2016 Sweetlife Festival, May 14, 2016 at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Dana and I got pavilion tickets to the 2016 Sweetlife Festival, not because we liked the lineup, but because it’s the only festival in DC this year, and on the years that the weather has been good, it’s been fun to hang outside at Merriweather and eat excellent food all day. The lineup was particularly lackluster this year, and the day was marred by a rainstorm, so the turnout was abysmal. Maybe because ticket sales were so bad, there weren’t many food trucks, either, and the interactive elements from last year were mostly missing. Merriweather had undergone some renovations over the winter, which was a not-quite-welcome surprise, but at least there were more bathrooms because of it.

Shamir at Sweetlife

I cared more about seeing Dana that day than hanging out at the festival, and she was delayed leaving her house, so we arrived around 4:15 during Eagles of Death Metal and Shamir. The Eagles of Death Metal are not a death metal band – they sound more like ZZ Top to me. They are kind of funny, too. Dana thought Preston would love them. Gender-bending Shamir wore a tinfoil crown that I SWEAR I saw below us in the audience the night before at Grimes. Seems possible – he could easily have arrived in town the night before and asked IMP for something to do. I heard him sing “On the Regular,” but I’m not a fan, so I went to scope out the food trucks. My choices were very limited and the one vegan item that contained any vegetables was sold out, so I ate corn, French fries, strawberry lemonade, and chicken on a stick, when I had expected something leafy green and delicious. It was a big let-down for dinner.

Blondie at Sweetlife 2016

I ignored the Blondie set next, mostly reading a book. I’ve never been a fan of nostalgia acts, but Dana was impressed by her 70+ year old efforts to bring it.  Dana also looked up Blondie’s tour schedule and pointed out that there next stop was a Midwestern zoo.

Halsey at Sweetlife Festival 2016

After that, we saw Grimes again, and it was exactly the same act, minus a few songs. Every movement, every everything, even they dedications, very much the same. I remarked that it gave me a better sense of what it must be like to be a musician – sort of like being a actor, doing the same exact blocking and lines every night. We listened to a little of 1975 in the background and saw the tail end of Flume, then stayed for Halsey. (Dana is a big fan, as is my tween daughter.) Dana pointed out that Halsey’s lesser-known songs have very grown up themes, so I was relieved to check Natalie’s playlist and find only the pop hits on it. One entertaining part of the Halsey experience was seeing her arrive in a black van and watching young (drunk) people follow behind, touching the van. We found that silly and entertaining. Halsey was drunk on stage – she told us so. Her act involved grabbing her crotch fairly often. There was one visual where she lay down on a clear platform with a screen show behind – it looked like she was floating. Mostly, though, she copped attitude. It’s her thing. We left before the last song to beat the crowd out and owe some anonymous young men for moving traffic cones out of our way so we could leave via the fast route. My only regret was not seeing Young Brando early in the day.  That was the only act I thought had potential when I previewed.