Without counting the Northwest Tune Up, I haven’t been to a music festival for a long time. The last one I recall going to had been the Blue Ox Music Festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in 2018 or 19. It was a fun fest with some proper old-folks bands and good times delivered by bands like Greensky Bluegrass and The Steeldrivers. I don’t recall it being life-changing or experience-shaping, other than the fact it was a pleasant way to spend a free summer weekend.
However, the Fairwell Festival is the first proper music fest I’ve been to in my adult life, and it was incredible. I’ve gotten a little burnt out on small venue shows, I still love them, but the last couple I’ve been to haven’t extruded the magic I’m used to. The Fairwell Festival in Deschutes, Oregon changed all of that. Crystal & I left on a Friday afternoon and arrived in time for Gary Clark Jr. to shred our ears off. To speak to the organizers, there were so many times we said, “Wow, I can’t believe this is their first festival”. There were things you couldn’t control, like the heat, but considering the controllable things, the fest really did a good job. The pricing was good for the quality of bands, and the camping availability made getting to and from the festival grounds easy. My biggest advice for attending a festival? Bring a bike and park “far” away. Then, enjoy premium parking and getting out of the festival within minutes, vs. people that park in the festival lots and wait 1-2 hours to get out at peak times.
I do my fair share of complaining, but I really can't and won't complain about this festival (that's what the post-attendee survey is for). I will complain about how all our friends declined to partake, but they missed out so hard. This was one of the best weekends of my life. Highlight bands? Amigo The Devil, Briscoe, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and Yola. I loved the diversity of the bands, and seeing a bunch of cowboys dance and bob their heads to bands like Lucius and Yola is quite the sight. I hope the festival leans into the Americana/Soul genres in future years, as the fans who were there for Zach Byran, Turnpike Troubadours, and Charlie Crockett were a much rougher and unpleasant crowd to deal with. We saw fights and angry words galore on Friday and Saturday. In contrast, I’ve never heard of a fight breaking out over Willie Nelson, and Sunday’s crowd was much more pleasant despite being just as big as Saturday's.
Did I mention we saw one of Willie Nelson’s last shows? He started coughing halfway through the set, and you could feel the tension through the crowd. It's hard to understate the magic of seeing a person so passionate and professional continue to perform for his fans for so long. Overall, I can’t believe the quality of the bands present this year. Every single set was an absolute banger from 12pm to 11pm. 10 hours a day of hard decisions made about which artist to see, discovering new ones, and enjoying the atmosphere. I loved this year's Fairwell Festival, and we’ll keep going long into the future.
I'm so glad we got to go to this festival together! Our friends really did miss out on something great. Can't wait to go back next year and see Smit rock! ;)