80/35 at Waterworks Park

This was my 10th 80/35 music fest, and the first year that it didn't take place in downtown Des Moines. The venue change received a ton of pushback from locals and leadership stepped down... but the Des Moines Music Coalition and volunteers did what they could to make the fest happen.

I just wanted to share my experience…

To start off, I only knew 3 artists on the lineup, but one of my favorite things about this festival is discovering someone new. 80/35 has always impressed me by curating interesting, fun low-to-mid level artists that I never would have experienced otherwise.

On Friday, we biked down to Waterworks Park and entered via the tunnel from Grays Lake. The first annoyance was that there wasn't an easy way to get to bike valet from the East side trail. The valet was on the West side of the ticketed area without a direct route. This wasn't a huge deal, but the placement felt odd. Signage from the main entry points could’ve been helpful at least…

With that, let's talk more about the venue

Waterworks Park honestly felt like more of a festival atmosphere than downtown. It really did. Don't get me wrong, I was super skeptical about the festival moving and loved having it downtown. I enjoyed having our lil baby skyline as a backdrop for shows and being able to easily pop into local businesses. Downtown also felt more central and accessible for transportation, parking, etc. But overall, the mature trees, lawns and vibe of Waterworks felt more akin to other festivals that I've been to like: Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, etc. I honestly didn't hate the change as much as expected.

The sound at Waterworks was great, the food truck options were solid, and the shows felt intimate. Allowing the Biergarten to operate as normal was a nice little bonus as well.

The layout, however could use some work, especially as it related to the main stage.

Every time that you entered the paid/main stage, you had to go through a gate on the North side, walk through metal detectors and get your bag searched if you had one. This meant that you were in a line every time that you came back… even after you’d gotten your wristband. The more I thought about this, the more weird it felt. You could have whatever you wanted at the free stages... professional cameras, drugs, weapons, whatever. But the main stage was "protected" by "security." It was silly.

There was also an exit from the main stage to the free area on the Southwest side. This would get you to food, the People's stage, parking, and bike valet... but even if you had a paid wristband, you couldn't get back in this way...

There was also no good way to get from the People's stage to any other stage. You had to walk all the way around the North side of the fenced in main stage area to access anything else.

I would've liked to have seen another main stage exit on the East side along with the ability to re-enter through any gate as long as you had a wristband. It'd also be great to have a simpler way to get from the West side to the East side without having to walk all the way around the North end. We spent so much time just trying to get back and forth between shows and waiting to get back into the ticketed area. It was annoying.

The crowds

The crowds absolutely seemed smaller than years past - especially in the early-mid afternoon, which may have been influenced by the extreme heat. I kinda felt bad for the artists, but none of them seemed to hold back their performances. Before Killer Mike went on, he'd apparently gotten a call from his manager, who said, "Yo Mike, the crowd might be a little lighter tonight." To which, he responded by saying that he, "remembered playing shows for 300 people so if there was 301 people then we're cool." He then continued, "This can be our own tittle tiny desk concert out here." ... and that's what a lot of these shows felt like. Super intimate with great performances.

I will say that one of my friends pointed out that some of the small crowd feel might've been perception, because there's much more space at Waterworks than there was downtown.

Next, the acts

I think 80/35 nailed the curation of artists. Would I like to see some bigger names? Of course. But did I enjoy the shows I saw? Absolutely. I personally enjoy not knowing many of the low-to-mid tier bands that 80/35 books beforehand. It’s fun to browse the website before the fest, find some artists that sound interesting and experience something new. I always leave discovering and becoming a fan of a new artist. This year was no different.

• Tropa Magica was an incredibly fun So-Cal "psychedelic cumbia rock" band.
• Dreamer Isioma was a Chicago R&B artist who was solid and interesting.
• OK Go. I'd seen them at Lollapalooza before and really enjoyed their performance. The show at 80/35 was much more intimate, but still fun. They did some Q&A with fans in the audience between songs, and came out into the crowd and raw-dogged an acoustic track with no monitors. It was a special experience.
• The Uniphonics were a v fun, funk/hip hop group from Iowa City.
• Winona Fighter was a great punk rock group from Nashville. Their front-woman rocked hard with a busted ankle, and did a fun cover of Blink 182.
• Mr Softheart, an Iowa-based psychedelic / post-punk group played at the silent stage, which was a wild experience. This stage was targeted toward people with sensory issues, but you just showed up, checked out some "silent disco" headphones, and chilled in the shade while listening to a band. It was an interesting way to experience a show with great sound quality + volume control. Mr Softheart was a great vibe for this spot.
• Bully was a solid, female led grunge/alt rock band
• Foxy Shazam. Holy shit. These guys stole the show. They sorta have that Gogol Bordello, crazy gypsy-style stage presence and were just outrageously fun. It bums me out when people miss out on shows like this.
• Hiatus Kaiyote was super nice to chill to on the main stage. They gave me HER / Erykah Badu vibes.
• Killer Mike. Like I said earlier, he came out and had no intention of performing any less because the crowd was smaller. If anything, it made for an even better experience. Great show.

To summarize...

The crowds were smaller, the layout was a bit rough and the heat was brutal... but the lineup was incredibly fun, the location was honestly nice, and the amenities were great. The future of 80/35 felt a little uncertain this year, but I hope that we can continue to make it happen, because it really is a cool fest.

Here are some more of my photos, along with a few of Post Malone.