By Haley Yates

Fourteen bands, two stages and thousands of people filled the Toyota Stadium in Frisco Saturday. Among the sweaty crowds of local alt/indie rock junkies, teens and twenty-somethings fangirled over a diverse Edgefest lineup. The lineup brought together punky alternative tweens and their bright pink bangs with edgy hipsters only there for the legendary insta posts with Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry.

Elbowing my way through sticky concert-goers swarming to the stage like flies, I caught a whiff of the b.o.-and-something-green smell that defines music festivals. Next to me, a flower crowned girl in shorts tighter than Miley Cyrus’ nude VMA ensemble blew cigarette smoke in my face – I felt I had been personally welcomed to the Edgefest crowd.

The Neighbourhood: When Jesse Rutherford stepped on stage, flower crowned girls “ah-ma-gad”ed over this tattooed boy with dark moppy hair, and I wasn’t totally sure why. Sure, the radio hit “sweater weather” is a catchy tune, but I’ll admit I found the jumpy girls around me to be a little too enthusiastic. Then, I heard him talk. Rutherford’s voice welcomed the crowd and I swear, just for a moment, my pupils took the shapes of hearts, and I felt like just another high waisted shorts wearing fangirl in the crowd. His vocals were on point, and when he jumped into the sea of sweaty hipsters during “Afraid,” he let out a few giggles that made my teenage heart skip a few beats.

Grouplove: A personal favorite of mine, Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper led the group playing their most popular songs like “Tongue Tied” and “Itching on Photograph.” In the middle of the set, Zucconi gave a shout out to Dallas and dedicated his next song to another Texas-born star. When he belted in a low tone “I been drankin’, I been drankin’,” the crowd went wild and joined him in a killer cover of Beyonce’s “Drunk in Love.” The band radiated happy vibes and even the group of preppy lacrosse boys I was standing behind swayed their heads in approval to “Colours” at the very end. How could you not when the lead singer has blue hair and his bangin’ fiance is harmonizing next to him in a multicolored unitard?

Bastille: Singer-song writer Dan Smith and his band are just as boring as his name. Known for their song “Pompeii,” the British crew didn’t deserve their spot on the main stage based on the dull response from the crowd. Most of the audience members just bumped along to the beat, patiently waiting for the “eh-eh oh, eh oh” to begin.

The Avett Brothers: Also known as The Jesus Men. Well, maybe they aren’t known as that, but they should be considering each of them looks like an altered version of Jesus. These bros rocked the mainstage with their folky rock, drawing in the older crowd while the youngins made their way to the smaller stage waiting for Cage the Elephant. Asian Jesus (Joe Kwon) rocked out on the cello, his long majestic hair whipped around the stage.

Cage the Elephant: When lead singer Matthew Schultz took his place on stage, I knew I was in for a treat. Having played at Edgefest two years before, Shultz knew exactly how to get the crowd pumped. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to calm down,” Shultz said after his first couple of songs created a sea of crowd surfing bodies near the front of the stage. “You see what happened there? I used reverse psychology on you!” The crowd surfing traffic continued as “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” began and girls and guys – both young and old – lunged their bodies on top of the ocean of people in hopes to make it to the stage.

Beck: As the night came to an end and sweat drenched concert-goers left Cage the Elephant out of breath, there was only one act left – the legendary Beck. As anticipated by his thousands of fans, he opened up the set with his most popular “Devil’s Haircut” and “Loser.” By this point, the crowd was jumping and jamming and most of the adults were pleasantly drunk (not to worry, I Am Second was giving free rides home to anyone too tipsy to drive home). Beck’s cover of “Billie Jean” sent the older crowd into an intoxicated dance and everybody sang along.

[royalslider id=”106″]