SWANZEY, N.H. — Last weekend's Northlands Music and Arts Festival had it all: amazing music, tasty food, artisan crafts, fun vibes — even an all-natural sunset better (as one festival-goer put it) than anything The Sphere in Las Vegas could conjure up.
The third annual Northlands soared to new heights, drawing thousands of attendees each day. Headliner Goose returned to the Northlands stage on Friday, delivering a pair of exhilarating sets full of transcendent jam peaks and throbbing funk plateaus, all backdropped by the most beautiful sunset imaginable. The festival's heartbeat began on Thursday evening at the Campground Stage, as Brooklyn’s Brass Queens ignited the night with their brass-fueled energy.
Following their lead, Annie in the Water kept spirits high, paving the way for an electrifying finish with a unique, full-band silent disco session (where people dance to music listened to on wireless headphones) featuring NYC's Space Bacon, followed by a set from Connecticut DJ Doey Joey, who kept the party going into the wee hours. The festival’s tempo picked up on Friday with sets at both the Mountain and Echo stages. Charleston's Psycodelics lifted the curtain, followed by sonic journeys from Colorado’s Magic Beans and Rochester’s Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad.
North Carolina’s Big Something made waves with a spectacular Northlands debut, crowned by a collaboration with artist-at-large Kanika Moore on Nine Inch Nails' "Closer." As the day unfolded, bluegras.