Hangout Festival is a festival for everyone – the kind of music celebration that takes relaxation to the next level of intimacy. Located on the stunning beaches of Gulf Shores, Ala., the three-day festival included headliner gold. Kings of Leon, Tom Petty and Stevie Wonder graced the mega stage each evening to crowds of gargantuan proportions. With five stages and sold out tickets, the groups were a pleasant madhouse of people everywhere. Despite the iconic headlines it was those small print, up-and-coming bands are the ones that we noticed at the festival.

 

Friday kicked off with the hour performance of The Weeks on the BMI stage. First covering the boys at SXSW, we’ve been following the Mississippi longhairs and continue to enjoy their live set. The five-piece – Cyle Barnes (vocals), Samuel Williams (lead guitar), Cain Barnes (drums), Damien Bone (bass) and Alex Collier (keys) released new effort Dear Bo Jackson on Kings Of Leon’s label Serpents & Snakes. Opening for Kings of Leon on their upcoming European tour, you’d think the anticipation could get these newbies unnerved – but these boys are pros. What distinguishes The Weeks from any other group is their band of ardent supporters. Their fanbase is young, howling about the power of Mississippi, singing along to their lyrics and having a great time while doing so. If there is ever a live performance not to be missed, it’s The Weeks.

 

Before Macklemore and Ryan Lewis took to the main stage, people moved to that area to check out why they’ve had one of the most played songs in the country this year. The sheer power of the rapper’s voice made unexpected waves. This duo is the fix our generation needs – an idol that praises fairness through rap, tributes ideal and moral code juxtaposed with righteous beat making. The energy the indie hip-hop iconic exudes is explosive. Or perhaps what makes them so alluring is its authenticity and no one could really expel the goodness of the “moral-gospel” like the Seattle native can.

Saturday is burning; full of sunshine, radiant faces and lobster hued backs. There is a calming energy, one that matches the breeze that spirals from the ocean that covers the festival grounds like a protective cloud.

The Kingston Springs topped our Saturday lineup. Young and vibrant, full of youthful antidotes and love verses for the ages, these twenty-somethings from Nashville use their naivety for a fitting tribute to the stage of our generation – those of renegades not looking for an answer, but looking for hope. A hope that resides in their pedals and their vocals, a promise for what is to come. Kingston Springs killed it from head to toe with tracks “Sa Betise” and “Weight of This World.” Their crowd, a new generation of young people, got lost in the perpetual groove of the spectacle. And a spectacle it was as bassist Alex stripped down to his red, initialed Speedo and wailed on percussion instruments until the sun started setting.

As Sunday showed its glorious face, so did a bright new artist that we can’t get out of our heads. Ellie Goulding, the British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist took to Hangout’s largest stage right before Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This breakout lady matches and doubles the hype that surrounded her hit single “Lights.” The tiny retro blond packs her performances with vigor and energy. Filling the full stage with only her words and beat, the essential stadium balcony-high of her synths and capacity of her emotional wellness is indeed, her niche.

Hangout Festival provided a stacked experience – in performances, in location, in likes of flourishing new musicians that played with us all the way home, be it plane, train or automobile. Catch us again next year (does it really have to be a year!); we are already ready to hangout again.