Words + Photos by: Emma Fischer
At the start of the festival I wasn’t feeling the greatest, but I motivated myself to get up for the first set of the festival, Charlotte Sandz. With the first song, I felt instantly revived. There’s something about live music, especially a festival atmosphere that is so healing. I hadn’t heard any of her music previously, but her energy radiated from the stage. Her songs still get stuck in my head even after hearing them once. The environment of Forecastle is one that I would recommend to anyone, especially new festival-goers. All of the stages were set
up across from one another in Louisville’s Waterfront Park. Compared to larger festivals like Lollapalooza, this made it a lot less stressful to navigate from one stage to another and easy to take breaks along the way.
I got the chance to photograph some more sets the first day, including Indigo De Souza, Coin, and Clairo, who I had seen previously on her Immunity tour in 2019. Seeing her felt like seeing an old friend, being that I had listened to her album on repeat since then. The versions of the songs she played were reflective of a statement she had made during the 2019 concert, when she said she wants the future aim of her music to be jazz rather than the classic bedroom pop of her original songs like “Pretty Girl” and “4ever”. You can see the transition in her Immunity album and even more so with Sling. Even when she played songs like “4ever”, they felt cohesive with the new songs off Sling. One can only assume and you could tell from the performance that this is the music she really loves playing. It made the performance feel so much more complete and was a full circle moment for me that I was also now doing what I love and photographing the show.
Fast forward to the main event of day one, Jack Harlow. He started off the set on the roof other main Forecastle stage. Appearing suddenly, a single spotlight, rapping without a beat behind him. No one saw it coming which made it all the more impactful. This was accompanied by footage of him as a teen growing up in Louisville and Jack reappearing on stage sporting a Louisville jersey. He really knew how to appeal to his crowd and their energy reflected that as he performed for the next hour or so. In comparison, day two was no disappointment.
By Now I felt more comfortable with the Forecastle environment, and went in more confidently and ready to photograph some of my favorite artists. The first of which was Beabadoobee. I had seen them previously when they opened for Clairo during the Immunity tour, as well as their Fake it Flowers tour in 2020. They never fail to put on an incredible show, this time adding new songs from their upcoming Beatopia album to the setlist (some of their best yet in my opinion). The same is true of Phoebe Bridgers, who I saw back in 2021. Her voice, accompanied by so many talented musicians complete with a special appearance from her pug and screams from her song “I Know the End” was nothing short of amazing to watch. It is something you will never forget once you see it live. To top off the evening there could be no one better than Tame Impala, who’s spectacular lights and lasers accompanied by their music was a satisfying end to the festival for me. There is something to be said about this feeling of oneness that comes from the atmosphere that Forecastle cultivates. Not just the music, but the human interaction that is felt and that can be brought about only through the way that live music brings people together. This atmosphere, combined with a well organized festival made for a great experience.
Emma Fischer
Forecastle
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