#LetsGoPlaces: Firefly 2015 Music Superlatives

Last weekend, Alexis and I headed to Dover, Delaware to experience the fourth annual Firefly Music Festival. Spending money on events and supporting American artists, instead of buying imported products, is always a good way to show your #USAlove.

Our Surprising Ride

We were thrilled to be offered an American built vehicle to deliver us to the event in style, but you'll never guess what it was. Toyota wanted us to experience the 2015 Toyota Camry Hybrid because it is manufactured in Georgetown, Kentucky. We synced Alexis phone with Bluetooth to jam out to Alexis' 2015 Firefly Playlist. With ten speakers in eight locations, plus a subwoofer and amplifier, our music sounded crystal clear. Our music wasn't interrupted to and from the festival by having to stop for gas because the 2015 Toyota Camry Hybrid gets 39 miles to the gallon. We can't argue with that.

Firefly Music Festival

Since I hadn't created a playlist of my own, Alexis' list helped us figure out which artists I wanted to see during the four days of the festival. The Woodlands are 300+ acres, and when you're walking among 90,000 other fans, you want to be sure you're going to like the next act when you're trekking to the stage where they are performing.

Here's our list of who's who. See our Firefly 2015 music superlatives; from Kygo, Phoebe Ryan, SNBRN, they're all awesome. Read what we liked best about Foster The People too.

Alexis shares her favorite superlatives here: 

Most Popular: Paul McCartney  Although he may not be made in the USA, he's been touring the U.S. and helping support the American Economy.  He was a highlight for many festival goers although they may not have known his music.  In fact, some festival goers are too young to really know about the Beatles history and let's just hope they educated themselves on the opportunity they had to see Sir Paul.  It was a privilege to see him perform his two hour set and he played one of my all time favorite top 5 songs, Blackbird.  He drew the largest crowd of the festival on the main stage Friday night.

Most Likely to Succeed: Phoebe Ryan Let us introduce you to the girl next door whom anyone can get along with.  She took the stage early on Friday at Firefly rocking greenish/blue hair, jean shorts, boots and a tank that said “I met God. She’s black.”  Then she opened her mouth and we became instant friends.  She’s 22 years old with a tone that pop radio will love. I’d say if you mixed Katy Perry’s vocals and music style, Britney’s charm and Pink’s chill vibe you get Phoebe Ryan.  She engaged the audience with fun banter between songs and just showed us who she truly is.  I think we’ll start to hear a lot more about Phoebe Ryan because she’s a natural fit for America’s pop music scene.

Most Artistic: Clean Bandit  You’ve all probably heard ‘Rather Be’ on a pop radio station over the past few months which has blown up, but the Clean Bandit is so much more than their top Billboard hit.  They are an electronic group who uses classical music as their base.  They had a violin, cello, bass guitar, piano, vocalist and many different percussion instruments on stage.  The six person group all took turns with vocals and hitting the different instruments.  I hope this band continues to gain popularity and continues to keep knocking out radio hits.  I think there is so much more the world needs to hear from Clean Bandits.  They’re artistically what the music industry is lacking.

Image Credit: Musicsnake

Best Looking and Best Dressed: Awolnation The five piece crew that makes up Awolnation came out dressed all in white (classy) and put on a fantastic show.  I didn’t know much about them and only heard a few of their songs here and there.  I was pleasantly surprised by the show they put on and they’ve gained a new fan.  Lead singer, Aaron Bruno was easy on the eyes too, so that helps.  Great looking group of guys from Cali, Best looking was a no brainer!

Most Likely to Skip Class: Kings of Leon I’m just not meant to see the King of Leon.  On Saturday storms came through Dover and even after a schedule adjustment unfortunately Firefly had to be shut down for safety reasons.  This call was made 10 minutes before Kings were to take the stage.  I attended a festival a few years ago and they unfortunately had to pull out of the line up.  One of these days we will unite and I’m sure it’ll  be a concert well worth the wait!

These are my reviews: 

Most Underrated: SNBRN You really cannot help but move your entire body when SNBRN is spinning his sick beats. My favorite remixes were Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing and Earth, Wind and Fire's September.

Best Personality: Foster The People I was really impressed with the lead singer, Mark Foster. There was an interlude where he spoke about honor, ego, and vulnerability. He said, “Ego is vulnerability's enemy.” He related it to how everyone is interested in sculpting their reality through social media profiles. He said this on the eve of Father's Day to encourage the 90,000 fans in the crowd to be more vulnerable, while honoring ourselves and others. It was refreshing to hear his thoughtful words.

Class Clowns: Matt & Kim If anyone knows how to pump up a crowd, it's Matt & Kim. I have no idea how Matt & Kim sang, played the keyboard and drums, respectively, and hyped the crowd all at the same time. I've never seen so much crowdsurfing either. Kim had the crowd holding her standing up straight between acts too. She must really trust her fans, and I can see why. They loved Matt & Kim's performance.

Most Likely To Be Famous: Kygo Even if you're not into EDM, you probably know a song or two by DJ's Tiesto and Calvin Harris, but you might not know Kygo. I could listen to Kygo from morning to night. I really love him, in every way possible. #KygoIsMyMainMan

Best Hair: Betty Who Betty knows how to get a crowd going with her sweet melodic tunes, nicely complimented by her Aussie accent. Alexis and I were totally digging her, her hair, and her tunes.

Image Credit: Betty Who

Speaking of hair, see our popular Made in USA essentials, beauty, and hair tips for festival goers.

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