The Back Cove Music & Arts Festival in Portland, Maine debuted on the weekend of August 2nd and 3rd. The premiere edition of the 2-day festival featured a solid lineup headlined by Lord Huron and Jack White that attracted a healthy assortment of local residents and music lovers regular to the Boston area.
First impressions were good. Off-site parking available at several nearby school parking lots with complimentary shuttles was straightforward and low-hassle. The festival grounds in Portland’s Payson Park offered ample space for a variety of food, drink, and art vendors, as well as multiple water stations, picnic tables, shade, portable toilets and sinks, and of course decent crowd space in front of the 2 stages. Dedicated fans were able to camp the railings up front, while more casual attendees were able to throw down blankets and chairs farther back with a view of the stage video screens. Several of the larger trees dotting the park offered welcome respite from direct sunlight, and while not always consistent, there was also a pleasant breeze sweeping in over the water of the festival’s titular Back Cove. Also of note: VIP-only viewing areas occupied about half of the area immediately in front of each stage, with other VIP amenities including air-conditioned restroom trailers, a private bar area and some limited food options.
One quirk of the festival’s setup however was that the main “Baxter Stage” was constructed at a slightly lower elevation than the rest of the park, which resulted in a fairly massive gap between the barricade and the stage that prompted Lord Huron’s Ben Schneider to quip, “When all these photographers clear out of here, we’re going to have a joust.” The stage floor itself was also roughly equal height to the ground the audience was standing on, which prompted at least some comments from shorter attendees. That said, the second “Longfellow Stage” suffered neither of those issues, and the non-overlapping sets meant that there was a real incentive to migrate between stages often.
The event felt well-attended start to finish, but never too crowded or claustrophobic, with no particularly obvious choke-points. The general sentiment among locals seemed to be that they were happy to have a new festival in Portland, while out-of-towners expressed their happiness that Portland is both a nice city worth visiting and a relatively short drive from surrounding states. In short, people were happy to be there and that feeling seemed to translate directly to the overall atmosphere of the crowd.
Both days of the festival began with a student showcase of the Maine Academy of Modern Music: a quick rotation of mini-sets performed by young aspiring musicians. Saturday’s billing leaned generally towards folk and funk, with notable exceptions being the alt-pop, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter Sarah Kinsley and Portland-native indie rock band Weakened Friends. Highlights included the infectious energy of Cimafunk, and the up-close-and-personal crowd interactions of Thee Sacred Souls. The Roots were a relatively recent addition to the schedule, replacing André 3000, but the excited anticipation they generated made it abundantly clear that they were more than just a consolation prize. Lord Huron closed out night 1 with an impressively elaborate production worthy of their headlining set. Sunday’s lineup headed in a distinctly more indie direction, with Eliza McLamb, The Greeting Committee, Madi Diaz, and Lucy Dacus leading that charge. Country was well-represented by Margo Price and the Turnpike Troubadours with popular sets toward the tail end of the day. Lucy Dacus’ set closed out the secondary Longfellow Stage for the weekend with a twist: three simultaneous weddings on stage, officiated by Dacus herself. Jack White wrapped the festival up on the main Baxter Stage with a performance that was undoubtedly the biggest attraction of the whole weekend for many festival-goers.
With the end of Jack White’s headlining performance, so concluded the successful first iteration of the Back Cove Music & Arts Festival. There was clearly a demand for a festival of its kind in Portland, and the thoughtful execution laid effective groundwork for future versions. Back Cove seems to be off to a strong start, and with luck this step in the right direction will continue forward.
Check out all of Greg’s photos from the festival below.
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
