The start of this day was no different than the others: traffic, parking issues and lots of walking. We were somewhat rushed getting there, because we had to race to the Media Tent to get to RNR’s interview with The Struts.  Once arriving at the gates, we quickly scanned our wristbands and scurried off to work. The Media Tent is located backstage, through the VIP area and behind the Artist Compound. There was a security guard staked at the entrance, there was always a security guard by all entrances of the VIP areas. Not all wristbands have the same benefits, so security had to make sure no one was sneaking around backstage (we’ll explain later how we managed to do so).

Pushing through the crowds of people, we managed to the get to the tent with two minutes to spare. Running was definitely not a good idea in 90 degree weather. Luckily, we had this little Evian spray mister that helped to cool us down. 

When it came time for the interview with The Struts, one of the band members was missing (he needed to use “the little boys room,” as he put it). Listening in on the interview seemed just as fun as being in it; when listening The Struts answer Carrie’s questions we got a sense of just how close the band really is. They all laughed together, and teased one another as though they were brothers. They seemed to compliment each other perfectly.

Sunday was definitely the hottest day of the festival, and as such, the air-conditioned Artist Lounge became our sanctuary that day. The Artist Lounge had chandeliers hanging from the ceiling that cast a purple light over the area; here you could sit and enjoy drinks from the bar, or simply enjoy the air conditioning. Every so often, you would see an artist hanging out there but this area was mostly where people with VIP wristbands would hangout. 

Later on, we sat in on an interview with Nathaniel Rateliff. When he walked into the Media Tent, one could not ignore his presence. He had blue ink tattooed all over his body, and a great, dark orange beard. He was accessorized with a hat and beautiful turquoise rings. Right after that interview, we headed over to see Elle King. WRNR held a contest on-air, giving away Firefly wristbands and the chance to come backstage for a quick meet and greet with the artist. We both snapped a picture with her as well. Yes, it is true, Elle can hang...but not for too long this time (she needed to prepare for her performance).

When we finally had time to watch performances, we went to see Earth, Wind & Fire perform on the Backyard Stage. Sadly, the sound system was not working properly, but because we managed to get close to the stage, we could hear them. After listening to some of our favorite songs by them such as “Shining Star” and “Boogie Wonderland”, we headed off to see the next performance. 

Mumford & Sons was playing at the Firefly Stage; this was another show that the entire festival attended. We have been huge fans of Mumford & Sons for as long as we can remember, so we had high expectations for their performance. This performance was the one of the best of the weekend. They played old hits like “Little Lion Man” and the some newer, less popular (possibly for this reason) songs such as “There Will Be Time”. 

On the last day we knew we had to do one more thing to make this trip even more memorable. Since we’re sharing our secret on how we snuck around backstage, we won’t name any names. We met two artists who showed interest in us, even though they were the one’s wearing the artist bands, they took us backstage with them to the forbidden territory: the Artist Compound. There we hung out with other artists, some of which we had met before. When we imagined going backstage at a concert,we pictured something wild and crazy. When we walked to the backstage area of the festival, almost all of the artists were sitting down, lounging around; It was interesting to see these famous artists in a different setting. It proves the theory that they are really just like us.

Sunday’s Countdown

14,000 steps

25 times we scanned our wristbands

7 new friends (4 of our friends names we already forgot) 

6 artists met

3 performances watched

2 golf cart rides 

2 hours dancing to Major Lazer 

1 hour in the artist lounge

1 time we got in a golf cart crash

1 hour singing to Mumford & Sons 

Artist We Watched

Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons was by far one of the best performers there. Their music was even better in person if you can believe it. When Marcus Mumford sings, his beautiful voice lingers in the crowd. You could hear everyone singing along to every lyric of every song. Being that it was the last night of the festival, their performance really helped to emphasize that sense of community that we mentioned in our first post. We enjoyed that they were playing some of their older, popular songs because most artists had been playing newer less popular songs. This way, we were able to enjoy ourselves even more because we were familiar with almost every song.

Major Lazer

Going from Mumford & Sons to Major Lazer was an adjustment. Major Lazer was a good way to end Firefly because they lightened everyone’s mood since we were not ready to say goodbye to Firefly just yet. They played some of their most popular songs like “Lean On” along with other popular songs that they remixed like “Stay High” and “One Dance”. As if the crowd wasn’t going crazy enough, they had someone crowd surf in a huge inflatable ball! They rallied the audience by encouraging them all to take off their shirts. We kept ours on.

Earth, Wind & Fire

We grew up listening to Earth, Wind & Fire. It’s impossible to not be a fan of theirs. Unfortunately, their show wasn’t all that we had expected it to be because the sound system was having a malfunction. The band put on a good show despite of this. They were jumping around stage as though they were the youngest performers there. If you watched the group together you could see how coordinated their dances were and how passionate they were about each song they performed.  If the sound was working properly this could have been one of the best performances of Firefly.

Saturday morning we woke up a little tired but excited for what was to come. We put on our previously picked out outfits, and raced to the Woodlands for the second day of Firefly. We planned to meet up with Carrie and Bob at 12:30 PM at the main gate so we left our hotel at 11. To our surprise, we were hit with traffic caused by other festival attendees excited for their next day at Firefly. Traffic was one thing we were foolish enough not to think about (though, timing has always been our weakness). This added an extra 30 minutes to our travel time. Once we finally arrived at the parking lot we were lead in between cars and in circles until finally we were directed into a spot. Luckily, this spot was much closer than before. Unlucky for us, our walk from where we parked to where we needed to meet with everyone was still a good 20 to 30 minutes. We pushed our way through crowds of people and waited in a long line for our passes to be scanned and to be let into The Woodlands. 

Once we got in, we were lead backstage by Carrie and Bob to sit in on a WRNR interview with Atlas Genius. Our job was to photograph the interview for the website. To our surprise, every artist we met was down to earth and extremely kind. Working backstage was such a treat, not only because of the air-conditioning and cold water, but also because we had the opportunity to sit with honorable artists and work amongst industry professionals. 

We were lucky to have many breaks throughout the day. During these breaks we would venture out to all sides of the venue in search of the best meals (a list of our favorite places to eat is posted below). We would also drift from stage to stage trying to catch some of our favorite artists, and the ones we had the opportunity to sit down with. It was fun to be able to get to know the artists in a more personal way before seeing them on stage performing songs we listen to.

We saw Fetty Wap and The Neighborhood.They were performing on the two stages which were directly next to each other, The Neighborhood on The Lawn stage and Fetty Wap on The Backyard stage. Using our media passes, we were able to walk in between the two shows with no problem. We got to hear The Neighborhood perform one of our favorite songs; “Sweater Weather” and heard Fetty Wap perform his hit “Trap Queen”. As we’ve said before,  the ability to be able to hear many artists perform is one of the many perks of attending a festival and definitely should be taken advantage of.

After that, it was back to work. We sat in on an interview with Jason McGerr, the drummer from Death Cab for Cutie. He was very humble and intellectual. He told us interesting stories about shows he’s played, but was unable to stay too long because he had to prepare for his upcoming performance. 

The last interview we attended that day, was one with Van McCann from Catfish and the Bottlemen. Van could not have been more friendly, he was very approachable and had a great sense of humor. McCann was the perfect artist to be the official correspondent for WRNR. He had such an outgoing personality; he even got up to sing and dance to “Sweater Weather” when we mentioned we were heading over to see The Neighbourhood perform. When McCann spoke, he was able to put smiles on everyone’s face. He seemed easy to relate to, as he too went to festivals and even snuck around them at times!

The last show we attended  for the day was Florence + The Machine. There was no other performance taking place at the same time, so the crowd was massive. Because of the size of the crowd, we found it best to sit all the way back in the VIP lounge area rather than standing amongst other fans. We watched the performance from the screens. Florence Welch was full of life and energy; she ran around the stage from the left to the middle to the right encouraging her fans to sing along with her. She would often give little speeches in between songs trying to restore faith and love in the world. To further prove her point, she held up a gay pride flag on stage, told the crowd to hug their neighbors and to take off an item of clothing and wave it in the air. She asked all of us to take the love from within us and “bring it out”. She had the ability to bring the crowd together with her powerful words. When she wasn’t talking to all of us as though we were long time friends, lounging on a couch and having a casual conversation, she was floating across the stage in a flowy, ruffled dress. 

Our favorite vendors at Firefly

Peace, Love, Tacos

Grotto’s Pizza 

American Grill

The Cheesy Pig

Sweet Tooth

Talenti

Saturday’s Countdown 

14 videos taken

11 miles walked

10 water bottles chugged

8 performances watched

4 tacos gulfed down 

3 times we discovered new songs

2 pepperoni pizza slices eaten

1 day left 

0 times we got lost

Artist We Watched

Florence + The Machine

Florence + The Machine’s performance was the last performance we saw of the day. 

Their performance was at the Firefly stage, which is the main stage. At first, we tried to get to the front, or close to the front, to see her perform. Later we realized we could hardly see anything and decided to go to the back, where they had elevated seating, so that we could see them perform. We are both Florence + The Machine fans and wanted to see the performance as best as possible. Surprisingly, we did not enjoy the performance as much as we thought we would. The band performed some of it’s most famous hits such as, “Cosmic Love”, “Dog Days Are Over” and “You’ve Got the Love”. It felt as though something was missing from the performance. We found ourselves getting bored and thinking her sprinting across the stage many times was getting a bit old. Although we did not have the best time during this performance, others did. When looking out into the enormous crowd you could see so many fans enjoying themselves and singing along.

Fetty Wap

We saw Fetty Wap earlier this year at the Z100 Jingle Ball. At the time he had a broken leg and therefore was sitting in a chair and was unable to perform the way other artists had. Even though he did throw hundreds of hundred dollars bills at the crowd, we weren’t satisfied with the performance. Honestly there wasn’t much he could do. Now at Firefly, a few months later, he was able to put on an unforgettable show! He had one of the biggest crowds. It seemed as though every single person there knew the lyrics to his songs, especially “Trap Queen”. He sounded great on stage and was able to get the crowd energized. 

The Neighbourhood

The Neighbourhood and Fetty Wap were performing at the same time. It was too difficult of a decision for us to pick one over the other so we decided to see both. We walked back and forth between Fetty Wap and the Neighbourhood since their stages were on both sides of the VIP area. The Neighbourhood put on a good show, everyone was dancing when one of their most popular songs “Sweater Weather” came on. During the song, the sun was setting and casting an orange glow over the bobbing heads. The music was not only beautiful, but the show was also visually gorgeous to watch. 

This is our first festival we have ever attended. And for those of you who have not attended one, we are on the same page. A little bit nervous, a little bit curious, but more than anything else: excited. 

We were given a basic checklist of things to bring: sunblock, bug spray, a refillable water-bottle, hat, portable phone charger and money. The basics. For those of you who have attended festivals before, you would know by now that while these are necessities, it’s not the end all be all if you forget them. Once you get inside, there are plenty of vendors that you can purchase things from or you can find someone that will let you borrow from them (you’ll soon see how friendly the people are).  

Our day started late as we had to drive to the festival. We arrived around 4 PM. We turned right into the Dover Downs Hotel & Casino parking area and waited in traffic to finally find a space.  After being directed to one of the furthest parking spots, we proceeded to walk three miles in the sweltering heat. Past the Dover track statue--one monster of a monument--on we went. Over the highway and into the very very long line to enter. 

After finally getting into the gates of the festival we saw thousands of people walking. Whether it be getting food from the many vendors or watching a show at the two enormous stages, the area was filled with people. At first, we were overwhelmed as to where everything was because of how big the whole festival was. Later, we became at ease with the size and found ourselves more and more comfortable by the minute.

Though this may sound chaotic, we were pleasantly surprised by the sense of community we endured. We were surrounded by thousands and thousands of strangers, engulfed in masses of people, yet we felt strangely at home--or rather, camp. After a lap around the entire festival, we were able to direct ourselves to any destination. 

For the first couple of hours that we were there, we walked around and watched performances we were not familiar with. Not only were the performances something to watch, but so were the people. It was impossible to miss people in light-up tutus, pizza outfits, bikini tops and sometimes, no tops.

We walked from stage to stage listening to artists and when we went to Finish Ticket, at the Treehouse stage, were pleasantly surprised and decided to stay and watch. One of the major perks of being at a festival is not being confined to seeing only one artist. Walking between the various stages and being able to see different artists, especially when you’re unsure who to see, is a great opportunity. 

At 7:15 PM, Of Monsters and Men was performing so we rushed to the backyard stage, pushed through the crowds of people and tried to get as close as possible to the front of the stage. One thing we learned quickly, being 5’1 and 5’6, is that being in a crowd of tall people makes it pretty hard to actually see the stage. Once we realized we could probably see more of the performance from the back of the crowd than the middle, we walked back behind a large mob of people and finally got to enjoy the show. 

Being in the heat and walking so much can really take a toll on your body, so after this concert we decided to get food at the Southern Soul. We got a pulled pork sandwich, chicken fingers, and fries (of course). One big tip we have is that you make sure that you’re hydrated and eating enough because it gets insanely hot and you do not want to be the person to pass out. After eating we went to Ellie Goulding which was a decent show. We didn’t enjoy it as much as we thought we would so we just walked around and listened from the back.

We ended up leaving this show a little early because we wanted to see Tame Impala perform. We heard a few of their popular songs, and then headed over to this huge color changing art installation to sit and relax for a bit. At about 11 we decided to head back to the Backyard Stage so that we could get a decent view for the disclosure performance. Their show started at 12:15 AM so we sat for over an hour waiting to see the show. The disclosure show was an amazing performance. Although everyone was exhausted from such a long day, you could feel the energy of the crowd. The show ended at 1:30 AM but they came back out and played until almost 2 AM. Everyone was jumping and singing to their songs. It was probably the best performance we saw on Friday. 

The walk back to our car, after the day had ended, felt even longer than the walk there. We walked with a mob of people, all trying to get to the parking lot, and all coming from the same performance. When we finally found our car, after searching for it for a good 15 minutes, we rushed in, exhausted but happy. 

Friday's Countdown

24 pictures snapped

10 times we bumped into people

7 miles walked

6 performances watched

4 water bottles we drank

3 times we used our portable chargers

2 orders of fries

1 meal from the vendors

1 time we got lost

Artists we watched

Disclosure

By the end of the night we were exhausted from the heat and all the walking but we would not leave before seeing Disclosure! We were looking forward to seeing them perform. We camped outside The Lawn stage for an hour and a half to get a good spot. Though waiting for that long we only got to the third row. We still had an amazing view. The bass was so strong you could feel it vibrating inside of you. Everyone in the crowd had something raised in the air whether it be a floatie, a sign, their hands, their shirts or bottles. It seemed as though the music was able to make every single person in the crowd move to it. When they finished, the crowd was not ready to go home. Everyone wanted just one more song. After Disclosure thought they closed the night, they heard the unignorable yells from their fans, “one more song”. They ended up playing two more, finishing with “Latch” one of their most popular songs. By the end, the crowd was satisfied. 

Tame Impala

Tame Impala had a huge crowd. We noticed that their fans were a little more relaxed than some of the more electric bands. Their attitude matched up with the music. While they played, confetti (which is still lingering on the ground on the last day) exploded from the stage making the night sparkle more than it already was. The band sounded exactly the way they do coming from your iPhones, they were amazing! We got to hear some of their most popular songs which were even better in person. 

Of Monsters & Men

We have been fans of Of Monsters & Men for a while now. We particularly like their album My Head Is An Animal. One of our favorite songs and the one we were looking forward to hearing the most was “Mountain Sound” and they did not disappoint. The music was beautiful and filled the Firefly air with it’s noise.

Ellie Goulding

We have been attending pop artist’s concerts since we were young. They have always put on a good show. These concerts include the Jingle Ball and Beyonce for example. These types of concerts are definitely where one would expect to watch Ellie Goulding perform. So while we have watched artists of her sort put on a show, we were surprised by the one she put on. Most of the bands that were more alternative music sounded very similar live to the way they do not live, however Ellie Goulding sounded completely different. Not to say she didn’t sound good, because she did, but it was just surprising to see the difference live. Nonetheless, she put on a good show and had a huge crowd.