by Audrey Farris ‘25

On October 1, thousands of people spent their days in rain ponchos enjoying live performances from artists like Mitski and Lorde at ‘All Things Go Music Festival’ held at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Despite the light showers continuing late into the night, All Things Go was the biggest it had ever been, selling out just a week before the event. 

Lorde headlined the show and played a good mix of songs off all her albums, primarily music from her second, “Melodrama”, released in 2017. Dressed in a patterned bodysuit and sporting her new “Solar Power”-Esque blonde hair, Lorde started her hour-and-a-half-long set with “The Path” and “Homemade Dynamite”. One aspect of her performance that set her apart from the other artists was the level of crowd interaction. She would take long breaks to tell stories and speak with the audience about her time in DC and Maryland. When it reached 10:30, she played “Solar Power”, which was accompanied by gold confetti and smoke ejected from each side of the stage. She concluded her set and the festival, with “Team”, off her debut album “Pure Heroine”. 

Mitski played earlier that night, providing an artistic visual performance, which accompanied her balanced musical set perfectly. Starting with “Love Me More” off of her most recent album “Laurel Hell”, she danced through a combination of her most popular songs and a few deep-cuts that only long-time fans would recognize. This created a set for everyone and an unforgettable show making this year’s festival one for the books. Bleachers’ set took place between Mitski and Lorde and took the spot for the most entertaining show that night. Lead singer Jack Antanoff made the most of his time, dancing and interacting with the crowd the entire set. The most notable part of their performance was when inflatable tomatoes were thrown into the audience adding another layer of crowd interaction and adding to the personal feel of their show. 

Earlier that day, artists including Hippocampus, Faye Webster, Lucy Dacus, and Maude Latour performed for forty-five minutes each. Hippocampus was the best among the four and played mostly their most popular and recognizable hits. The crowd was energetic and there wasn’t one person who wasn’t dancing the entire time. Faye Webster was also great despite a few issues with sound in the middle of her set. Lucy Dacus was incredible, in part due to the intriguing visuals she had projected on a screen behind her that matched with each song. She ended with a fan favorite, “Night Shift”. Maude Latour was enjoyable to watch, but there wasn’t necessarily anything special about her performance. 

It’s not surprising that ‘All Things Go’ was an out-of-this-world experience. After all, when Lorde and Mitski are playing a festival together it’s bound to be fantastic. ‘All Things Go’ has definitely made a name for itself this year, and in the near future will become one of the many essential indie music festivals across the world.