Reveiw: Turnstile, Big Thief, Alvvays and more rocked Maha Festival 2023
Over 12,000 fans came out on July 28th and 29th to enjoy performances from 15 bands at Maha Festival’s 15th anniversary.
Omaha’s own hardcore heroes Bib set Friday off with a bang. Fans two-stepped and started small mosh pits with a fierce energy that seemed impossible to muster in the day’s scorching heat. Starting the day off with high energy rock was a solid choice as many fans at the festival Friday were most excited to see Turnstile.
Icky Blossoms kicked the party back into motion following a storm evacuation. Fans danced the rain off their bodies with Icky Blossom’s infectious synth driven melodies that made dancing impossible to resist. The high energy electro-pop made fans almost forget about the slight hiccup of the days disruptive storm.
Ekkstacy hit the linked-in stage with full punk energy, his pink hair and hard-rocking band brought a classic punk vibe that had fans jumping and singing along throughout his killer set. The festival grounds at Stinson Park continued to fill as the Friday after work crowd arrived and were greeted by Ekkstacy’s infections energy.
Alvaays arrived to the main-stage prior to Turnstile with so much charismatic charm and energy. The party started to feel fully alive now that the majority of the crowd had made their way back into the fest following the storm. Massive beach balls propelled above the crowd and a gorgeous sunset illuminated the band as they shared their unique brand of indie-pop with the highly energetic crowd. The groups most recent release ‘Blue Rev’ has been one of the most well received indie-rock albums of late and the bands killer performance of many of the songs of the album was more than fans could ask for.
Night one was headlined by Turnstile who are fresh off supporting Blink-182 on their North American stadium tour. Turnstile are known for their high energy blend of hardcore influenced rock and high energy live performances. Maha was treated to just that as Turnstile arrived to the stage to close out a day that was full of extreme heat and weather delays. Turnstile set the tone that their performance was going to be about moving and dancing by playing Whitney Houston’s ‘I wanna Dance With Somebody’ before hitting the stage. No better song to energize the crowd in a groovy singalong that was the perfect juxtaposition to the bands high energy hardcore performance. From the moment the band hit the stage and every moment through their 17 song set list, the crowd was not still for a single second. Closing out their performance with a blast of confetti and singer Brendan Yates launching himself into the crowd, this was a performance no one will soon forget.
Saturday started off with a big block of great music from Omaha’s hottest bands.
Ebba Rose, Garst, and M34N STR33T showcased some of the best musical talent that Omaha has to offer. Sprinkled between these sets were performances by Omaha girls rock, a badass non-profit that aims to “Empower youth through music education.” as well as a performance of poetry from The Nebraska Writers Collective Youth Poets.
Music from the festival’s touring acts returned with Say She She kicking off a disco inspired dance party at the main stage. So much soul and energy radiated from the group with Say She She’s three amazing front-women commanding the crowd through every moment of their performance.
Black Belt Eagle Scout have had a busy year trekking the US following the release of ‘The Land, The Water, The Sky’. A few days prior to Maha Black Belt Eagle Scout had one of the most raved about performances at Pitchfork Music Fest in Chicago, and that seemed to only be a warm up to the guitar shredding and deeply stunning performance that the band gave at Maha festival.
The Beths had one of the most well received sets of the weekend. The New Zealand indie-rockers performance caught the ear of seemingly everyone in the festival grounds and you could see the crowd growing song after song. The Beths gave the only real encore of the weekend as fans screamed for the band to play one more song. The group returned and took a crowd request before ripping ‘You Wouldn’t Like Me’ with so immense gusto. This performance was definitely a surprise highlight of the weekend.
Peach Pit brought in the younger crowd of the weekend. The Vancouver pop-rockers ripped through their set as the hazy Omaha sunset over the energetic crowd. Peach Pit are a fun easy listening band and their performance was just that. Every member of the band dancing around the stage just as joyfully as the crowd was as they played their fun hit songs. Peach Pit brought the fun summer vibes that felt perfect in the cool Omaha evening breeze.
Big Thief, the indie folk giants closed out the weekend as Adrianne Lenker and company brought their hypnotizing musical prowess and emotionally charged folk-indie-rock fusion to life at the festival. It's safe to say that Big Thief are at the top of their game, and Maha got to witness the band in their best form. Fans were treated to a handful of unreleased songs from the group as well as a performance of one of guitarist Buck Meek’s new songs from his upcoming album ‘Haunted Mountain’. Big Thief’s heartfelt performance felt like a warm and unifying end to an amazing time at this years Maha Festival.
