Senior Sendoff is dedicated to making the most of my final year as an undergrad student. I can’t wait to take Her Campus along on all my final school-year adventures.
On Sept. 26, I took a solo trip to Columbia, Maryland, to go to All Things Go DC Music Festival. Having never been to a music festival or the state of Maryland, I did my best to do as much prep as possible for the trip. I looked online for what the venue looked like and checked all the rules to see what was allowed in, even planning out my day and night on the grounds.
A Rainy Weekend
To get the cons of the weekend out of the way, arriving in the DMV was a chilly and rainy affair. It was much colder than I expected, which changed a few things about the weekend. I had an unexpected outfit change, wearing a long-sleeve and sweater rather than the cute tank top I’d planned.
As far as supplies went, I added a poncho and umbrella to my bag to keep as dry as I could. I was lucky enough to have upgraded to pavilion seats, giving me a place to stay dry through the middle of the day, but lots of the people I really wanted to see were at the uncovered stages, meaning I had to be ready to get a bit wet in the persistently misty weather.
Seats, Stages, and Setlists
With two packed stages, the festival had a ton of artists I wanted to see. I spent most of the morning at the pavilion stage and bouncing around the grounds. Tents offering freebies and games were everywhere, with tents for McDonald’s, FLRT, and Ben & Jerry’s spread out between the stages.
At the pavilion stage, I saw the tail end of Kevin Atwater’s set and all of Grace Ives in the morning. Taking a small gap to walk around, I returned to the pavilion to see Rebecca Black, whose set was delayed due to sound issues, but once she came out, she was one of my favorite performances of the day.
At the tail end of the day, I spent almost all my time at the Chrysalis Stage. Braving the rain, The Beaches set was legendary, closing it out with their hit “Blame Brett” and a brief appearance by Rebecca Black. The best time to get closer to the front was between sets, so while people cleared out to check out the next performance at the pavilion stage and get food, I got much closer to the front.
In the late afternoon, I was able to see Del Water Gap and Zara Larsson from extremely close to the stage. To end the night with a good spot at the Chrysalis stage, I didn’t leave between sets, but I did see parts of MUNA’s set on the screens showing everything at the main stage.
New and Old Favorites
One of the many amazing parts of All Things Go DC was that they would show the sets at both stages on the screens during downtime. While waiting for Rebecca Black, I was able to see almost all of Naïka, and she quickly made her way onto my playlists. Her songs “Ma Chérie” and “1+1” got me through most of my very long drive back to campus.
Ending the night with both headliners also brought me back to middle school in a way I didn’t know was possible. Having been a fan of Zara Larsson since I was 12, getting to hear and see her perform her new and old hits was amazing. I was also part of the amazing show where we got to sing “Happy Birthday” to her breakout hit “Midnight Sun.”
While Hayley Williams’ newer music is less nostalgic, she is such an amazing singer and performer, and my young emo soul came back alive. Her solo music is just as amazing as everything she made with Paramore, and I can’t wait to rediscover her and everything her new solo eras have to offer.
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