Hello everyone and happy weekend! Exactly one week ago, my sister, Kristen, and I were in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania for X Fest – a music festival featuring Lovelytheband, Sir Sly, AWOLNATION, Cold War Kids, and Jack White. My parents were kind enough to treat me to FRONT PIT tickets to the show for my birthday, which resulted in my sister and I being mere feet in front of the stage for the entire seven hour duration of the festival. It. Was. Amazing. If you don’t believe me, take a look for yourself:
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^^^ Lol at Aaron Bruno’s pelvic thrust pictures and Sir Sly straight GETTIN’ IT with his hands in the air! 😀
What was cool about X Fest, is that it featured such a fantastic lineup. Obviously, I would have gone just to see Jack White, since he’s one of my all time favorites. But, the fact that another one of my favorites, AWOLNATION, and two other bands that I thoroughly enjoy, Sir Sly and Cold War Kids, was there made it so much sweeter. And, then, you add being literally right in front of the stage into the mix, and it turns into being one of the best days of my life.
The nice thing about the set lists for all of the bands that performed, was that they didn’t just strictly play songs from their most recently released albums. It was more of a fan favorite lineup, where crowd pleasers were played, as well as a wide array from a variety of albums. It was so much fun to be able to hear throwback favorites like Sir Sly’s “Gold” during his set or Cold War Kids’ “Miracle Mile” and “Hang Me Up To Dry” live, because it was such a firm reminder of why I enjoy these bands in the first place.
Sir Sly and Cold War Kids were awesome. They were. But, my loyalty will always lie with AWOLNATION and Jack White for what would be considered the highlights of my day. X Fest was actually my second time seeing AWOLNATION live, and they were just as fantastic as I remember them being.
AWOLNATION’s set was filled, as per usual, with Aaron Bruno interpretive dancing, running around the stage like a mad man, and singing his beautiful heart out. Their set was eight songs long, and I sure wish that it could have been longer! Four of the songs were off of AWOLNATION’s latest album, “Here Come The Runts” while the remaining half was from “Run” and “Megalithic Symphony”.
Almost all of the songs were fast paced, hype you up songs, until things slowed down for “Handyman”. During this song, Aaron Bruno acquired a fistful of pink roses and threw the very first and last of the five or six to ME!! I seriously could have cried – I honestly can’t believe that I didn’t. I got TWO ROSES from Aaron Bruno, one of my major man crushes. It doesn’t get much better than that.
The five bands that played before Jack White all probably performed for a half hour to forty-five minutes, respectively. Jack, however, played for an entire hour and a half and it was pure magic from start to finish. Despite his latest album, “Boarding House Reach” being released recently, Jack White played songs from all three of his solo albums and bands, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and The White Stripes.
Although Jack White’s entire performance was a major highlight, some of my most favorite songs that he played included “My Doorbell”, “Steady As She Goes”, “Lazaretto”, “I Cut Like A Buffalo”, and his opener of “Over And Over And Over”. And, it wouldn’t be a Jack White concert if he didn’t close with “Seven Nation Army”!
It was so insane to be standing directly in front of the man that you’ve had a crush on since grace school. It seriously didn’t even feel real that Jack White was playing within six feet of me. The same goes for every band that performed. I was literally right there. I got to spend the day with my sister enjoying amazing music and seeing some of my favorite bands. I can’t believe how lucky I am, and I wish that I could go back in time and relive the day a million more times.
Who else has attended X Fest before? What concerts are you going to this summer? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
