Article and Photos by: Casey Steinmiller

Grand Prairie, TX- Day 1 – It was a chilly 44 degrees at the start of the Sowhat?! Festival. As gates opened at 11am, fans poured into the baseball stadium where the festival was held. Merch tents were set up on the main level, while two large stages and one smaller side stage was down on the in-field. Two large stages were faced back to back, with the smaller stage on the side. Main stage one had a more relaxed musical vibe with some of the lighter artists performing there such as This Wild Life and Knuckle Puck, while main stage two contained the heavier acts such as Capture The Crown and Miss May I. The side stage contained anything and everything in between showcasing local bands. This festival had something for everyone. Unfortunately since there was several different stages, many acts went on at the same time and you could not watch a full set without missing another.

The morning started out with many smaller bands such as Bonfires, Outline In Color, and others who were all great starts to the day. Each artist that went on brought more energy than the last as well as drawing in a bigger crowd. By the time one-o’clock came around Capture The Crown came on with a full crowd at their stage. Almost all of the artists highly encouraged crowd participation during their sets; whether it was by crowd surfing, mosh pits, or even just by getting up on their feet. Many of the singers ended up in the crowd at some point. They were walking on hands or even just jumping out into the sea of people. After most of the day was over, only a handful of bands were left and it was dark outside.

Neck Deep was up next and the crowd started chanting their name. They played many songs off their new album, Life’s Not Out To Get You. After a thunderous applause, there was a mad rush to get good spots to watch New Found Glory. They did not disappoint with their punk rock attitude, energy, and incredible live performance. Even through guitarist Chad Gilbert had to pause multiple times and use hand warmers to keep his hands from falling off, they still played a full set. They even brought up a very excited fan and asked him to pick any song for them to play — this resulted in the band doing a cover of “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. The crowd got a laugh out of the bands reaction. They played other songs such as “Dress to Kill” and ended on “My Friends Over You”.

Day two started the same as day one, except you could pick out the veteran concertgoers that were sunburnt and wind beaten from the previous day. Many made the mistake the day before by not dressing warm enough and didn’t dare make that mistake again. The artists performing day two were more hardcore than the first day. The mosh pits were larger, there were more crowd surfers, and there was even a circle pit that engulfed most of the field during Fit For A King’s set. I See Stars created a large dance party during their performance playing songs such as “Violent Bounce”, “Ten Thousand Feet”, and “Murder Mitten”. The day continued on as bands like Beartooth and Saosin played incredible sets.

The festival ended with Underoath bringing in a massive crowd, filling in almost the whole infield. They were happy to be back on tour by request of the fans. Everyone in the crowd sang along to every song including, “I’m Content With Losing,” and “You’re Ever So Inviting”. They finished with the song “Writing On the Walls,” which ended the festival on a high note.