Music lovers!!! How are we feeling after the jam-packed, three-day weekend that was ‘SoWHAT?! Music Festival’? If you’re anything like me you’re probably in recovery mode; sore, sunburnt, tired, and yet highly satisfied. If you missed the festival this year, you’re about to have some serious FOMO when you see all of the amazing images we captured from this weekend.

The event, run by ‘Third String Productions’ kicked off Friday May 27th and ran through Sunday the 29th and featured over 200+ bands across 5 stages in the Arlington, TX ‘Choctaw Stadium’. With performances from ‘2Chainz’, ‘Trippie Redd’, ’Palaye Royale’ ‘I Prevail’, ‘Blackbear’, ‘Underoath’, ‘The Ghost Inside’, ‘Wage War’, ‘Sum 41’, ‘Simple Plan’, ‘Grandson’, Rae Sremmurd, ‘Chase Atlantic’, ‘100 Gecs’, ‘Juicy J’, ‘Alexisonfire’…(shall I go on….?); this was truly a once in a lifetime event.

However, with an event this massive it didn’t come without its faults, mostly with audio technical difficulties, stage delays and the last minute dropout by ‘Lil Xan’; perhaps the lineup was a bit too ambitious this year but I can say without a doubt this was one of the better run festivals I’ve been too.

The stadium accommodations made for a great layout between stages and vendors but you had to work for it physically! I caught quite a sweat and a rather good workout running up and down the stadium stairs and various hills between the stages to catch my "must see” list of performances. With quick set changes and a few overlapping performances fans had to prioritize which band they wanted to see the most throughout the weekend.

The stadium provided plenty of shade which was very welcome in the 90+ degree heat and water was available at multiple filling stations, along with free ‘Monster Energy’ drinks at their hydration station. I never saw a line for bathrooms which is unheard of for a festival of any capacity; and to add, the bathrooms were always well stocked and clean. Kudos to the janitorial staff!

The local food vendors such as ‘Pho Que’, ‘Taqo Guy’, ‘The Pizza Spot’, ‘Vegan Vibrations‘, and ‘Smackin Mac‘ saw long lines but for good reason as everything was incredibly tasty. For those who wanted a quick bite on the run, your standard stadium fares were available in the concourse amongst the various pop-up tents slinging one-of-a-kind merchandise.

Fans had plenty of spending opportunities with the incredible mix of creators, brands and band merch with our favorites including the ‘The Pretty Cult’, ‘Nowhere Fast’ and of coarse the official, limited run of ‘SoWhat?!" official merch in which I copped a sick bucket hat.

Day One’ brought out an excited crowd of fans from around the country and the energy was palpable as fans jumped and fist pumped their way through acts from; ‘Afterlife’, ‘Jeris Johnson’, ‘See You Space Cowboy’, ‘Lorna Shore’, ‘Suicidal Silence’, ‘Escape the Fate’, ‘Wage War’, ‘Carnifex’, ‘Crown the Empire’ and ‘I Prevail’.

A Thousand Below: Photo by Heather Koepp

SeeyouSpacecowboy: Photo by Heather Koepp

Crown the Empire: Photo by Heather Koepp

Fans also had the opportunity to check out ‘Flow’s Backyard’ stage that hosted most of the hip hop acts including, ‘10k.Cassh’, ’Ken Car$on’, ‘Cochise’, ‘Lucki’, ‘24k Golden’ and ‘Trippie Redd’.

‘Poutyface’ fresh of the ‘Yungblud’ tour graced the ‘IDOBI Radio’ Stage captured fans with her honest, catchy lyrics and a stage presence to match.

‘347Aiden’ on the ‘Hot Topic stage’ drew a large crowd of fans, only to be met with disappointment as the stage temporarily lost audio cutting into the already short set time of 30 minutes. The audio issues foreshadowed what would come over the next three days but the ‘Dancing in my Room’ rapper expressed his gratitude to the fans for coming to see him perform at his second festival when the hardworking ‘SoWHAT?!’ crew got the audio back and running to give fans a short performance before the next performer Maggie Lindmann hit the stage.

I unfortunately missed Maggie’s performance as I was down on the field waiting for the audio to come back for ‘Crown the Empire’ at the ‘Stay Lit’ stage which well worth the wait but like I mentioned, priorities had to be made and it was no easy decision by any means.

Also performing on Friday was rock band “I Set My Friends on Fire’ who ran a very aggressive social media campaign during the announcement of, “When We Were Young Fest” and their very obvious exclusion from the lineup. With the help of Mike Ziemer and “Third String Productions’ the band earned their place on the “Revolver” stage and fortunately didn’t have to perform from the parking lot.

Over on the ‘Stay Lit’ stage, ‘Palaye Royale’ stole the night for me personally with their high energy and stage presence. Backed by an immense passion to deliver an unforgettable show, the band played until they were cut off, literally; which left fans confused and upset.

Closing out the “Stay Lit” stage was Michigan based rockers, ‘I Prevail’ that delivered an amazing performance that left fans headbanging, singing, and moshing throughout the set, igniting a wave of energy despite the long day in the heat. To wrap up the evening fans had the opportunity to witness ‘Trippie Redd’ on the ‘Flows Backyard’ stage and prepare for Day Two.

Day Two: Okay, so what we may be tired but the crowd is excited as ever despite the increased temperatures from the day before but how you could not be with acts such as ‘Sum 41’, ‘Simple Plan’, ‘The Ghost Inside’, ‘Knocked Loose’, ‘Stand Atlantic, ‘Grandson’, ‘Polyphia’ and ‘Travie McCoy’ performing. While I kept it a little more mellow for Day Two, I still was able to capture some amazing performance while simultaneously being insanely jealous of missing out on so many other bands that performed this day.

The heat was baring down by 4pm and I made the decision to escape back to my hotel that was a mile away for a quick dip in the pool before jumping back into the chaos at ‘Choctaw’.

On my way out of the venue for my mid-day swimmy, swim I ran into my longtime pal ‘Grandson’ who was just arriving for his set later that day. If you’re not a familiar with ‘Grandson’ now is the time to get on it because he is the future of music. With forward-thinking lyrics that tell an engaging story, you can't help but to stop and listen. Grandson has the ability to move a crowd and that is something that cannot be taught but is ingrained within the soul.

Another must see for me for Day Two was, ‘Cemetery Sun’ who’s album, ‘Ascension’ has lived in my playlist since its debut in 2021. Despite drawing a smaller crowd which I feel is due to the distance and time limitations between acts, the trio pulled out an amazing performance that I was happy I took the time to schedule into my busy day. I really hope to see them on one of the bigger stages next year.

The ‘Hot Topic’ staged housed ‘Simple Plan’ and ‘Sum 41’ later in the evening which were acts I obviously couldn’t miss out on this weekend and were a big draw for many fans in attendance. Closing out the ‘Flows Backyard’ stage was ‘Rae Sremmurd’ and on the field closing out the ‘Stay Lit’ stage was ‘The Ghost Inside’.

Day Three: This one was for the lifers…or maybe just you one day ticket holders, whatever the case may be, we made it and it’s been an experience of a lifetime! I felt surprisingly better than I thought I would and was excited to arrive at the stadium for one last day of shooting. I arrived just in time for, ‘Counterparts’ on the ‘Stay Lit’ stage and thus began my final day at ‘SOWHAT?! Music Festival’.

Over on the “Hot Topic’ stage I made sure to catch, ‘Set It Off’ and ‘Mod Sun’ both drawing a loyal audience and delivering high impact performances that were a highlight for many over the weekend. Later in the day, ‘The Maine’ made their appearance on the stage to a very loyal crowd while even inviting a fan to play guest guitar on a song.

‘Flows Backyard’ hosted a showstopping performances from ‘Waka Flaka Flame’ who made his way into the crowd while ‘Comeback Kid’ performed on the ‘Revolver’ stage and ‘Belmont’ on the ‘Monster Energy’ stage.

In a dilemma to choose which act to capture next, and trust me it was tough decision between ‘Chase Atlantic’, ‘Juicy J’, ‘Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!’ I planned out a route to capture a little of each performance until the ‘Hot Topic’ stage failed to deliver audio once again during the ‘Chase Atlantic’ performance. After multiple attempts to get the audio going the band was forced to leave the stage to a crowd of disappointed fans despite the best efforts from the band, their crew, and the ‘SOWHAT?’ team. With headliner “Blackbear’ due to perform next it became a question on if the stage would be available in time for his set (luckily it was).

Down on the field the ‘Stay Lit’ stage saw plenty of action from ‘We Came as Romans’ with bandmates sporting ‘The Kyle Pavone Foundation’ tees. Find out more about the foundation HERE. The ‘Stay Lit’ stage also hosted ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, ‘Alexisonfire’ followed by “Underoath’ closing out the stage. ‘Underoath’ drew in a huge crowd and was arguably one of the best performances from the weekend.

I made my way to ‘Flows Backyard’ to capture ‘2Chainz’ and it was a decision well made. I had unfortunately neglected this stage most of the weekend due to overlapping time schedules, but I was happy to close out my weekend with this explosive performance.

I was well prepared to close out Day Three with camera in hand and a smile on my face; leaving however was a much different story. The weekend flew by in heat flash; and little did I know I would be missing the chaos of running in between stages, the pounding bass , and the vast amount of new friends that I made. The entire ‘SoWhat?!’ festival crew worked tirelessly to make this year’s show a success and to say I am already feigning for next year is an understatement!

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