All Things Go originated in Maryland as a small festival that focused on emerging artists and generally has leaned towards being a mostly women and queer-led festival that breaks the noms of male-dominated line-ups and since returning after the pandemic, their line-ups have grown to be rather impressive. This year, they looked to expand beyond the original site in Maryland and announced a smaller edition to take place at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY. Everything was seemingly going well for the first year of the move to New York City until Friday afternoon, the day before the festival was set to start, when Chappell Roan announced she'd be cancelling her appearances at both the New York and Maryland editions of the event.
It's been a year since Chappell Roan released her debut full-length The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and over the past six month, Roan has seen a meteoric rise in fame unlike anyone else in recent memories. Over the past year she's gone from playing to rooms of 1,000 people to drawing over 80,000 fans at her festival sets. It was clear that even though she wasn't in the headlining spot, she was the main draw for most people attending these shows and to see her have to cancel with less than twenty-four hours notice was a crushing blow and the festival never really recovered.
Yes, going to a festival for one artist isn't a smart move and while the rest of the line-up was rather stellar in its own right, things began to fall apart. Suddenly the weather forecast took a turn for the worse and the weekend became a water-slogged mess. Forest Hills Stadium, the single-stage venue that hosted the New York edition, has a strict no umbrellas policy so when the rain didn't let up, the $5 fee for cheap ponchos felt like an extra slap in the face. Not to mention the fact that the festival was unable to find a replacement for Chappell (the Maryland version got a set from MUNA).
As Saturday rolled on, and the rain kept coming down, the mood in the venue was dampened to say the least and when it was revealed that instead of replacing Chappell they were going to host a drag queen sing-a-long to her songs instead, things got sad. This is in no way a judgement on the queens who did their best to fill in for a bad situation and were left by the festival to fill an impossibly large void. It seemed like they were set up to fail. I can't imagine the feelings and emotions that Chappell must be experiencing at the moment and to pull-out of her commitments with no notice only suggests that the situation had become dire, but to the fans who travelled far and wide to attend a festival and not have their money refunded really made for a massive disappointment. When you pay for the real thing and get a drench imitation instead, it feels like the ultimate let down of what could've been an iconic performance.
As the rain cleared, MUNA took to the stage and turned things around rather quickly as the crowd roared with enthusiasm and the band seemed fully aware of what was at stake. The energy was sky high from the moment that slammed into the first song and things were at critical mass for the entirety of their set. Naturally they called out Chappell's absence and sent their best wishes to her as well as applauded her for prioritizing her mental health. They capped it off with a stunning cover of "Good Luck, Babe!" that had the building reeling in their feelings. Somehow they topped it with a cover of Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" which turned into a moment no one knew they needed, but one that felt rapturous as soon as it happened. To put the final touches on a day saving set, they brought out Lucy Dacus for Phoebe Bridgers' verse on their smash "Silk Chiffon" and turned what was looking like a troublesome day into something triumphant. Closing out the day was Renee Rapp and her headlining set started off with a strong promise as she made her way through the crowd and onto the stage, but things felt a little flat and her headlining set came in at just under an hour which ended the day on a whimper and not the bang so many had hoped for.
Obviously not the fault of the festival, but as Sunday's weather forecast initially said the rain would end around noon, it turned into another day of endless downpour and while a killer set from Mannequin Pussy made for a strong start, it was hard to keep that momentum alive during rather boring performances from Samia and Macie Peters. For her birthday set, Julien Baker rocked as hard as she could and got the crowd pumped up, bringing back more rock elements into the day and as she led her band through some major headbanging moments, her boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers watched along to continue the support. Ethel Cain's moody and atmospheric music came just as the rain finally let up for good, but the energy was lacking and as the stadium felt rather empty, it wasn't connecting with the space and timeslot as much as I'd hoped and if anything, Cain seemed most excited about this being her last show of tour and how much she couldn't wait to get off the road.
Luckily it all came down to Janelle Monáe's headlining set and if there was anyone over the course of the weekend who put on a show, Janelle was the one and it almost made up for the rest of the weekend. Decked out in killer outfits, excellent choreography, and a ripping band, Monáe pulled out all the stops and gave a true headliner-worthy performance. Her skills were unmatched all weekend as she danced, sang, and slayed on guitar, proving her status as a real triple threat talent that show how feels under appreciated. The caliber of the work and professionalism on display were the unquestionable highlights of the weekend and there's no doubt she saved whatever was left and made sure things ended on a high note.
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