TVD Live: Virgin Mobile FreeFest at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 9/21

PHOTOS: RICHIE DOWNS & AMY WILLARD | The rain did its best to put a damper on this year’s Virgin Mobile FreeFest, but it couldn’t stop a sold-out crowd from enjoying another year of free music.

While it did not start until about midday Saturday, 2013’s Virgin Mobile FreeFest will be remembered for the rains that tortured the grounds at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Despite the wet and soggy conditions, the sold-out crowd was treated to a day and night full of great acts.

Following suit from prior years, this year’s line up kept up the tradition of offering 50,000 attendees an eclectic and diverse group of DJs, singers and bands. Headlined by Vampire Weekend and Pretty Lights, there was a little bit of something for every type of fan.

I arrived early enough to check out the acts opening the different stages. The rain held off for the first couple hours, but anyone could feel it in the air that it was going to be a wet day. As I made my way through the festival grounds towards the West Stage for model/singer Sky Ferreira’s early set, I was able to check out a few of the other attractions like a carnival-esque funhouse and fuzzy mustache seesaws.

Dressed in her oversized Megadeath shirt and cool girl sunglasses, Sky Ferreira took to the stage to showcase a number of songs from her upcoming album Night Time, My Time. Despite her recent run-in with the law, Ferreira showed up and delivered to an impressive-sized crowd. Ferreira and her band powered through crowd pleasers like “Heavy Metal Heart” and “You’re Not The One,” but for every song the crowd was into, it seemed like there were just as many that they were not. Ferreira wrapped her set up with her hit single “Everything Is Embarrassing,” which got the entire crowd dancing and singing along.

I decided to stay at the West Stage to catch CHVRCHES. Much like Sky Ferreira, the three-piece Scottish band has a new album coming out, and much like the edgy pop star they took the time to showcase a number of tunes from it. The size of the crowd at the stage swelled from earlier to a typical festival size. Meanwhile on stage, CHVRCHES played a somewhat timid and shy set. The trio broke out of their shells for hits like “Recover” and “The Mother We Share.” As they worked their way through their set, it felt more and more that they were a band better suited for late night dance parties indoors instead of giant, open air festivals.

As with any major festival, one of the biggest challenges is figuring out which artists to see and how to work that around the inevitable set time overlaps. Such happened during CHVRCHES, as I had to leave about midday through their performance to head back to the pavilion to catch Black Joe Lewis. The Austin native and his band were one of the must-see bands on my list for the day. I’m previously heard only great things about the band and with expectations high, they were still able to impress.

To say that every member of the six piece band, dubbed “The Honeybears,” were energetic would be an understatement. The three-piece horn section were dancing from the beginning to the end, and Lewis himself pulled out a number of stunts like soloing both with his mouth and behind his head (in the same solo!) and jumping off the drum riser over his bassist. It was very clear right from the get-go that each person playing on stage was a master of their craft and Lewis and co. brought a James Brown style of energy that left the dancing crowd sweaty.

During the set, the clouds finally broke, and the rain started to fall. Almost simultaneously gobs of festival goers began pouring into the covered pavilion seats. Assuming that the seats would soon become a premium once the area filled and the storms intensified, I decided to stay put. As the night went on the decision proved to be wise.

Following Black Joe Lewis was Canadian singer/song-writer Dallas Green aka City and Colour. The former hardcore frontman turned indie-acoustic songsmith brought with him a full band. City and Colour played through a wide range of songs that went from twangy pop folk to fuzzy, bluesy rock. As the weather continued to pour, Green reached out to the sea of umbrellas and raincoats giving reasoning in saying “when you’re wet, you’re wet.” City and Colour fans were well-represented and made songs like “The Grand Optimist” and “Sleeping Sickness” full-bodied sing-a-longs.

As City and Color finished I started to walk out of the pavilion to see if I would be able to make my way back to the West Stage. It took all of about five minutes to realize that I would want to stay right where I was. Approaching one of the exits, I quickly noticed several security guards holding back a metal barricade keeping a mob of umbrellas and raincoats out. After hearing a few disgruntled and disappointed fans, I turned back around.

Psych-pop rockers MGMT were next on the bill, and after getting on stage about 15 minutes late they played through a set spanning all three albums. Equipment malfunctions left the band members vocally upset, but regardless, they sounded great. Fans went wild to hits like “Weekend Warrior,” “The Youth,” and “Electric Feel.” Throughout each song from their set, MGMT had visuals and videos that were, as cliche as it sounds, incredibly trippy. After a few songs, I was able to tell that they were being produced live by someone just off the stage from the band.

The highlight from my night came following MGMT when The Avett Brothers took to the stage. The sheer amount of energy alone took me away, but what kept me hooked was the obvious amount of passion each member of the band had. I think it speaks volumes to a band’s true character and love for music when you can notice it live, and The Avett Brothers proved to be a perfect example of that. They played every song like it was their last, and the crowd matched that energy from start to finish.

I came into the night only with suggestions to see The Avett Brothers and left a fan with regrets of not seeing them sooner. The crowd was filled with their fans who all know the words to every song so well that the actual band members could have gone through the night without singing. Their night was filled with favorites like “Pretty Girl From Chile,” “Gimmeakiss” and “Vanity.” Almost every song featured a full band, but at times throughout their performance, some members left briefly to let the others play. They ended their set letting the fans sing the last lines of “I And Love And You,” and after a short break came back out for the first encore I had seen from a non-headliner.

As things at the festival were winding down to the end, the four guys of Vampire Weekend came on to close things out at the Pavilion. For me personally, I did not know how a band could follow up what I just witnessed with The Avett Brothers, but Vampire Weekend were manned with the task. And judging from a crowd that went wild as they saw the four Brooklynites walk on stage, they lived up to it. It took all of about two songs for a bra from the crowd fly past singer Ezra Koening.

Vampire Weekend played through a set that not only included songs from their well-received new album Modern Vampires in the City, but hits from their previous two records as well. Looking around the crowd it was amazing to see that the band has already grown to the level of festival headliner in their short history. While I myself only knew the singles, everyone around me was singing along to everything; from those hits to the deep cuts and everything in between. While they might not have had the same energy as some of the bands to play before them, Vampire Weekend played with this suave, confident style that one would expect from a band their size.

Their 20-song set included hits that went back to the likes of “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Oxford Coma” to their latest “Unbelievers.” “Horchata” and “A-Punk” got the entire crowd dancing and bouncing around. They reached out to their oldest fans when they played “Ladies of Cambridge,” the B-side to their first single ever released. After quietly leaving the stage once the last song finished they, like the band before them, came back out to treat FreeFest attendees to just a little more Vampire Weekend. The night ended with one last dance number “Walcott.”

Despite the rain and accompanying fields of puddles and mud, the festival went off just as successfully as years past. I cannot think of a better festival that is as big as FreeFest and is, for a majority of the crowd, free. It’s one of the most unique experiences filled with diverse artists that cover the entire spectrum of genres. While this year’s festival may have just ended, I’m already counting down the days until next year’s!

CHVRCHES