Saturday, October 1, 2016

Life Is Beautiful Review Day 1

Fair warning this was going to be one long post but then I decided to break it down by each day just to make life ten times easier so then it was less of a block of text for you to read. This post will be all about the musical lineup for Friday Day 1. Expect one for day 2 and 3 in the next few days along with the art and maybe some about the food and drinks. We'll see what I get written. So let's get to it!

First and foremost I must state that the lineup this year was a bit disappointing for me. I suppose I've been spoiled in the past two years of attending with the lineup including artists I love such as Kanye West, The Weeknd, Halsey, Imagine Dragons, Panic! at the Disco, Kendrick Lamar, Hozier, Porter Robinson, Skrillex, and more. This years lineup wasn't that exciting and I bought my passes back in February for the "early bird" prices that were still higher than what they cost last year before the lineup was announced. Click here to see the lineup for Day 1.

Either way I decided to give it a chance and honestly I have to say that my good time is mostly because of the friends I made. I discovered new music but I had such a chill crew to hang around with every day that I loved it. So let's get on to the music!

So the first artist I saw was City and Color. I was pretty excited because one of my friends had hyped them up and I was pretty much front and center at the stage having arrived there a bit before all the other fans. I'm sure some were drawn away by Tegan and Sara (which Dallas Green gave a shoutout too since he played before them at some shows before making his name) but that worked in my favor! Dallas Green does not sound the way you would expect. I just can't explain it. He has a great voice but when you see him you wouldn't think he would have such range! It was a great experience but the only downside was he literally only played a 20 minute set! No joke! It was like six songs at best and then he walked off the stage! The entire audience thought he was joking and chanted "One more song!" but to no avail. The short set was the most disappointing thing. I would have loved to hear more from him and more of his older stuff.


A friend of mine went to see Tegan and Sara and sadly said that they weren't that great. They would have rather passed on seeing them. If I'm being honest I only know a handful of their songs but that's always a shame to hear that an artist performing live isn't all that great.

After City and Color it was time for Kehlani! This was another artist I saw thanks to a friend's suggestion and I'm glad I did. She had a great voice and was very entertaining. I knew a few of her songs, which was more than I expected to know and honestly her backdrop was really cool with a moon which made it look like the moon was legitimately behind her. It was just her and two backup singers/dancers and she worked that stage well.


Now after Kehlani the lineup was a dilemma for me because G-Easy, Mumford and Sons, and Zhu were at overlapping times and all at different stages! Keep in mind that the Downtown Stage is next to the Huntridge but Troubadour and Ambassador are a good walk away so it wasn't like a short minute walk to get to the next spot. Either way I decided to see Mumford and Sons for an hour and then head over to Zhu!

Mumford and Sons was fantastic. The whole band on stage performing was such an experience. I actually stayed for longer than an hour (they had a two hour set) and it was hard to leave them but I really did want to go see Zhu. They sounded great and the crowd was fantastic. People were singing along and they just had a good time with it all. They sound the same live as they do on their cd, which is always a big/important thing to me. (:


After that it was off to Zhu! I thankfully made it in time for my favorite songs and I was so glad. I was even able to get way up to the front even though I was way late by 30 minutes. Now I call that talent. It was so much fun to be in the enclosed Troubadour surrounded by the bass, tv screens, and tons of people dancing. I don't know why but I love the effect the bass has in making it seem as if my whole body is in tune with it. Nevermind the ringing ears that of course occurs afterwards. That's besides the point! Zhu was fantastic and the crowd


That was the end of my day one at the festival and it was complete and total fun. I'm so glad I made the friends I did because they were great to be with. All the artists I saw were great live so that was a big plus. I'm still a bit disappointed that City and Color had such a short set and that I had to leave Mumford and Sons early to even see the last half of Zhu's set but sacrifices must be made. Hopefully the videos work in this post and if not bear with me as I try to figure them out.

So was there anyone from the lineup that you think I should have seen that I missed out on? Any artists you know or don't know about that were there that you would have liked to have seen? Let me know in the comments below!

*I paid for my own Life is Beautiful 3 Day GA Pass but hit me up LIB because I'd love to go again next year!*

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