DOVER, Del. - Firefly Music Festival is still a newbie in the pantheon of outdoor music marathons. But it's closing in on you, Bonnaroo: This year's Firefly drew about 80,000, the same number of campers at the Tennessee fest. Some weekend highlights from The Woodlands:
Imagine Dragons return to where it all startedWhen Imagine Dragons played the inaugural Firefly Music Festival in 2012, they weren't exactly a household name. For evidence, look no further than their set time - 11:45 a.m. Saturday - at the backyard stage, one of the two smaller stages for the first-year festival.
About two months after the group's first Firefly appearance, the album Night Visions was released, featuring hits like Radioactive and the appropriately titled On Top of the World, which propelled the Las Vegas band into another stratosphere of fame.
This time around, Imagine Dragons arrived at The Woodlands as hot as any group on the bill. They also got scheduled in a prime Saturday evening spot on the main stage.
'We played here two years ago on a Saturday morning, and it was incredible,' Dan Reynolds said. 'This time, though, we get to come back and play Saturday evening on this great stage. This means everything to us, and you guys are great for being here.'
Outkast reunion good until Big Boi breaks up the partyTwo months after launching a much-anticipated reunion tour to negative reviews at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Outkast pulled together an entertaining show as Firefly's Saturday night headliner.
It's the 20th anniversary of the duo's first album, 1994's Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, and while a good chunk of the crowd was actually younger than the album being feted, it didn't matter much: Hip-hop fans were getting their first-ever rap headliner at Firefly and one with plenty of hits.
Big Boi and André 3000 started the set off with 2000's amped-up B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad), and went through their fan favorites. Big Boi wasn't on stage for Hey Ya!, which was released on André 3000's side of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, but fans were, as Andre 3000 pulled a group of women on stage for a dance party. Those fans got a rude welcome when Big Boi came back out after the song was over: 'You don't have to go home, but you have to get the f--- out of here,' he told them.
Andre 3000 performs with Outkast at the Firefly Music Festival on June 21, 2014.(Photo: Kyle Grantham, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal)
'I believe that we will win!'There's no way a little live music was going to get in the way of soccer hooligans' good time.
Saturday's World Cup matches drew fans to the Dogfish Head Brewery tent and Landshark outdoor bar, two of the only spots in The Woodlands for hooligans to catch a match.
It was nothing like the hype surrounding the USA vs. Portugal game that started at 6 p.m. Sunday, though. Organizers announced that they would be broadcasting the game on the large screens on and surrounding the main stage, but not until 7 p.m. - after a set by The Lumineers, who canceled last year's Firefly appearance at the last minute.
Still, the Dogfish Head tent, which is in the eyeline of the main stage, was at capacity long before that. Inside, about 1,800 fans gathered around the 10 screens to watch the match.
Outside, fans like Mitch Skrabacz, sporting a Kyle Beckerman USA jersey, hung out at the main stage after The Lumineers wrapped their set. The Buffalo, N.Y., native was just as excited to see the matchup as he was to see the concert.
'It's a great idea' to broadcast the game, Skrabacz said. 'I'm missing Martin Garrix, but he's right across the way at the porch stage, so I can hear him just fine.'
Foo Fighters turn into a Delaware cover bandDave Grohl knows Delaware.
After years of vacationing in Rehoboth Beach with his family, the Foo Fighters singer must have noticed that Delawareans love cover bands.
So to wrap up the band's Friday headlining set at Firefly, the Foo Fighters emerged for an encore as a cover band, the Holy S----.
The crowd was treated to a five-song bar band/classic rock encore of School's Out (Alice Cooper), Miss You (the Rolling Stones), Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love (Van Halen) and Under Pressure (Queen and David Bowie). The final song? The band 'covered' the Foo Fighters' Everlong, sparking a massive sing-along.
Covers: All the cool kids are doing itFoo Fighters set the bar high Friday night with its impromptu five-song set of covers, but they weren't the only ones tapping into the deep well of other artists' hits.
Arctic Monkeys played a bit of Black Sabbath's War Pigs, Sleigh Bells teased the crowd with the intro to Extreme's More Than Words and Imagine Dragons paid homage to Rush with a powerful rendition of Tom Sawyer. And that's not even taking into account the collaborations, including Cage the Elephant jumping on stage with Imagine Dragons to play the latter's hit Radioactive.
The talker of the festival, though, was Beck's funkified version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean - including moves fit for the King of Pop - during his Saturday night set on the lawn stage.
Foo Fighters, Young the Giant learn that bones breakTwo Friday acts, Foo Fighters and Young the Giant, had bad breaks. Literally.
Foo guitarist Chris Shiflett played the entire two-hour show sitting in a chair with a broken ankle or foot, according to Dave Grohl, who didn't quite have the details straight. The Foo frontman did know the cause, however: 'You know how you did it?' he asked Shiflett onstage. 'By being ... old.'
Earlier in the day, Young the Giant performed without guitarist Jake Tilley, who broke his arm recently. With short notice, the band's tour manager, Stu Berk, sat in on guitar for the 75-minute set.
Sky Ferreira cancelsSynth-pop singer Sky Ferreira broke some hearts by pulling out of the festival at the last minute, missing her 3:45 p.m. Friday set.
The singer, who has been hobbled with a variety of injuries and illnesses this year, posted an apology on Twitter: 'Sorry I had to cancel Firefly Festival due to being ill. Promise I'll play Dover soon.'
Olympian Shaun White goes for gold with his band Bad ThingsOne thing Firefly hasn't drawn yet are celebrities - unless you count the musicians.
One of the most recognizable artists at the festival was Olympic gold medal winner Shaun White, aka the Flying Tomato, who arrived a day before he played guitar with his synth-pop band, Bad Things.
The 27-year-old snowboarder, who won gold for the halfpipe in 2006 and 2010, took photos and chatted with fans in the VIP area as Band of Horses performed Friday evening.
Bad Things' self-titled debut came out earlier this year after the band played Lollapalooza last year.
Amos Lee, Hunter Hunted give a nod to 'Game of Thrones'Amos Lee, arguably the most recognizable act in Thursday's lineup, closed his raucous set with a powerful rendition of the instrumental theme song from Game of Thrones.
As Lee played, the crowd slowly began to realize what it was listening to, reacting with claps and looks of amazement. But Lee wouldn't be the only artist to pay homage to the critically acclaimed fantasy drama.
The Game of Thrones theme at Firefly continued Friday afternoon when Los Angeles indie-pop duo Hunter Hunted came out to a recorded version of the HBO show's theme. If you think about it, Hunter Hunted would be a pretty good name for a Game of Thrones-themed band. Either that or the Rolling Heads.
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