1. Grace Ives – (best concert I’ve seen the whole festival. She really felt the music in a way that was contagious. It was a perfect mix between danceable bangers and more quiet sad songs to cry to, which for me is the recipe for a perfect concert.)
2. Rilo Kiley – (very emotional, Jenny Lewis has amazing stage presence and makes you fall in love with her within 1-2 songs, but one of the guitarists, who I googled and who turned out to be some producer who’s apparently Phoebe Bridger’s BFF, was giving off weird vibes and kept making eye contact and winking and grinning at young girls in the audience. Gave me the ick and ruined the otherwise wholesome concert for me a bit)
3. Viagra Boys – (probably my favorite act of the whole line up, except for Mac DeMarco, but the set list could have been better and the concert was not long enough)
4. The Cure – (amazing set. It’s fascinating to me that Robert Smith still sounds as good live as he did on their original recordings. Usually older lead singers sound kind of off and way worse when they play live in my experience.
   But I was already really tired and it was crowded and the set was over 2h so I was sitting for most of it and didn’t feel the music as much as I would have if I had a better view)
5. Little Simz – (masterful performance. I’ve seen her live once 8 years ago and she’s gotten so much more powerful since then. I just would have wished for more chill introvert songs instead of party vibes. But still really really good)
6. Pink Pantheress – (honestly a 10/10 concert, but they chose the wrong stage so it was very overcrowded and I’ve only recently got into her music so it doesn’t rank as high for me as bands that I’ve listened to for years)
7. Geese – (good concert, but again the stage was too small and it was overcrowded af. Also it was raining a lot. Cameron Winters in a wet undershirt was a nice view at least.)
8. 2nd half of The New Eves – (I’m so sad that I missed the first half. I missed “cow song” which is by far my favorite of theirs. If I had seen the whole show it would probably rank higher. Also it rained and the audio was buggy.)
9. Olivia Rodrigo – (great performance but I don’t know a lot of her songs and was really tired. Also I left before the end to avoid the crowds, so I missed the Robert Smith appearance which annoys me)
10. Addison Rae – (she gives off such strong Britney vibes. It’s kind of spooky. She’s a great performer but I don’t really like her voice that much and I felt out of touch because all the girlies were sooo into every song and I only liked 3-4)
11. 1st half of Ashnikko – (I didn’t know or like most of her new songs and again felt out of touch with the enthusiasm of the crowd, but the one song I knew well and liked was great. Also the stage set up and bits were funny and creative.)
12. Sudan Archives – (I went in blind and a lot of the music wasn’t my vibe but some of the songs I quite liked and she came off as very sweet from how she interacted with the crowd. Very wholesome mood in the crowd, especially at the end.)
13. Jimena Amarillo – (Also went in blind. I didn’t really like the music and she both interacted with the audience and sang only in Spanish so I didn’t really know what was going on. But the visuals were cool and the background dancers were really good)
14. Alex G – (first cancelled show. I was content with probably not going before it was cancelled. So I’m not that sad about not being able to see him. I mostly wanted to go because it said he was influenced by Elliott Smith in the description tbh.)
15. Massive Attack – (again. I already decided to miss most of the show because it was at the same time as Mac. But I would have loved to see the end at least and I don’t think I will get to see them again soon or ever probably)
16. Doja Cat – (not a huge fan but I spent hours listening to her music to get into it ahead of the concert and I had planned to see the whole show at the end of my night. It would’ve been fun I think.)
17. Mac DeMarco – (words cannot describe my disappointment. Would have been my favorite concert of the week probably.)

I already have an early bird ticket because it’s literally the best festival and I’ve never regretted going.
This is the acts I plan on seeing (if the time table allows it) put in tiers based on how excited I am to see them live.

Okay, so I know my choices might seem a bit random at first. But if you’d listen to them you’d find that they all have a certain vibe that is very…me. This is what perfect music is supposed to be (for me). The songs all hit just the right spot between melancholy and sweetness without being too depressing to enjoy while in a good mood, they all have amazing lyrics and at least 3 are featured on movie soundtracks that I love (which gives them a bonus positive association for me at least). Can anyone guess the movies? 👀
They are songs that I never get tired of despite having listened to most of them hundreds of times since I was a teenager.
Also I truly believe that most of them are just objectively amazing and that I could show them to random people (with good taste) and they’d all have a Zach Braff in Garden State moment.

Also, full transparency: this is not really a new list, it’s based on a spotify playlist I made 1 1/2 years ago. I just picked my 10 favs and ranked them. Here’s the link if you wanna see the rest:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Ow5COoIaBfc9gBUGSOyAV

1. Still Beating by Mac DeMarco
2. Paper Bag by Fiona Apple
3. Drivin’ on 9 by The Breeders
4. Death of a Disco Dancer by The Smiths
5. Ich mach meinen Frieden mit euch by Tocotronic
6. These Days by Nico
7. The Time is Now by Moloko
8. The Moon Song by Karen O
9. Always See Your Face by Love
10. Dirty Mouth by Alice Phoebe Lou

1. Elliott Smith Either/Or (1997)
   + XO (1999)
2. Belle and Sebastian – If your Feeling Sinister (1996)
3. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel is… (2012)
4. Nick Drake – Pink Moon (1972)
5. Kimya Dawson – Remember that I love you (2006)
6. Le Tigre – Le Tigre (1999)
7. Pixies – Doolittle (1989)
8. Quasi – Featuring “Birds” (1998)
9. Mac Miller – Swimming (2018)
10. Ween – Chocolate and Cheese (1994)
    
    
    Honorable Mentions:
    
    every Elliott Smith album tbh, I couldn’t even decide on just one for No.1
    Deca – The Ocean (2013)
    Belle and Sebastian – Tigermilk (1996)
    The Smiths – The Queen is Dead (1986) + Strangeways Here We Come (1987)
    Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes (1983)
    Noname – Telephone (2016)
    Eels – Electroshock Blues (1998)