Louisville’s Forecastle Festival - 2022 Recap

Music

Jun 5

If you’ve been to Forecastle Festival before, you may have noticed a few changes this year at the highly anticipated return of the Louisville festival located at Waterfront Park. With smaller festival grounds and one less stage, the fest was a lot more accessible - meaning you could get from one show to the next without missing too much of your favorite acts. Let’s see how the 20th anniversary of the fest went for Hidden Louisville.

Festival Day 1

Day one of the festival kicked off with local rap group The Homies performing on the Ocean Stage. Before I saw their killer performance, I even had a chance to sit down and chat with them (more on that coming soon). The rest of the day had a stacked lineup consisting of me running from stage to stage in an attempt to see as many artists as possible. I grabbed some food and headed to catch some sets. I was able to see most of Duckwrth, Wale, Earl Sweatshirt, COIN, Clairo, Still Woozy, and of course, Headliner Jack Harlow.

All that running around was (obvi) exhausting, but once Jack hit that stage I was rejuvenated. Not only is he a hometown hero, he’s also a Billboard chart topping star. Throughout the day I met a ton of fans who traveled to Louisville specifically for Jack Harlow’s performance. And trust me when I say, he did not disappoint. For a little over an hour, he captured the audience’s attention with his high energy stage presence and song performance. I am admittedly a major Jack stan, but that headlining performance would be tough to beat.

Festival Day 2

Day two of the festival kicked off (for me) with beabadoobee on the Boom stage. It was a perfect way to start the day as we sat in the back and enjoyed the music with a little less running around. After that, I hit up Troyboi, Tai Verdes (he responded to my IG story about him btw, nbd), Phoebe Bridgers, 6LACK, and finally the headliner Tame Impala.

Tame was one I was excited about because I heard so many others excited about it. I was a decent fan, knowing the most popular songs, but never thought about catching them perform live. Looking back now I regret not seeing them sooner because they absolutely blew me away. Every single song had incredible energy, lights, and vibes that felt like a next level kind of show. This is one I’m actually going to watch back the million videos I took on my phone. Well, maybe.

Festival Day 3

Day three was HOT. Not just hot, but festival-day-three hot. I was exhausted, thirsty, hungry — I was everything. No matter how I felt though, I was ready to crush the final day. I kicked off the day with KennyHoopla at the Boom stage. After that I spent some time at the Kentucky Landing doing some shopping and relaxing. While there, we stumbled upon the collective 502 Movement (more on them coming soon) doing some wild flips and moves. They seriously had the entire area mesmerized. Once I finished up there, I went to see some of FLETCHER, Oliver Tree, Dayglow, Jai Wolf, Rüfüs Du Sol, and finally headliner Tyler, The Creator.

Tyler is a big favorite of mine. I am such an Odd Future gal and have been a fan for years. I don’t quite know when I fell in love with his music, but I do know I fell HARD. After seeing him some years back at a pretty disappointing performance, I was ready for his redemption. And when I tell you he redeemed himself, I absolutely mean it. His set was so elaborate and he interacted with it so well during the show. He kept you wanting more until you finally knew the fest and his performance had come to an end. As sad as I was to leave, I also felt so fulfilled and grateful for an incredible reintroduction to music festivals since the pandemic. That is something worth writing about.