As many music lovers headed back out to the desert for the second weekend of Coachella, others opted to celebrate this year’s Record Store Day weekend (April 20-21) on a much smaller scale down south at High Water Festival.
Nestled in the Riverfront Park in North Charleston, South Carolina, the festival centers around two stages and features a ton of local cuisine. High Water (as locals fondly reference it) was created by the local (husband and wife) folk duo Shovels & Rope, who annually curate the lineup around their own performance, inviting fellow collaborators and friends to perform. Most of the invited artists all seemingly throughout each of the festival’s seven years have built their careers by staying true to themselves and the music they create.
This year’s big ticket headliners Noah Kahan and Hozier definitely attracted a newer generation of fans the festival had yet to experience to this point. Regardless of these “growing pains” and the uncooperative efforts of mother nature the weekend was an overall success in achieving a more intimate music experience. Highlights included a magical sunset set from Fleet Foxes on Saturday and the power of good, solid music to beat out Sunday’s rain from the Linda Lindas, Briston Maroney, The Flaming Lips teaching that aforementioned newer generation about frontman Wayne Coyne’s infatuation with pink robots 20 years ago.
Day 1:
This year’s festival goers were welcomed on the first day to sweltering 90 degree heat and humidity luckily those temperatures were matched by equally solid performances beginning with an ecstatic and gracious Al Olender and veteran garage rocker, Olivia Jean who joked the heat was melting her gear on stage. The day neared something magical as the sun began to set and the sets transitioned to hourlong beginning with Courtney Barnett followed by The Walkmen continuing on their “revenge tour” who led into their previous tour mate Fleet Foxes who played a near perfect set. Husband and wife duo and festival creators, Shovels and Rope closed out the Edisto stage for the evening as an unsurmountable amount of “Kahan-heads” eagerly awaited the evening’s headliner Noah Kahan on the Stono stage and I can say with certainty he did not disappoint.
Day 2:
The second day was the complete opposite weather wise, where we couldn’t bear heat on Saturday we mostly hoped the sun would come rescue us from the wet and dreary weather that dominated most of the day. Many festival goers could be found underneath bushes for coverage. Needless to say the majority of the weekend’s merch and options for sweatshirts were sold through very quickly to hopefully combat the wet cold, weather. Regardless of the unplanned wardrobe options by the festival goers, the day’s artist powered through the day’s dreariness as if It as nice as the festival’s first day. Local act and festival opener for day two, Babe Club made a lasting impression. I would personally say we hit a sweet spot, beginning with the LA young rock quartet, The Linda Lindas and carried through the heaviest part of the rain with Kevin Morby and Briston Maroney who brought so much energy and excitement to their sets and had us all dancing along in the rain. As the four large pink robots began to inflate and Flaming Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne entered his bubble the clouds seemingly parted and the rain eventually dwindled away. Coyne actively ushers a new generation of fans to learn and understand a pivotal album in the band’s history as well as hitting all the notes of nostalgia for us longstanding Lips fans who experienced It in the beginning. Closing out the second evening on the Edisto stage brought us back full circle with Grace Potter almost reflecting a foreshadowing that began with the festival’s first performer, Al Olender and concluding the weekend with Potter a now established singer-songwriter with the guts and gusto many young musicians aspire to be. Sadly with a crowd that may have been affected by and reflect the day’s wet weather the weekend closed out a powerfully sweet note with Hozier. As the festival overall learned some of the “growing pains” over the weekend It takes to become a successful festival, and despite the weather the weekend was an overall enjoyable alternative to the Coachella circus out in the desert.
