Spring in North Texas brings a bounty of music festivals to the area and the longest tenured of those is 102.1 KDGE's annual Edgefest. In its twenty-fourth year, the day-long festival now resides at Toyota Stadium, home of FC Dallas, in the suburb of Frisco. Within those twenty-four years, there has been a vast array of musicians to grace the Edgefest stage. From the awful (Limp Bizkit) to the awesome (Black Keys), there's always something for everybody at the annual shindig. This year's lineup was no different. Straight-up rock, folk-infused melodies, and dance-inspired anthems, this year's Edgefest was lot of fun under a lot of sun.
I'm not going to lie, I don't have the deepest knowledge of most of the Edgefest lineup. I've definitely heard a song or two from every artist but that by no means make me a enthusiast. What I can tell you is that there were some great performances and some not so great; good to be exact. I can say that there weren't any bad performances. To give praise where praise is due, I thought Cage the Elephant had the best performance of the day. I actually thought the Avett Brothers should have closed the second stage and Cage should have had the second headlining spot beside Beck. Give it a year or two and Cage will be headlining this festival. Another set that deserves some recognition is Grouplove. Until their set, the festival was stuck in a bit of a lull but once they hit the stage, the mood and crowd came to life. They were a lot of fun to watch.
I was really pumped to finally see Chvrches live, as I've missed them the last two times they played in Dallas. I was a bit disappointed. I think they sounded great but playing midday definitely took away some of the flair with no accompanying light show. I thought the Neighborhood played a pretty solid set as well, a leap forward from last year's set from the second stage. I really enjoyed Jessie Frye's opening set as well. She was lively and her music was a departure from her previous shows. It was more upbeat and poppy, unlike the soulful, passionate cuts I've seen in Denton. I can't say any nice words about Bastille because frankly, I didn't watch their set. Not allowing anyone to photograph them, I decided to take that time to finally get a bite to eat and grab a beer with Antonio. But New Politics made up for it ten fold. Front man David Boyd was animated and all over the place. The band was having a lot of fun and that energy transferred to the crowd.
Beck provided a final exclamation point to the day, bringing a solid catalog of material to the stage. He hit the floor running by opening with "Devil's Haircut" and "Loser", two songs I still hear consistently on KDGE. Playing a lot from his latest release, Morning Phase, as well as some older cuts and covers, Beck held his own and kept the Edgefest crowd entertained. Unfortunately, Beck faced the same dilemma as past headliners, having a mass exodus of fans leave halfway through his set. I can't blame them, it was a long day with some of the higher temperatures we've seen this year. Overall, the day was a lot of fun. The Edge has done an excellent job the past few years in bringing in a more diverse lineup and I think it has paid off wonderfully. Can't wait to see what happens next year. Photos of the festival are below:
Jessie Frye
Switchfoot
The Neighbourhood
Kongos
Grouplove
Cage the Elephant
enjoy.
Edgefest 24 @ Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX
Reviewed by Scott Rowe, Editor
on
April 30, 2014
Rating: