Recap: The Meadows Music And Arts Festival

This past weekend, The Meadows Music and Arts Festival popped up for a two day event at Citi Field in Queens NY. From our previous posts, it was obvious the lineup was insane and well worth the ticket price. The unfortunate thing was Saturday I woke up with a raging hot scratchy throat and feeling like I was gonna die, so I was forced to stay bundled up in bed all day so I would be able to attend Sunday.

Thankfully I woke up Sunday feeling a zillion times better, got on the subway and took the long train ride to the fest. This was the first year The Meadows was happening and truth be told, it did not disappoint. Because it was set up in the vast parking lot of Citi Field where The Mets play, show goers weren’t packed in like sardines. There was plenty of room to move around, four stages, food vendors (whose prices weren’t THAT bad), a free photo booth, organized merch lines, and NO RAIN! Yay!

Everyone there was in a good mood and the vibe was super chill. My freelancer Christy and I were able to get super close to see BORNS own the stage, and looked like a mega sexy beast, thrilling the crowd while wearing a silky tied up yellow button down shirt…UGH.

We got beverages, took a turn in the photo booth, then explored the festival grounds. While it was said to be a music AND arts festival, I couldn’t find any trace of art going on, unless you count the brightly painted mural walls seen around the grounds as the art aspect. Generally when a festival includes “art” into its rhetoric, there are vendors selling jewelry, framed painting, dream catchers etc, but I didn’t see anything.

I kept thinking…”where is everyone?” for how sparse the crowd seemed, but it was pretty clear when we ascended the steps to get to the Meadows main stage, the bulk of show goers were assembled to see Chance The Rapper, who had everyone in a frenzy from the moment he took the stage.

The crowd was buzzing that Kanye West might be making a surprise appearance on stage with Chance before he headlined a few hours later, but it didn’t happen, so Christy and I went back over to catch some of Cage The Elephant before settling into a prime spot to watch The 1975.

Not gonna lie, and you probably already know this, but The 1975 is my favorite band. I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen them live, but when they took the stage, the entire crowd erupted in the kind of crackling excitement only truly invested fans can generate.

The thing about seeing a band you’re truly invested in, it’s always pretty obvious to tell where there energy level is at, and to be honest, this was not their best show. The guys have been playing a relentless schedule of shows, doing press appearances, and flying all over the world, which was evident by the bags under Matt Healy‘s eyes and George Daniel‘s apparent going-through-the-motions of his drumming duties. As the set went on, it seemed the guys were able to find a second wind and carry through, delighting fans, who had their phones held high, singing every song word-for word, and dancing until a smashing finish with their signature closing song, “Sex,” before exiting the stage.

Christy and I bounced back over to the main stage to see Kanye West close down the festival. I personally can’t stand Kanye, but his fans were entertaining, because like The 1975, they are so incredibly invested, they will wait an extra 30 minutes past the original set time for Kanye to take the stage and talk him up the entire time. Kicking off with fireworks and the crowd chanting along to whatever was being played, the air was thick with the smell of weed and minor pushing and shoving was going on to get as close as possible to the stage. However, the crowd was so massive, unless you had been waiting the entire day, there was no getting close to the front.

It was probably for the best, since Kanye had to cut his set short due to a family emergency, which we all now know was due to his wife Kim Kardashian-West being held at gunpoint and tied up  in her Paris apt. while thieves stole millions of dollars worth of jewelry. Absolutely frightening.

We left with sore feet, our ears ringing and the kind of exhaustion you’re not sad about because it was such a killer time. I’m definitely heading back next year for round two!

Did you go to The Meadows? What did you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!