Festival Review: Music @ All Things Go Fall Classic 2018

Lots of great artists and bands at All Things Go!

I wrote about the overall experience of All Things Go Fall Classic, now let’s look at some of the music sets I had the chance to witness.

I dipped in and out of the festival, and was able to catch six full sets, four on Saturday and two on Sunday. I didn’t expect to go on Sunday (already had a full day planned), but it worked out that I could get over to Union Market twice, and I’m glad I did.

Day 1 (Saturday) intentionally featured only female artists, ‘to support the movement towards equal representation in the music industry’. I arrived for the very first set, to hear KAYE perform and to take stock of the festival before it got too crowded.

It would be fair to say I hadn’t heard of every artist or band at All Things Go prior to attending, but that’s part of the charm of a music festival, the act of discovery.

Music

KAYE @ 12:30pm (Oct. 6) – KAYE (or Charlene Kaye) played a killer pop rock set to kick off the festival. She blazed around the stage with her guitar (which she later played as part of LPX’s band), but mostly she sang her heart out. She represented her solo effort (using just her last name) for the festival, but also has been part of the indie rock band, San Fermin, in addition to the stint she would play with LPX. She’s originally from Honolulu before attending the University of Michigan. She started with “Honey”, a fun pop song that perked up the early crowd getting their bearings. A bit later, she performed “Little Poison” for the first time live, and cemented the crowd’s interest. At one point she had to shred her guitar from her knees to extrude the maximum impact. In a show of support and solidarity, Lizzy Paplinger (LPX) stood next to me in the crowd, radiantly having a good time and cheering KAYE on. The crowd didn’t need any prompting though, they already were enjoying themselves.

Setlist
Honey
Porcelain
(Unknown)
Little Poison
Too Much
Rocket (Beyoncé cover)
(Unknown)
(Unknown cover)

LPX @ 4:15pm (Oct. 6) – LPX’s set (Lizzy Paplinger, formerly of MS MR) continued the theme of energetic indie pop, claiming if she’s ‘not puking or bleeding by the end of the set, she was doing it wrong’. We’ll see about that. LPX came on stage full of color and life, in a red jumpsuit, while each of her backing band members sported their own bold colors, from blue (base guitar) to yellow (drums) to white (guitar, donned by KAYE). LPX started with her most recent single, “Slide”, that no one warned us would sound great, and reminded us why we enjoyed Lizzy’s voice when she was part of MS MR. In all, she played four songs from her newest solo EP, Bolt in the Blue, including the anthemic “Tightrope”. She also played three covers, like “Deceptacon” by Le Tigre and sadly, only one from MS MR, “Fantasy”. But her newest song “Might Not Make It Home” was the highlight, an electric, atmospheric reason to attend a live music festival. I don’t really know how she sustains her off the charts energy level and never-ending smiles, but it is not our duty to ask, but only to enjoy! And we did.

Setlist
Slide
Tightrope
Red Queen
Deceptacon (Le Tigre cover)
Better (What So Not cover feat. LPX)
Fantasy (MS MR cover)
Might Not Make it Home
Give Up the Ghost
Tremble

Billie Eilish @ 8:30pm (Oct. 6) – Billie Eilish, from LA, knew her younger audience and played to them with incredible intensity and fury, unleashing many a F bomb, while owning the stage with her punk attitude, donning blue hair and combat boots. Many in the crowd were there just to see her (as some streamed out afterwards or maybe it was past their bed time). She got the crowd jumping up and down, rocking high and low, and generally anything else she wanted during her set. She did play some slower songs, like the first “Bellyache” that got the the main crowd singing along, and later played the highlight, “Ocean Eyes”, which is a languid pop ballad. She ended with “COPYCAT” trying to tell someone not to do what she does, she already did it.

Maggie Rogers @ 10:15pm (Oct. 6) – Maggie Rogers, along with LPX, helped curate the festival’s lineup. She also proved to be an excellent headliner for Day 1. I had heard her great singles “Fallingwater” and “Alaska”, and thought they were worthy enough for me to witness her play live. Maggie is local, from Maryland, and she was full of audacious joy and spirit. She lamented that her new album (Heard It in a Past Life) was meant to be out by now, but it was coming soon, and she’d play all the songs. She did play 16 songs in total, and she might have played her entire album in the end, although I don’t know a few of them.

Setlist
On + Off
Split Stones
(Unknown)
Better
Overnight
(Unknown)
The Knife
I Try (Macy Gray cover)
(Unknown)
Dog Years
Light On
Give a Little
Back in My Body
Fallingwater
Color Song
Alaska

The Aces @ 3pm (Oct. 7) – The Aces are ace! I had a free hour on Sunday, so I bolted over to Union Market and caught the all female rock band from Utah, The Aces. Good thing I did, because they may have been the highlight of the entire festival. They’re a bit happy pop rock, with a dash of HAIM thrown in. Their first album is When My Heart Felt Volcanic, and they played at least nine of the songs from that album, including the first “Volcanic Love” a super pop ballad. Midway through they gave us the highlights, the slower “Bad Love” and the atmospheric “Baby Who”. It was actually drummer Alisa Ramirez’s birthday, so we paused to sing “Happy Birthday”. Her sister, Cristal, is the lead singer, and has a resonate voice that you don’t want to stop listening to. The Aces also are McKenna Petty on bass and Katie Henderson on guitar. They ended with their great single “Stuck”, with a catchy melody and dare-you-not-to-dance guitar hook from Katie melody. I dig it.

Setlist
Volcanic Love
Stay
Bad Love
Holiday
Last One
Baby Who
Strong Enough
Lovin’ Is Bible
Fake Nice
Stuck

Carly Rae Jepsen @ 10:15pm (Oct. 7) – I realized during her headlining set, that I knew exactly one Carly Rae Jepsen song. I was probably alone on that island, based on how many people were smiling and enjoying themselves via dancing and singing along to each song. Now I know more Carly Rae Jepsen songs, and her set was a fitting coda to the two-day festival. Energy and passion for music that people enjoy.