Forecastle Festival   

July 14-16, 2017

Louisville, Kentucky

Review: Belinda Vasquez

Photos by: Tony Vasquez of Vasquez Photography

Cage the Elephant at Forecastle Festival 2017 in Louisville, KY. Photo by Tony Vasquez

The Forecastle Festival on the Louisville water-front in its 15th year featured headliners Odesza, LCD Soundsystem, and Weezer. The range of music that could be enjoyed over the three-day festival ranged from hip-hop to EDM, folk to indie rock.

Louisville’s Twin Limb opened up the festival Friday afternoon on the Mast Stage. The three piece featuring Lacey Guthrie, Maryliz Bender, and Kevin Ratterman played through some audio technical difficulties like true professionals. The Quiet Hollers another Louisville based band opened the 91.9 WFPK Port Stage. The bands sound was a blend of alt country and indie pop. The Los Angeles based band, Chicano Batman electrified the crowd with their blend of Latin, and 70’s soul. Cage the Elephant lead by the dynamic Matt Shultz are no strangers to the festival. Matt was dancing all over the stage in his full green suit. It was a shame their set suffered from a busted speaker since the Bowling Green, KY band was trying their best to entertain the crowd.

Repeat Repeat at Forecastle Festival 2017 in Louisville, KY. Shot by Tony Vasquez.

Saturday’s lineup was up and going on the Port Stage with the Nashville, TN based band Repeat Repeat. The trio featuring front man Jared Corder, drummer Andy Herrin, and keys/vocalist Kristyn Corder played an energetic set performing the single “Girlfriend’ off of their unreleased new lp Floral Canyon. Be sure to catch the band as they tour with Beach Slang in September. Over on the Mast Stage, Sturgill Simpson performed a blistering rendition “It Ain’t All Flowers” and his genuine cover of Willie Nelson’s “I’d Have to Be Crazy” was unforgettable. The New York duo Phantogram of Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel had the crowd bobbing their heads to the electro trip hop rhythmic beats.

Sunday was off to fast start with the indie pop band Coin. Their high energy and fun musical hooks was an excellent start to the final day of the festival. Under the interstate on the Ocean Stage STRFKR along with help from their astronaut dancers opened their set with “Tape Machine” and performed one of my favorite tracks “Open Your Eyes.” Later in the set, they performed their version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” capturing the overall feeling of the weekend. The Austin, Texas band, Spoon who has been on tour with their recently released Hot Thoughts LP delivered a great set on the Boom Stage. Lead singer Britt Daniel’s recalling being at forecastle the same year the Flaming Lips were there when they dedicated a song to the band. The setlist included songs from several of their albums. Some personal highlights were “I Turn My Camera On” off of Gimme Fiction and “Do You” from They Want My Soul.

The evening was finally cooling down as the sun was setting on the blistering hot day. You could feel the excitement in the air as the crew was setting up the stage for Weezer. The crowd ranging in age from young to old raised the hands in the shape of “W’s.” The sky filled with glow sticks, as the party atmosphere of the crowd was awe-inspiring. The crowd could be heard singing along with “Hash Pipe,” “My Name is Jones,” “Buddy Holly,” and the cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” It was a bittersweet ending to the festival and weekend.