On a musical weekend, thousands loved life — and had a few suggestions
On a musical weekend, thousands loved life — and had a few suggestions
Headliners rocked uptown Charlotte for 3 days; Organizers suggest massive music festival will return next May
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Review: Charlotte’s first-ever Lovin’ Life Music Fest wasn’t free of hiccups or rain, but it delivered intoxicating energy and great vibes
As the clouds parted over uptown, the Beach Boys played for thousands on Sunday, the final day of the largely successful Lovin’ Life Music Fest. (Photo courtesy of Lovin’ Life Music Fest)
by Lindsey Banks
After three jam-packed days of concerts, this much is clear about Charlotte's first-ever Lovin’ Life Music Fest: It delivered on its promise of bringing headliner performances to uptown and providing a memorable experience.
Festival-goers said over the weekend that they liked some of the organizers’ touches. They also offered some suggestions for improving the massive festival next year.
Artists including Post Malone, Stevie Nicks, Noah Kahan, the Avett Brothers, Maggie Rogers and DaBaby drew crowds of 25,000 to 30,000 each day to one of two big stages. A third, smaller stage for Charlotte-area bands was set up in the “village” with food trucks and other vendors.
[🎥 View short video recaps of Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3]
Even with a rainy second day, the weekend-long festival appeared to be a success: The light rail conveniently dropped off right in front of the festival gates. Bag-check and scanning wristbands to enter the festival went smoothly. Performances started mostly on time. There were plenty of options for Lovin’ Life T-shirts, hoodies and other merch.
Headliner Noah Kahan rounded out Lovin’ Life Music Fest Sunday night. He disappeared from the stage and came back wearing a Charlotte Hornets jersey. (Photo by Lindsey Banks)
The festival even paid tribute to a shooting event earlier in the week that took the lives of four law enforcement officers. Before Post Malone’s set on Friday, the festival shared photos of the four fallen officers and offered a moment of silence.
As with the first of anything, there are always kinks to work out and things that can be improved upon for next year. Here’s what festival-goers told The Ledger they’d like to see differently next year:
Cell service: There was little to no cell service on the festival grounds, which made placing phone calls or sending texts nearly impossible.
Mud: After Saturday’s rainfall, the grassy areas of the festival site turned into slippery mud. Some people suggested holding the festival on pavement or gravel next year.
Food: More quick food options, like snack stations, and more water stations.
Blankets: Festival-goers were allowed to bring blankets into the festival, but some people used them to try to take up and hold prime standing space. Maybe no blankets next year, or a rule on what you can and cannot do with them.
Stage scheduling: Some artists on Northwood Ravin Stage should have been on the main stage. In addition, some performances on different stages overlapped, which made it difficult for people who wanted to see both performances in their entirety.
Who went: Most festival-goers looked to be in their 20s and 30s, which isn’t surprising. But all age groups were represented throughout the weekend, from young children to people in their 60s and 70s.
There was a mix of Charlotte locals, North Carolinians, and out-of-staters — observed from a poll DaBaby conducted during his set with a raise of hands.
Charlotte native DaBaby performed on Saturday on the Northwood Ravin stage. His nephew joined him for most of the set and helped him throw $1 bills at the audience. (Photo by Lindsey Banks)
👚 What people were wearing: Outfits were all over the place. Some people wore athletic leggings and T-shirts, but a majority of festival-goers in their 20s and 30s wore carefully crafted, Instagrammable outfits typical of music festivals. Here are a couple of things I saw the most of:
Cowboy boots and hats
Long, flowy skirts
Bikini-style tops that tied in the back
Platform boots
Body glitter and glittery eye makeup
Body contour dresses and skirts
Matching sets, either a crop top and skirt for women, or shorts and button-up shirt for men
🍺 What people were drinking: Lovin’ Life had a couple of bars around the festival site, selling bottled beer and seltzer options for $9 to $16, cocktails for $12 to $15 and bottled soda and water for $5. But there were other alcohol vendors on site, too, like Tito’s and Aperol Spritz.
Just about every festival-gover over the age of 21 had an alcoholic beverage in hand. Cigarettes and vapes could also be spotted every few feet.
A drone light show Saturday night was a hit with festival-goers.
🍕 What people were eating: The lines for food were a good 45 minutes long, but that’s typical of music festivals. Bojangles, Libretto’s Street Pizza, Fahrenheit, Mr. K’s Soft Ice Cream and a few other vendors all sold food.
Some festival-goers crossed the light rail tracks outside of the festival to grab food at 7th Street Market or further into uptown.
🎵 My review: I’ve never quite felt music in my throat before until Lovin’ Life. (The bass from the speakers was literally vibrating through my entire body.) When artists were performing, the energy was intoxicating, and the adrenaline rush made life worth lovin’.
But in between sets, trying to find a spot to stand awaiting a performance was chaotic and stressful, especially when having to stand for 2+ hours to claim a good spot. People were shoving and not afraid to step on you. That’s just the nature of music festivals, though.
Overall, it was a memorable weekend. I would definitely love to see Lovin’ Life back in Charlotte next year.
🔮 What’s next? After the last performance Sunday night, a save-the-date was displayed on the main stage, as well as in an email to all festival-goers, for May 2-4, 2025. “Stay tuned for more details,” the email said.
Lindsey Banks is a staff writer for The Charlotte Ledger.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman