By Samantha Schwartz ’16

This is the account of my journey through the two-day festival Sweetlife, hosted at Meriwether Post Pavilion May 30-31. Sweetlife is a music festival held by Sweetgreen that “brings together outstanding musical acts and curates the best food and community experiences – including chef collaborations, art installations, play areas and more – for a true taste of the sweetlife.” I experienced these two days of good music, great food and even better experiences with my brother, Evan, and friend, Brianna.

Sweetlife 2015: Day 1

1:30pm- We arrived at the entrance and entered the place where we would spend the next two days packed with sweaty, drunken teens and obscure scents. This two-day home is Sweetlife festival.

We caught the end of The Walking Sticks (a band I had never heard of before that day) as we awaited AURORA’s set. AURORA is composed of a quirky and outgoing lead singer, a rocking bass guitarist, a fashionable and exciting co-vocalist/keyboard-er/maraca-er. This on-the-rise band was amazing, weird (in the best way possible) and worth enduring the mid-day heat.

2:45- After AURORA’s exhilarating set with pounding amps and sweaty people, we made our way to the main stage for the more popular group, Misterwives. This young band was fun and exciting to watch, as they danced and jumped around. They had, in my opinion, the third best stage performance of the day. They had so much energy, maybe because they were a group of teenagers or because they truly love what they are doing. This was also enjoyable partly due to our new seats which were located under the pavilion providing us with protection from the unforgiving sun.

4:00- As we stayed out of the sun, SZA came out and performed. Though she stepped out on stage behind schedule, departed early and experienced multiple wardrobe malfunctions, her performance was worthy of one and a half thumbs up. This tiny girl from New Jersey surely can belt. Her voice resonated throughout the venue even after she left 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

4:50- Next, we took a break from the standing and the rocking out for food. Sweetgreen, a salad place that prides itself on being healthy and organic, sponsors Sweetlife, so the festival makes a huge effort to support this organic, vegetarian, healthy lifestyle with hip and trendy food trucks. It goes without saying that there was plenty of yummy food to choose from. After our lunch break, which consisted of pizza out of a food truck, we headed towards the second stage, Treehouse, to catch the end of Sinkane and to wiggle our way to the front for Lucius. Lucius wins the award for second best stage presences. This indie pop band from Brooklyn is made up of two male guitarists, a drummer and two lead female vocalists who do everything in unison (from outfit to makeup to singing to drum beating). Though most of the crowd was waiting for Tove Lo, the next act, Lucius wowed their crowd, especially us.

7:15- We eagerly left the Tove Lo crazed crowd and made our way back to the main stage. This next performance by Bleachers was the best performance of the night. From their stage presence to their original renditions of classics to their beautiful performance of their greatest past and present hits, they truly blew me away. This band of five twenty-year-old dudes truly left their hearts and souls on that stage. We had to leave immediately following, so that we would not destroy their ambiance with a mediocre performance by Billy Idol or Pixies.

Overall: 1. Bleachers 2. Lucius 3. AURORA

Sweetlife 2015: Day 2

3:30- We walked through the gates, after being searched head to toe for illegal substances (they opened our sunscreen and smelled it to ensure we weren’t smuggling), as veterans in our Chucks and bandanas. We were prepared for the chaos that ensues. Because this was our second day we knew our way around, so we quickly stopped by the hidden water refilling station we found yesterday and then head off to the Treehouse.

We caught the end of Goldlink, a never-heard-of-before rapper who I will now search on Spotify, and waited for Wet. Wet consists of a female vocalist, bass player and keyboardist. Though the band needed to loosen up and dance around a bit, they performed beautifully. The lead singer had such a strong voice that did not match her appearance. She sounded identical to her recorded singles. The only true complaint I have is that they should have turned the bass down a bit, as I felt it in my throat and my hair stood on ends.

5:05- This next performance was, in my opinion, the best performance of the entire two days. San Fermin performed at the Treehouse and we were second row (behind some teenage girls who were camped out all day for a later performer). San Fermin is composed of eight band members from Brooklyn. There is a guitarist, saxophonist, trumpeter, drummer, keyboarder, violinist, male vocalist/guitarist and female vocalist. This group is all amazingly talented, beautiful and 100 percent born to be performers. They sang nine of their hits and when they were done I was cheering for more. If I could have only seen one band perform that weekend, San Fermin would have for sure been it.

5:45- After leaving the Treehouse, we made our way to the main stage to catch Phantogram. This band is composed of two individuals, a female vocalists/keyboarder and male vocalist/guitarist, who are passionate about electronic rock. Their passion truly shined through as they rocked out on stage performing hits from their most recent album. This duo was a blast to watch; they were just so much fun.

6:25- Next was a lunch break. We made our way over to the food trucks and split up. Once we met back up, we each had very trendy/Instagram-worthy dishes. Evan and I went for the fried chicken served on a donut bun and Bri had two fish tacos. We devored our food in the shade under a tree and listened to Vic Mensa in the distance. From what we could hear, considering the 500-foot distance, he sounded very good. Now that we were full, we headed back to our seats under the pavilion at the main stage. Vance Joy is an Australian indie pop/folk singer. His music is nothing to complain about, considering he has a beautiful voice and beautiful songs, it was just boring. After exciting artists such as Phantogram and San Fermin, Vance Joy was a lull in the day.

8:00- Thank goodness Vance Joy’s set ended when it did or else we would have been asleep due to his lullaby-singing. But lucky for us, the next performer was the complete opposite of boring. Marina and the Diamonds stepped out on stage, as her screaming die-hard fans chanted her name, in a gold jumpsuit with bright blue eye makeup and jewels in her hair. Though you think her appearance would upstage her performance, it did not. Not one bit. Marina, the Welsh/Greek indie pop/indie rock/electropop singer, owned that stage with her attitude, aesthetics and voice. She kept her fans on their feet throughout the whole performances and left each of us wanting more.

9:25- The last performances of the night called for The Weeknd and Calvin Harris. Though none of us, Evan, Bri and I, were huge fans of either, we went to each. First was The Weeknd at the Treehouse. He did not disappoint, though the extremely jam-packed and sweaty crowd did. He performed his greatest hits, some oldies and an amazing cover of Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love.” Overall, the Canadian rapper put on an excellent show. Next was Calvin Harris and now that it was 10:30 we caught his performance on our way out. Though I am not a big electropop/electro house fan, it was entertaining and he put on a fun and exciting performance (though I was disappointed we didn’t spot his current girlfriend Taylor Swift cheering him on).

Overall: 1. San Fermin 2. Phantogram 3. Marina and the Diamonds