The Shins were great, especially when the opened with “Caring is Creepy.” I loved the cold and foggy weather the entire day, which was only made better by a delicious cup of Philz coffee. It was my first festival on that big of a scale, so not people watching is kind of impossible for me to do. We went to see Big Boi which I was very curious to see, and I guess he never even came out to play. Bummer…

STRFKR was INSANITY. It was the second time I’ve seen them and their music makes me so happy and carefree. I was bummed they never played “Hungry Ghost,” since last time I saw them at the Rickshaw Stop in SF the scratching came across so vividly, but damn, when they played “Mystery Cloud,” HOLY SHIT. STRFKR makes me want to cut open my brain and sprinkle lots and lots of drugs into it hahaha. The Black Keys were epic too. The new material I felt translated a lot better live than the old stuff, so “Next Girl” and “Everlasting Light” were legit. 

I still haven’t gotten super into Arcade Fire, but I knew I had to see them over Deadmau5, even though I wished I could have been at both shows :( They were amazing though, and when everyone came together and sang “Wake Up” and “Rococo,” it was magical. I really didn’t expect to connect so much to Arcade Fire, but when they played music from their Suburbs album, I almost got this sense of clarity. Being from the suburbs, I’ve always kind of hated it since I moved to SF. But after hearing them play, i just realized it all didn’t really matter. Another part of my life I made peace with I suppose.

And finally, Beirut. I can without a doubt say that seeing Beirut live was the most religious experience I have ever had. There were times when I wanted to cry of happiness. And after hearing certain songs, like “Postcards from Italy,” I just remember all these visions of freshmen year coming back to me and all the memories with my best friend that introduced me to Beirut. Halfway through the set I had it decided that I need to incorporate something Beirut affiliated into my tattoo, because this show literally meant that much to me. Every single time I think about it I start to tear up a bit, which makes me feel so nerdy. And they played all three of the songs I hoped they would, which only made me more stoked. I seriously do not have the words to explain how utterly amazing it was. You had to be there, in my opinion.