Good Vibes and Better Music at Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival 2016
Written and photographed by MFN Nashville contributor Katelyn Gray Crutchfield
As a Nashville native, I am not new to the scene of Music City and the surrounding areas. From acoustic to hip-hop and jam bands, the Nashville music scene is nothing short of a good time. However, attending Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival in Franklin for the first time proved to me that not only the city of Franklin is beautiful but that I should be expecting nothing less than a good time. I am not new to the local festival scene or the beautiful Park at Harlinsdale, but Pilgrimage surprised me on every level; let tell you all the reasons why.
Not only did Pilgrimage live up to its name for music and culture, but there were many other elements that contributed to the festival itself. If you were going for good vibes, Pilgrimage provided nothing less than that of all different kinds of vibes the entire weekend. I mean, literally as soon as I walked in, there was this area called the “Shangri Lounge” (Shangri in Hindi means “any place of complete bliss and delight and peace”), and let me tell you, it was just that. It provided cool bohemian lounging areas, canopies, and weird garlands hanging atop of the trees that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially to get out of the heat that Tennessee so graciously provided for the weekend. Thank you, humidity. There were shaded areas for lounging and snacking all around the festival. This is how everyone became friends all weekend: having to lounge, eat and nap under trees on the ground together calls for nothing but social interaction. The food was nothing less than delicious with food trucks from all over Tennessee and surrounding areas. I was even lucky enough to have a “Padrino Pop,” which is a Popsicle with real fruit. Man, that was needed for my hot and sweaty weekend. It was refreshing and good for you.
But hey, let’s face it, we came mostly for the music, right? The festival made sure to start out strong on Saturday as far as musical numbers went, beginning with Kaleo playing in the noon sun, but who could think about the heat in the air when there was so much heat coming from off the stage? How ironic that they are an Icelandic band! Lead singer Jökull Júlíusson’s soulful voice carried across Pilgrimage fest like some kind of wind that I could not explain. My weekend was filled with pure, raw talent that I can’t even with. Yes, that I “can’t even” with.
After Kaleo, there were back-to-back bands playing that you just had to lay your eyes on, even if that meant bearing the sun just a bit longer or walking between stages. At this point, everyone was already sweaty and gross but enjoying every minute of it. The bands/artists consisted of The Struts, Violent Femmes, Grace Potter, Shakey Graves, Cake and Beck. Let me just start by commenting on The Struts. This was my first time seeing them live, and, man, was this a show to see. I am not too sure why I got a Rocky Horror Picture Show vibe from them, but I could dig it. The energy, the talent, and the raw and pure entertainment value was just like that of Rocky Horror. Grace Potter, that beautiful soul of a woman, gave me literal chills in 98-degree weather with her voice. I seriously had chill bumps. And we cannot, not talk about Sir Beck. He gave us the solid good ones such as “Loser” and his new hit “Wow.” I felt honored to even be at the same festival. Which is my exact feeling for Daryl Hall and John Oates on Sunday: just honored. They also gave us the solid hits that everyone in the audience was able to sing along to, classics. Sunday brought forth a chiller vibe, with Texas baby doll Kasey Musgraves and sweet, sweet Jason Isbell.
The different types of music and culture at this festival were unreal. Different people from all over the world and bands from all over the world gathering in beautiful Franklin, Tennessee. What a sight! The sense of community and the ease of being able to stand wherever you wanted in the crowd without a dirty look given just showed the southern hospitality provided.
Pilgrimage was awesome. I had the opportunity to meet and talk to with artists walking back and forth in our media tent, doing interviews and hanging out. I can also say I got to meet a lot of cool people and definitely made some friends that I plan on seeing again in the future. Having access to back areas of the festival, I got to see the hard work that went on behind the scenes as well as feel like a regular festival goer. I just want to say thank you to Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival for allowing me to drive 45 minutes down the road to feel like I was on a completely different planet, with out-of-this-world vibes, beautiful people, and lots of new music to download to my Spotify. September 24th and 25th’s dates have never meant so much to me until now.
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