The weekend of Sept. 6-7, thousands gathered for Loufest in Forest Park, an indie music festival with 40 bands, including headline performers Outkast and Arctic Monkeys.
There were four different stages the festival goers could walk between, with performances starting at 12:15 p.m. and going until 10 p.m. each day. The headlining bands had the last spots each night, and would be the only bands performing at the time. Other than Outkast and Artic Monkeys, bigger bands included Grouplove, Matt and Kim, and the 1975.
The festival ground was a decent size, with enough space between each stage that there was never a very far walk to make between performances, but you wouldn’t hear another band while you were watching a performance.
Tickets were priced at $60 for a single day, or $95 for both days. I bought a two-day ticket as there were bands I wanted to see on both days, and I was not disappointed. The environment differed both days: Saturday was a little bit more mellow, but the bands on Sunday created a more upbeat environment.
I personally was a bigger fan of the bands I watched on Sunday, which were Grouplove and Matt and Kim, along with a little bit of Outkast. I know the first two better than I do the 1975 and Arctic Monkeys, and both groups made an effort to get the whole crowd involved than the other groups had, which I appreciated.
While it was the biggest name and headliner of the show, I only watched a little bit of Outkast. I was disappointed with the bit of their performance I saw, and they started a few minutes late, which was frustrating as all the other bands had started right on time.
Loufest ended up being a really cool experience, especially for me, because it was the first music festival I went to. It was completely worth the money, and I will definitely try to go again next year.