TVD Live Shots: Extra Innings Festival at Tempe Beach Park, 3/2

TEMPE, AZ | The inaugural Extra Innings Festival hit Tempe Beach Park for day two to have fun the mixture of music and the beginning of MLB spring coaching in Scottsdale, Arizona. The sister fest to the Innings Festival, the mixture of occasions gave vacationers a purpose to increase their stays in Arizona. While Innings Festival has been round since 2018, the success has expanded into an additional celebration of heat climate actions right into a second weekend.

Although following the identical stage alignment, Extra Innings Festival took on a unique look from the primary weekend. While seemingly a rustic music competition, the occasion supplied every thing there may be underneath the nation music umbrella. Featuring acts in people, blue-grass, outlaw nation, and extra, the particular skills created a novel lineup to recollect.

2:00 PM: We began our protection on one of many devoted music phases, Right Field. 2:00 PM featured Josiah and the Bonnevilles—albeit no Bonnevilles this time—simply Josiah. The Tennessee native set the bar excessive for the day delivering an especially intimate, uncooked set. One of the extra humble artists I’ve seen, Josiah is aware of what it means to work for his music, explaining failed file offers and having not misplaced hope. Josiah is an extremely proficient artist and as he grows on social media, I imagine he could have a giant yr.

2:50 PM: The crowd made their approach again by the meals and vendor leisure to the Home Plate stage close to the primary entrance that includes Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners. Another band who grew on social media up to now yr, the group is younger and promising. They Seattle natives are simply coming into the scene for what might be an enormous stage for them, actually and figuratively.

3:35 PM: The underrated spotlight of the day, Larkin Poe hit Right Field. The southern rockin’ blues duo got here out swinging and didn’t cease the whole set. The sisters not too long ago gained a Grammy for greatest Contemporary Blues Album for the 2022 launch Blood Harmony, and people songs sound even higher stay. Lead singer/guitarist Rebecca Lovell’s guitar strains rival anybody touring proper now. Megan Lovell compliments Rebecca by taking part in her invention known as the Electroliege—a lap metal guitar designed and structured to be performed standing up. Harboring earth shattering guitar strains and innovation, Larkin Poe is an act that deserves considerably extra recognition.

5:45 PM: Local Tempe natives, Gin Blossoms performed the Right Field stage because the solar was starting to set. Kicking off their set with “Follow You Down,” a monitor featured within the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, the gang was instantly thrown again to the ’90s. The sound is tried and true and stays successful. There was no scarcity of engagement within the crowd both. The Gin Blossoms are timeless and hit the stage like they had been simply beginning of their hometown.

6:50 PM: One of the latest names to blow up within the music trade, Noah Kahan blew the roof off the Home Plate stage. 2023 was a wild yr for Noah and his band as he was nominated for Best New Artist on the Grammys. Rightly deserving of a later time slot, Noah Kahan delivers music the followers hook up with. Broaching laborious hitting subjects, he presents a vulnerability that genuinely appears to resonate with the viewers. You should take the nice with the dangerous in life, and Noah Kahan is the epitome of this. He makes jokes about his household, his life, and every thing underneath the solar throughout his units. Almost like get up comedy at occasions, he balances his delicate lyrics with lighthearted enjoyable.

7:55 PM: Morgan Wade closed out Right Field as performances on that aspect of the competition got here to an finish for the weekend. The star started her profession in 2018 and instantly made a reputation for herself. Releasing music since then, Morgan Wade most not too long ago dropped a single on March 1, simply earlier than the competition. She performed the only third to final, proper earlier than “Jessie’s Girl,” a Rick Springfield nod. The artist and band jammed out and arrange the gang very properly for the headliner.

9:00 PM: Dave Matthews Band took to Home Plate to shut the primary of hopefully many Extra Innings Festivals. The family identify headlined with the longest set of the weekend with a 9:00–11:00 time slot. Having headlined Innings Festival in 2020, the band was no stranger to Tempe Beach Park. A bittersweet set because the competition was coming to an in depth, the gang seemed ahead to Dave all day. Anytime I went to the Home Plate stage for a set because the day went on, I noticed DMB merch and posters. It’s clear what the group means to individuals, and it’s an unbelievable factor to see the viewers join with the music. The group has a giant identify for a purpose, and with an especially loyal fan base the whole grounds for Home Plate was packed.

Capping off a memorable Extra Innings weekend, the competition set the bar extremely excessive for the subsequent few years. We’ll keep tuned to what they do, however the inaugural weekend couldn’t have been higher.

JOSIAH AND THE BONNEVILLES