Hinterland Music Festival: Day One
Gates are officially open for day one of Hinterland Music Festival. Spirits were high as attendees made the barricade sprint from the entrance of the festival stage.
When comparing this year’s line up to Hinterland’s past, you can tell the festival as moved from their folk and indie folk roots and have adopted a route that is focused on hyper pop and and grunge-y indie rock. Following Porch Lights Performance earlier today, audience members were faced with a three act run of hyper pop and dreamy pop artists Frost Children, Jane Remover, and Oklou. This is a prime example of the shift in direction in which Hinterland is heading. No compaints as all teh artists today really kicked off a killer day one. Regardless of the strange cohesion of artist performing this year, Hinterland still remands one of the chillest music festivals I’ve attended. WIth one big hill leading down to a massive single stage, the music could be heard from all corners of the festival ground and you could see the stage no matter where on the hill you were seating (with the exception of the stripe of grass directly behind the sound tent). As someone who hasn’t been to Hinterland since 2024, I was pleasantly surprised with the change in layout and how big of difference it made in the aura of the festival. With hidden corners with vendors, photo booths and little lounges, this festival weekend is gearing up to be the perfect midwest festival vibe.
Minneapolis indie rock band Porch Light kicked off Hinterland 2026 with a killer set that really set the tone for the artists to follow. This year has really been Porch Light’s year when it comes to festival appearances, this weekend alone they appeared on the lineup for Hinterland as well as Lollapalooza in Chicago and the previous weekend they appeared at Minnesota Yacht Club in St. Paul. During their set they played fan favorites like “Oxygen” and “Upside”. They also show cased their new song “Under” which was released the follow day on Friday the 31st. On top of the excitement for their new single, they announced their current tour and feelings and excitement that come along with that. Overall, I love seeing Minneapolis local bands appear on festival lineups and I can’t wait to see what the rest of their year looks like.
While I’m not one to closely follow the hyperpop genre, I was intrigued to see the other bands on the set in that category. Frost Children kicked off the Hyperpop artist streak for Thursday and came out with a punch. The Missouri sibling duo took the stage with a burst of energy that definitely caught me off guard but succeeded in amping up the barricade folks. Frost Children is a band that I have yet to hear about, but the other photographer’s excitement definitely sparked my interest and I’m glad I was able to make it to their set and see the type of energy they brought.
On Thursday’s set, Jane Remover was an artist I hadn’t gotten to see live yet but was sooo excited, The mixture of punk and hyper pop was really what I needed to boost me through the remainder of the day. Jane Remover took the stage with with sass, energy, and natural coolness that I knew it was going to be a killer set. The crowd was also so fun to photograph during this set and reminded me how much I love photographing the energy from the crowd.
I had recently photographed Oklou’s set earlier this year at First Avenue, but I’m pleased to say that this performance was brighter than the show at my local venue. The French artist doesn’t mess around with aura or vibes and her stage presence in a prime example of that. With a subtle fog cumillating behind her and the appearnace of her well known glowing recorder, this set was beautiful to witness from the photo pit and an artist I was pleased to be able to see again. Oklou’s sound still falls with the hyperpop/bedroom pop vibe but it’s softer and leaning more on the hazy and dreamy side of electro pop. The wind at this point started to pick up a bit, but honestly I think it worked in our favor year and added the right amount of dramatics to the set.
I don’t even know where to begin with Ashnikko’s set, while i had heard from other photographers about the weirdness that she brings to her performances, I don’t think anything could have prepared me. I love weirdness especially in artistic formats so Ashnikko takes the cake for my favorite performance of the day. With the first elaborate stage set up of the day, and the bright and touch of humour set design, this show was fun to watch and photograph. While I missed her show in St. Paul earlier this year, I’m so glad I got to see it on the big stage at Hinterland and really take in the energy of Ashnikko and her dancers. She also launched me back to early 2021 with some of her more popular songs like “Slumber Party” and “Daisy” off of her DEMIDEVIL album. An artist I’ll definitly keep on my radar and I hope I get the opportunity to see her and her artist vision again.
The night was gearing up for the dual headliners Beabadoobee and Katseye. Beabadoobee’s set started a little later than originally anticipated but once seeing her set design, I understand why and had zero qualms about it. The blue hour stree set up was nostalgic and liminal and encapsulated the energy of the midwest perfectly. This is another artist I’ve known off and heavily associate with 2020 and 2021. Seeing her sculpt her project into something of an entirely different vibe — one more grungy with the subtle hint of bedroom pop. Her set was dramatically different than the vibes emitted during Kateye’s set but regardless I thoroughly enjoyed and her performance was high in my top three for the day. As her set closed and the threat of rain approached, the crowd was started to fill out as people waiting in anticipation. If you haven’t seen Beabadoobee’s recent set accompanied by a light rain, you’re unfortunately missing out.
The rain at this point was at a full downpour as the photographers made their way to the front of house sound tent for Katseye’s set. This band as really taken off in the previous years with my first encounter of them being at Lollapalooza last year in Chicago. Theres something about an all femme pop band that really makes younger Maddy happy. A majority of the bands I listen to these days consist of a lead vocal artists accompanied by a killer band but it’s been a wjile since I got to witness a set from a pop band with four lead vocals, choreographed dances, and accompanied by on point lighting and visuals. While it was Katseye’s set that brought in the younger crowd for the day, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this set despite the torrential downpour and my personal battle with my camera’s rain cover. They kicked off their set with their well known and well loved song “PINKY UP” that had the crowd MOVING. They followed up and kept the energy going with “Debut” (accompanied by a killer dance break) and “Gameboy”.
Day one was absolutely killer and left me on an all time high leaving the festival. Despite the heavy rain on a dark road, Day one was one for the books and will definitely be hard to beat by the remainder of the festival.
