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 …

I meant to blog about this year's 80/35 festival a lot sooner but never got around to it.

For those that don't know - Des Moines started a music festival last year called 80/35. It showcases both big names and local groups in an effort to listen to awesome music, party, and promote music culture in the Des Moines area.

Last year I was super impressed with the festival - We had the Flaming Lips, The Roots, and an amazing effort put on by the organizers. I don't want to discount the organizers this year, because it is obvious that they worked crazy hard again... but the festival seemed to progress far less than I expected.

The things I was disappointed in...

• The Weather - obviously out of everyone's hands, but rain definitely puts a …

First of all, if you didn't buy tickets for the 80/35 Music festival, then you missed out on a great fest. And thanks for supporting the local live music scene, assholes. Des Moines' live music scene hasn't been successful because of you.

So now that that's out of the way. 80/35 was excellent for its first year. Des Moines made a huge effort to pull this thing off and it really showed. Thanks a ton to the organizers and everyone who supported it. I can't wait for next year.

The bands I saw...

• Andrew Bird - Not really my kind of music, but he was pretty good. He seemed to have a lot of fans, which is important.
• Flatform - A couple local DJ kids. Finally. This scene is creeping into Des Moines. I run with kids/DJs like this when …