Starry Nights Music Festival celebrated its third birthday this year, and celebrate we did. Born and raised in the heart of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Starry Nights was held at the same sound location as previous years. A seemingly smaller and colder version of Wakarusa, this festival had all the well-liked components of your camping festival experience. Consisting of two stages encircled by merchants, food, and what I thought was a UFO light structure, the main area left ample room for hoopers, dancers, and shade dwellers alike. Campers set up just outside the music allowing trips to coolers, bonfires, and port-o-potties to be effortless. And then there was the music…
This year’s Starry Nights was nothing shy of an honorary party for Nashville’s hardest working talent, brought to us by our hardest working promoters. A very “coming of age” moment for Happy Salmon Productions, this festival showcased the endless success of Nashville’s industry professionals and their sought out artists alike.
Tesla Rossa and Rayland Baxter started things off Friday with early afternoon sets, and I rolled in just in time to see an unfortunate cancellation by The Ettes turn into a fortunate set by The Kingston Springs. Sun shining and crowd rushing, the Springs sounded as natural as their debut EP Vacation Time had promised.
Armed with serious components of musicality, chemistry, performance, and originality, I’d say they have an ideal thing going right now. Lead vocalist Ian Ferguson doesn’t hesitate to let his high-pitch vocals resonate atop the tightly knit drum and bass duo cutting up the background, as guitarist James Guidry jumps in with rivaling harmonies. As much as I hate to compare them to other artists, their sound is very Vampire Weekend moves to the West Coast – has a baby with an indie rock woman with Beatles influences that plays the tambourine…if that makes sense.
With consistent and contagious energy throughout, I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘they don’t even know what they have right now’. Fresh out of high school, their stage presence was almost frightening – starting out songs like “Little Girl” with a bass riff and keyboard fusion resembling that of a Flaming Lips intro. Does anyone smell a record deal? Needless to say, my expectations for this group were high, and it was a pleasant surprise to see them generate hype both on and off the stage.
In a nutshell, Friday’s highlights consisted of a beautiful appearance from HoneyHoney, an energy hyping set by Sleeper Agent, and the unpredictable and perfected crowd surfing by front man Matthew Shultz from Cage The Elephant. Cage ended their set in collaboration with Autovaugn covering “Killing In the Name Of” by Rage Against The Machine…and leaving the set with a chipped tooth and side cramp I couldn’t have been more pleased.
Ghostland Observatory dipped into the morning with a light show that yielded confirmation from the US Air force, leaving the late-night crowd more than content. I’d say despite my choice to wear flip-flops and a skirt in mid-40’s weather, it was a fine start to the weekend.–Mackenzie Grosser