GRAPHIC BY ADAM KESNER
With all the festivals located out West, it sometimes feels like the East Coast is being left behind, especially when it comes to the traditional festival experiences offered by Bonnarroo or Sasquatch — the kind where you camp and can hear basically every kind of music under the sun (and it’s actually under the sun). Firefly has come to change all that. Over the past two years, the event has grown significantly, offering all the perks (and some of the pains) of the other giant festivals.
This year, the three-day festival offers one of the most diverse line-ups of the season, with headliners as huge as the legendary Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Like the other East Coast fest, Governors Ball, Firefly has expanded immensely this year, bringing a much larger number of bands to Delaware. It’ll surely be a weekend to remember.
Like last year, Firefly’s headliners are a little more mainstream than we’d prefer, but we can absolutely understand the need to appeal to such a large number of people. For this round, they brought on Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Vampire Weekend. So, two nostalgia acts and one recent indie band. It’s a formula that works, we guess, but there’s something about it that lacks the kind of excitement that we’ve come to expect from festival headliners.
(B) Past the headliners, the line-up is deep and filled with festival acts who’ve been playing all summer. Some of our absolute favorites such as Kishi Bashi and Django Django are there, but it only somewhat makes up for the kind of weak headliners.
Public Enemy
Nostalgia acts are a huge part of any festival, so why not go all the way and relive the anger of the 90s. Public Enemy is one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time, with their hyper-political tracks and pitch perfect production. Seeing Chuck D and Flava Flav rocking out on stage is sure to be a blast, and when they break out “Fight the Power”, you know you’ll be dancing just like Rosie Perez.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
At this point, seeing the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s play is basically a must. Karen O always puts on one hell of a show and stuns with one hell of an outfit. Add that to the fact that their newest record is really, really good, and you have an unmissable set.
Vampire Weekend
Sure, they put on a great show and have a deep catalog of great songs, but there’s really only one reason to see this performance: Modern Vampires of the City is a great record that we’re positive will sound amazing live. Seriously, even some former Vampire Weekend skeptics (like, maybe…me) have been won over by this newest effort. So, see them and get won over too.
Passion Pit
With flashing lights and those catchy, catchy tunes, Passion Pit is another one not to miss. Every single time we’ve seen them play, we’ve had a fantastic time, and a festival setting as lovely as Firefly will be perfect for their energetic show.
Grizzly Bear
There’s nothing quite like nature to compliment the complex harmonics of Grizzly Bear. While their somewhat chill melodies might make them seem like an unlikely choice for a rousing festival set, they absolutely turn up the energy and put on a pretty incendiary show.
Action Bronson
This giant man from Queens has been setting the hip hop world on fire for a while now, and his show at Firefly will definitely earn him many new fans. While Action Bronson’s music is pretty fantastic, you should catch this set for the performance itself, as he’s known to go absolutely mad on stage.
Django Django
Django Django’s woozy, psyche sound and amazing charisma will blend perfectly with the festival surroundings. Just the prospect of hearing “Skies of Cairo” in that setting should be enough to get anyone to this set, and fast.
Kishi Bashi
By now, our love of Kishi Bashi is very well documented. His stage persona and lovely, looping melodies deserve to be heard over and over again. We’re absolutely sure his set won’t disappoint and will gain him a slew of new fans.
The Last Bison
The Last Bison’s sheer numbers and giant sound make them an absolute dream festival act. This sort of mellow folk-pop always feels right at home when lying on the grass in the middle of a great day of music.
Haim
If you haven’t seen Haim already, you’ve done yourself a major disservice. These sisters have one of the best live acts around, bringing together their natural charisma and catchy tunes for an absolutely delightful experience.
