Forest Park Hosts 2013 LouFest

                On Sept. 7 and 8, 15000 music lovers flooded through the gates of Loufest, a two-day music festival in Forest Park featuring The Killers, The National, Alabama Shakes, Wilco, and others.

                I arrived in the late afternoon on Saturday and saw The National’s performance. Even though I had a spot far from the stage – the area in front of the stage had a little slope – I could still see well.

The last performance of the day was Wilco. Wilco played well into the evening.

                “I thought their set was really well done. The National ended up playing with them. They were supposed to play until 10:30, but they went way past that, so the set that they ended up playing with the National was really awesome,” said junior Mark Cunningham, who had a one-day pass on Saturday.

                The next day I arrived in the late afternoon again to catch the end of a performance by Walk the Moon. The first thing I did was stop for lunch at the row of food tents called the “Nosh Pit.” I chose a restaurant called PM BBQ, a barbeque restaurant that offers gluten-free options. PM BBQ has won awards such as the “Favorite New Restaurant” in the Riverfront Times, and for good reason. I got the Hillbilly Nachos, a unique and surprisingly tasty combination of potato chips, cheese sauce, and pork.

                “While some food was priced well, other food was more expensive. [I appreciated] how easy it was to eat vegetarian,” said English teacher Scott Kreher.

               Walk the Moon was signing in the Artist Signatures tent after the performance. I got in line for an autograph and waited there for an hour before they cut the line off three people ahead of me. The group had not expected that many people, so they were running late. The line, however, only went on about 10 people behind me. The disorganization of the tent made a group of people stand in the heat missing performances for an hour, only to be turned away 10 feet from the tent.

                Alabama Shakes’ lead singer, Brittany Howard, has a beautiful voice that works perfectly with their instrumentals. The atmosphere of the crowd during Alabama Shake’s performance was static; many people there were very excited to see the band, and for a good reason. The set changed between high-energy songs that had the crowd jumping and slow, powerful songs that had fans singing along.

                “Alabama Shakes was the best surprise. They rocked my ears off. That woman can belt it,” said Kreher.

               Right after Alabama Shakes finished, fans of The Killers rushed forward waiting for their performance. There was a crowd of people pushing close together to get a good spot close to the stage. An hour later, The Killers came on to perform their killer set. They sang some of their most popular songs like Mr. Brightside and All the Things I’ve Done.

                Next year’s LouFest will be held Sept. 6-7.Loufest had its up and downs, but overall, the music made it a great experience.

By: Molly Thal  Editor-in-Chief