Through cloudy skies, Utopiafest shone. This past weekend, despite the downpour and its muddy repercussions, this family-friendly festival had music lovers, yogis, and ultimate frisbeers alike flocking to Utopia, TX, unleashing their outdoorsy inner child for a weekend of glorious escape.
Austin’s own indie pop band Borrisokane played Saturday morning, lifting up the last corners of our stubbornly sleepy eyelids with their wonderfully jangly tunes that seemed to access every vestibular stimuli possible, much to our delight.
Local folk-math rockers Hikes stormed in with a meticulously assembled set, consisting of a solid balance between airiness and coarseness, emulating the nature of nature itself and seemingly grasping the vibular intentions of Utopiafest as a whole.
Holiday Mountain, unconventional psych-dub trio from Austin, utilized their unfailing talents at blending genres and mixing only the funkiest of grooves to possess the crowd into dancing like no one’s watching.
Kishi Bashi, dripping in sunshine with violin in hand, entertained a blissful audience, their orchestral poppiness banishing any negativity lingering on the grounds.
Holy girl power, Batman. The all-female quartet from LA, Warpaint, made the women of Utopiafest proud to be just that with their smooth atmospheric rock of a daring certainty.
Swimming in affection and playing alluring gypsy melodies, simple and ukulele-reliant, Wild Child, an Austin indie pop-folk band, swooned Utopians as the festival neared its end, leaving a note of positivity in the air.
While the torrential weather was initially concerning, Utopiafest asserted its harmony with the surrounding creation and sufficiently improved upon the soggy situation. A time of remarkable glory was born during Utopiafest 2014, when the distinct euphoria brought on by live music infused with the curious uncertainty of camping – a time we look forward to experiencing again next year.
To see more photos from our weekend at Utopiafest, click here. All photos © Madeline Harvey and Pop Press International.
