently a master of this. Bouncing around state borders, going wherever. If you see me at a show, say hey!