Hinterland did not just grow this year—it exploded. The festival grounds in St. Charles, Iowa, tripled in size, stretching over 1 million square feet and 250 acres, with more of everything: water stations, shade, camping, parking, and creature comforts. But the real headline at the August 1–3 event was . . . well, the headliners. Hinterland has long booked breakout acts just before they hit it big—Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan, Tyler Childers, to name a few. But this year? No waiting required.
Rapper and singer Tyler, The Creator opened the weekend the same week he held the number one spot on the Billboard 100 with his latest album, Don’t Touch the Glass, his fourth consecutive #1 album. Saturday belonged to Kacey Musgraves, the genre-defying, eight-time Grammy-winning talent. Dream-pop chanteuse Lana Del Rey closed the show on Sunday and created the biggest pre-event buzz, as she tours infrequently. Day passes to the Sunday event were reportedly the first to sell out (25,000 tickets).
All three headliners delivered, and the crowd loved every minute. In fact, every act got a warm reception. Just saying “Hello, Iowa” was enough to bring the crowd to a roaring expression of approval. Audiences knew the words to their songs and sang along when asked. They interacted when artists would request them to clap, raise their hands, and stomp their feet. While many of the performers may be unfamiliar to mainstream music lovers, even the more obscure ones had lots of fans in attendance. An informal poll revealed that those acts had fan support as a result of Tik Tok and other social media platforms. The vibe was pure celebration: perfect weather, great sound, and an audience ready to soak it all in.
The performers picked up the positivity. Jack Antonoff of the New Jersey alt-rock band Bleachers declared from the stage, “I’d rather be here than play at Glastonbury [a world-famous outdoor fest in England] where everyone is just another act on the bill.” California singer-songwriter Still Woozy (Sven Eric Gamsky) declared of the supportive atmosphere, “This is our Woodstock, but better.” Role Model (Tucker Pillsbury) of Maine gushed, “This is my favorite fest ever because everybody has a clear view.” Indeed, Hinterland’s main stage at the bottom of a gently sloping hill was easily visible to fest goers.
Tyler, The Creator broke out into a monologue during his set, explaining that he had been on tour since February and would be until September. As a Californian, he knew nothing about Iowa and was wary about his reception. He said he was tired and drained, but the energy of the crowd lifted him up. He asked the crowd, “Are you my N***s?” (using the slang term inappropriate to print). The crowd roared back, “Yes.” He asked again and got an even bigger affirmative response. “That’s great but funny as I only see about three Black faces in the crowd!” Tyler may have been exaggerating, but it’s true that the audience was mostly white middle-class people between 20 and 40 years of age. The fact that Tyler felt confident enough to comment about it showed his comfort and sense of humor about the situation.
Kacey Musgrave and Lana Del Rey also cooed about the Iowa setting. Some of this may be show biz spiel, but the fact that everyone (artists and audiences) was having fun was palpable.
While every act had merit, there were several that stood out. West Virginia’s Sierra Ferrell gave a dazzling performance. The multi-instrumentalist imaginatively blended country, jazz, folk, and blues into her own distinctive style. She was also one of the few performers who addressed the current state of the nation. She introduced her cover of the 1930s blues song “Chittlin’ Cookin’ Time In Cheatham County” as one with a dark history, but she asserted that knowing our history creates a better future for everyone. She asked everyone to loudly say “I love you” to each other as a way of harnessing deeper feelings.
Other highlights included the young country singers Willow Avalon, from Georgia, and Wyatt Flores, from Oklahoma, who in separate performances wowed the crowd with confessional tunes that poked fun at themselves and their past mistakes. Willow demurely attacked men who are so full of it that their eyes are brown while Wyatt celebrated his high school football career as the team’s mascot.
People generally attend music festivals as a way to escape from the problems of everyday life. Many of the musicians referred to this fact, including California’s Remi Wolf, who said, “We can’t control the world out there, so for the next 45 minutes let’s just be stoopid and have fun.” Wolf spiritedly presented her self-defined “funky soul pop.” YouTube sensation Rebecca Black preached what she called “the gay gospel” and said, “We can all be free to dance, so let’s dance.” Florida’s Gigi Perez concurred during a hot live set that clearly enthralled the audience, saying, “The only thing that matters is right here, right now.”
Not everyone spoke to the crowd. The Indian-Australian EDM band Glass Beams performed without words and let their instruments do the talking. The trio, led by Rajan Silva, mixed Eastern and Western music while enigmatically wearing gold bejeweled masks. The psychedelic soul band The Marías rarely spoke so as not to interfere with the magic spell cast by their tunes.
Hinterland Music Festival successfully brought together a host of different musical styles. It has grown into a major addition to the festival circuit during a time when other such events, such as South by Southwest, have become smaller or gone by the wayside, like Pitchfork Music Festival. The Iowa hosts deserve congratulations.