Hinterland Music Festival Was So Cool and So Awesome
Words by Allyson J.L. Clayton
Photos by Jackilyn CooperNo matter where she’s performing, Lydia Night will get mother-f*ckers of all ages to jump. -The Writer of This Article
Hinterland—according to Google, at least—is “an area lying beyond what is visible or known,” a place beyond the pines, or in this case, a humid and hilly festival grounds that felt like its own hidden oasis. Pleaser photographer Jackilyn Cooper and I arrived in St. Charles, Iowa an hour before music started, sweaty and overly exhausted from the five-turned-seven-and-a-half-hour drive from Chicago, a city where neither of us live, but had spent the last 48 hours hopping around to see friends and our favorite band.
Under the dazey trance of the end-of-summer heat, we were treated to a lineup of some of our all-time favorite artists in three short days. This was Hinterland…
DAY 1 – Friday, August 3rd
We picked up our media credentials barely thirty minutes before the first band was set to start playing. We made our way into the fest and I bee-lined for the air-conditioned bathrooms as Jackilyn made her way to the photo pit for Skegss, only to have my plan to look like the cutest festival reporter ever thwarted by the rivers of sweat streaming down my face at an alarming rate.
I made my way to the only stage–which, at first, I was surprised by, given the magnitude of this lineup. But instead of making things feel crowded and another adjective, it afforded the festival an incredibly intimate feeling you might not get with these artists in other places.
Skegss were already playing as I walked up. I hear the lead singer (whom I know nothing about yet) shout, “Cheers everybody! We’ve never been here before!” I wrote down “Australian????” in my notes and as I looked back to the crowd, my question was answered as a fan started running towards the stage with an Australian flag held proudly above their head as they ran, confirming my earlier suspicion.
The first thing I noticed was how incredibly full the sound on stage was. You could hear every instrument so clearly and in perfect harmony with the rest–something I just recently learned means that the “mix” is stellar.
My first impression of Skegss’ music was “beachy shoegaze” – sang with a rasp that makes me want to be thirteen again, living in Hawaii, spending my time going to the skatepark to watch the other (cooler) kids skate, wishing I was brave enough to get on the board, but instead, meeting up with my friends at the beach, taking the bus in our bathing suits.
The band brought their set to a close with a new song, “Space Man,” promising it will be out soon, but not just yet. They played it slow and steady, the song sounding more confident and assured than the fun and frantic energy of the first few songs. Ben Reed, the lead singer, crooned out, “I am so far from space, man.”
A Song That Stood Out: ‘Spring Has Sprung’
[I found a feeling that feels too real
Nobody knows just how good I feel
I took a pill now I can't stay still
But I'm too fucked up for romance..]
Next on stage was one of my favorite acts of all time: The Regrettes. Lead singer Lydia Night walked out last with her back to the crowd, wearing a shirt that said “LYDIA NIGHT IS SO HOT,” daring the crowd to disagree. Just before the band gets ready to jump into “California Friends,” Lydia looks back to the crowd over her shoulder with a sweetly mischievous smile, beckoning the crowd to cheer louder so she can start the set with the energy this song deserves.
After pulling off an acrobatic feat—keeping her legs planted, torso twisting around and under her hand that holds the mic, almost bending all the way backward as she keeps singing—Lydia and the band take us straight into “Monday,” the first single from their sophomore album Further Joy.
It started to rain right at the end of “Rosy," a song that sends electricity through my brain, leaving me genuinely excited to be drenched, head-to-toe, dancing around in this little Iowan oasis.
As the set drew to a close, we were all completely drenched, and the sky got darker as the stage lights got brighter. Lydia came over the microphone, after enticing the crowd to give these last few songs their all, to say, “I don’t want you to have a better time with anyone else,” giving us a playful pout.
A Song That Stood Out: Show Me You Want Me
Because I am a Very Good and Professional Modern Journalist, I took too many videos of us dancing in the rain to the Regrettes. So for the rest of Friday, I sat in the rain writing in my soggy notepad as Houndmouth and Sylvan Esso hummed on in front of me before we headed home.
DAY 2 – Saturday, August 4th
It. Was. So. Hot.
We walked, well trekked, down the steep hill from the entrance, to the stage just as Wilderado were finishing their first song. The lead singer tells the crowd, “This rules, just cool people lookin’ to hear music! This is the kind of fest you wanna play, I'm tellin’ ya! I just got to meet one of Noah Kahan's dogs. That's a famous pup! Alright, this song’s called Mornin’ Light!”
I looked over to see friends with glittery cheeks and ice-cold drinks in hand dance towards each other in joyful greeting, seemingly comfortable despite the weather and ready to settle into the heat, giving in to the summer. We're all so at home at a music fest.
A Song That Stood Out: Morning Light
When I am new to an artist or just hearing them for the first time live, I always look to the fans, the people who came here just for this artist and to sing along to every word with so much love. I wholeheartedly understand how special it is to hear the songs that have healed you—or even hurt you so deeply you had no choice but to heal—sung to you by the very person who wrote them, and it is so special to see someone else experience that with an artist you don’t know. So, when Joy Oladakun, an artist I had only recently discovered since moving to Nashville in March, came out to so many warm and inviting cheers, I was excited to see them play to their fans.
Oladakun started with “Keeping the Light On,” the first song they wrote for their debut album Proof of Life, which came out earlier this year. “I wrote this song about growing up in a small town,” they said, “That's why I'm dressed like a truck driver.” The crowd giggled and took more note of their camouflage pants, yellow sunglasses, and trucker hat. “I wanted a world where I could just be human and kind and alive.”
Their dedication to giving context to every song with a little introspection about where they were physically and mentally when they wrote each song made their performance stand out. It really seemed like they were trying to connect to the audience about feeling out of place, struggling with mental health, being from a small town where they felt like no one accepted them, and doing whatever they could do to cope. Which, in this case, was going to a man-made lake in the middle of the desert, getting high, listening to "songs where white men play the guitar” and relaxing.
A Song That Stood Out: We’re All Gonna Die
Angel Olsen and her band came on to the stage that evening, each in a different colored jumpsuit, making a rainbow of sorts, as they played us through Angel’s lush and distinctively warble-y music. My two favorite classical instruments, cello and violin, were present on stage and it brought an almost indescribably all-encompassing sonic experience to Olsen’s performance.
A Song That Stood Out: Shut Up Kiss Me
Headlining that night was Noah Kahan. It was finally time for Jackilyn, our fearless Photo Editor, to see him live for the first time (after spending the past few months enmeshed in his beautiful melodies and heart-wrenching lyrics). We sat up on the hill at the very back of the venue and settled in with our friends on blankets as the sun started to set, ready to really feel our feelings. The band came onstage first. Shortly after, Noah burst onto the stage, taking a running leap up onto a block at the very front to wave to the crowd in his signature white overalls, mandolin strapped to his body. The drums pounded anthemically, like a battle call as he hopped down and yelled, “My parents got divorced!”
Holding nothing back, Noah and the band took us straight into “All My Love,” using a break in the song towards the end to say “Hinterland! You’ve got ALL MY LOVE,” singing those last words with his raspy lilt. Immediately, I was in.
“IoooooWaaaa!”
He called to the crowd as he switched instruments, grabbing an electric acoustic. Overtaken by the sound, I wrote “acoustic guitars amped up is one of the best sounds in the world. You can hear the steel in the strings and it fills up the space you are in, in a way that feels like it could soothe literally any ache you've ever had. Paired with the grungy fullness of the electric guitars behind it? OOF – in the notes app on my phone.
Kahn remarked about the size of the crowd, telling us it made him want to “piss his pants.” Incredibly jovial with the slightly chaotic energy of an artist so amazed and excited by their own success, he said, “If you know this next one, sing along. If you don’t…go jump in a lake? I don’t know!” He takes us into “False Confidence,” and we are instructed to put our hands up, and, of course, everyone obliges, and waves along to the beat of the song—but almost immediately Kahn changed his mind. “Okay,” he said, “I don’t like the way that looks anymore.” Everyone’s hands shoot down as we all laugh at his charming honesty.
By the end, Jackie was a mess of tears, her heart torn to shreds by the lyrics of this New Englander.
A Song That Stood Out; Northern Attitude <3
DAY 3 – Sunday, August 5th
Yot Club took to the stage first on Sunday, kicking off our last day in The Iowan Oasis in the chillest way possible. A one-man band, Mr. Club stood on stage with his guitar and a laptop. Which, of course, was giving him plenty of problems out in the middle-of-no-where-iowa.
“God d*mn! I’ve got all the ‘iCloud is running out of storage’ messages popping up on my laptop!”
Once the technology gods decided to give him a break, and he played the first note of “You Know What I Mean,” someone in the crowd let out a wild screech. “That’s all it takes,” he laughed. “You know it’s comin’.”
A Song That Stood Out: Japan
I was elated that Spill Tab was next up. Spilly, the affectionate nickname bestowed to Miss Claire Chicha by her fans, is one of the coolest artists out right now. I first heard of spill tab in 2020, when her debut EP “Oatmilk” dropped; I was deeply intrigued by her infectious production and the sultriness of her voice, especially when she sang in French. Since then, her music has constantly surprised me and taken me to new places—seeing her live was no different.
As the supersonic bass of “CRÈME BRÛLÉE” radiated throughout the entire field, Caleb Buchanan, spill tab’s enigmatic bassist, yells out, “Iowa! What the f*ck is good!”
Then, as if the sound of the bass was getting sucked back into the speakers, there was a break in the music as Spilly came running from backstage. “WHAT THE FUCK IS UP IOWA,” she shouts, immediately ripping into her guitar. The energy was the highest it had been all weekend—spill tab did not come to play around.
The band's chemistry was enrapturing and so fun to watch—if I could, this whole review would be a script of their performance and how well they engaged the crowd. A fan held up a photoshopped picture of Buchanan and Drake as Spilly told the crowd that they were best friends—alluding to some inside joke they have with their fans. The whole set, a dedicated group of fans who were gripping onto the barricade, sang loud enough that the mic picked up their sweet voices.
If you’ve never been to a spill tab show, you are severely missing out. Their onstage presence flowed like water and they believe in the music so hard that you would have no choice but to have the best time of your life.
A Song That Stood Out: ukulele cover of “YEAH!” by Usher!!
—
Coming all the way from NYC, Del Water Gap took the stage at Hinterland to a crowd of extremely excited fans. The crowd was buzzing, I could hear people saying that this set was one of their favorites yet.
It was obvious that he could feel the love. “I almost quit music five years ago. So, to be here playing in Iowa, having a bunch of you know the words, means the world,” he remarked to the crowd, as he and his band played us into “Ode To A Conversation Stuck In Your Throat.”
The rain was pretty relentless that day, and a lot of us watched the DWG set from under the awnings. But even though the weather was miserable, there was something in the air, something in Del Water Gap’s performance, that made it enjoyable and even mystical.
A Song That Stood Out: An Ode To A Conversation Stuck In Your Throat <3
And then, there was Wallows.
The pièce de résistance, the moment we had all been waiting for, the reason for Pleaser Magazine itself: Wallows took the stage at Hinterland.
I knew this crowd well: if you hadn't taken your bathroom and food breaks at least four hours prior, you were out of luck if you wanted to preserve your spot in the action.
I understand the urge to my core. You are so desperate to connect with these people who have written these lyrics and melodies that make you feel seen in ways you usually have to beg for people to see, whereas the music just gets it. You want so desperately for those people to know how important their words are to you, how much they have helped and affirmed you and made you feel whole.
The radio station playing in between sets played the first few seconds of “Talk Like That,” a popular song off of Wallows’ 2020 EP Remote, before the boys came on stage, and the energy in the crowd went from an excited buzz to feral, in .02 seconds. Alas, it was just a tease and the band actually came on stage right on time.
Wallows opened with “Only Friend,” the first song on their debut album Nothing Happens, possibly because they wanted all of us deeply in our feelings, grasping for air.
The unfortunate thing for you, dear readers, is that when I am in attendance at a Wallows show, my thoughts become frantic and overwhelming. I am focusing on not going down in the mosh while also trying to remember to breathe during “Scrawny” so that I don’t pass out.
I could feel the drums vibrating through my hat as I watched friends get “OK’d.” A term coined by other Wallows fans to describe the act of Dylan Minnette making his way off the stage and into the crowd to hoist himself onto the barricade to sing and sweat directly into our faces. He then passes the mic to a fan for the breakdown and it’s the most exciting moment of any Wallows stan’s life, speaking from personal experience! I still think about it daily.
The setlist was perfect and all-encompassing, satisfying everyone’s “must hear this live” list. We got “Only Friend,” “Uncomfortable,” (the part where the music breaks and it’s just cymbals for a second felt like a stake through my heart) “Dig What You Dug,” “Just Like A Movie,” “Remember When”, “Pleaser”—a team favorite, of course—and so many more.
In the moment they debuted their newest song, “Only Ecstacy,” and the crowd listened in quiet awe, Wallows felt like the biggest band in the world. I have been supporting this band for over five years now and they only get better and better and better. Long live Wallows<3
–
It was 9:14 p.m. on day three of Hinterland and post-Wallows, I was fest-ed out.
We took shelter under the awnings once again, made some friends, and then made our way into the crowd for Maggie Rogers. Still soaked from the sudden downpour, people started to do their zombified "must. get. to. the. music." shuffle, weirdly in sync. They were all pushing up as the time inched closer for Rogers to take to the stage, looking around to make sure everyone else was doing the same.
I was blown away by Rogers’ set. I have only been a casual listener, paying attention to every release but never diving as deep as I clearly needed to! She came on stage in a pink and red leotard ensemble with the most amazing boots, looking ready to dance her heart out across the stage. Maggie Rogers is so powerful: a rockstar in the truest sense of the word, she has a way of making you feel everything she sings and you can’t take your eyes off her. Personally, my jaw was on the floor for her entire set and I couldn’t think of a better way to end the journey that was Hinterland Music Festival.
Thank you for coming along! Make sure to head over to Hinterland’s social channels and website to keep up to date on next year’s festival!
<3, Pleaser
