Smaller indie bands played a mix of original songs and covers, while headliners on the main stage were engulfed by crazy background graphics to match their performances. The whole place was like a nostalgic time capsule into the mid-2010s: fedoras, saxophones and even some "stomp, clap, hey" music.
I had never been to a music festival before, and Dreamy Draw was my very first one.
Dreamy Draw Music Festival took place on Nov. 7 and 8 in the Scottsdale Civic Center Park, as a collaboration between Scottsdale Arts and the Oh Wow Company. The festival started in 2023, but has expanded to host more well-known folk and indie bands like Vampire Weekend, Father John Misty and The Lumineers.
I hadn't known what to expect for my first music festival, but I had heard stories of dusty, hot weather, parks that were a marathon to get around and people who shoved you out of the way constantly.
Dreamy Draw wasn't like that. The Civic Center Park was grassy and relatively easy to navigate, and the crowds were lively but still fairly calm.
Allie Edgell, a freshman studying biomedical studies, saw Dreamy Draw on an Instagram ad, but had never been to a concert prior to attending the festival. Like me, she had some reservations about what a music festival would be like.
"I didn't really know what to expect, but it's been fun so far," she said. "I'm pretty familiar with the area, so it's been pretty easy to get around."
The festival had four stages, with sets that sometimes overlapped. They started off with smaller indie-rock bands, including local artists like Bummer Girl and Sophia Rankin & The Sound. These groups are relatively up-and-coming, but there was a certain charm in enjoying the music and knowing that their singers were from Arizona too.
The next artist I visited was Richy Mitch and the Coal Miners. I knew a couple of their songs, but not nearly enough to earn my spot at the barricade, and I didn't know what to expect of their performance. Their set was hazy and colorful and their sound was a welcome blend of folk rock that I could easily have fun listening to.
FAVORITE SONGS: "October Moon," "Lake Missoula"
Thee Sacred Souls was next. Their lead singer, Josh Lane, talked about issues that were important to him while walking through the audience and climbing on and off the stage.
"I'm still not even close to being where I want in the journey of love for myself, but I do know that every day we get a chance to love ourselves," he said, during the concert. "I want to leave you all with this idea: you've got to live for yourself."
I hadn't heard a single Thee Sacred Souls song before this festival, but their calm R&B sound — though not usually my taste — was welcome, and the brass instruments and coordinated dances they used satisfied my classical-music-trained heart.
FAVORITE SONGS: "Will I See You Again?" and "Can I Call You Rose?"
The Lumineers were the artist I was most excited to see the first night, and one of the sets that brought out the most millennials. Though I stood out a little in the sea of fedoras and skinny jeans, singing hits like "Ho Hey" with hundreds of other people in the dark made it easy to feel the connection and sense of community that Dreamy Draw prides itself on.
Singer Wesley Schultz pointed out that this marked their 20th anniversary of making music.
"A lot of bands don't make it past five years or even 10 years," he said. "So I'm really proud of us, and I feel very lucky to be making music with (Jeremiah Fraites)."
FAVORITE SONGS: "A.M. RADIO," "Sleep on the Floor"
The first set I saw on the second day of the festival was Ashe, whom I hadn't really heard of before coming to Dreamy Draw. Her performance ended up as one of my favorites of the whole two days. It combined heavy bass and drums, attracted a crowd that was smaller but loved the music and had plenty of audience interaction.
FAVORITE SONGS: "Running Out of Time," "Another Man's Jeans"
Father John Misty was another one of the festival's standout performances, for me. His stage presence was as striking as his albums are, complete with red and gold lighting, strange dances and multiple songs that were over seven minutes long.
Still, though he seemed almost indulgent in the setlist he chose, like me, he was a bit nervous about the Scottsdale festival.
"I was looking forward to the full-on ego death for having absolutely no one (at the set) and having a tough conversation with management, like 'did I get canceled in Scottsdale? What did I do last time I was here?'" he told his audience.
FAVORITE SONGS: "Nancy From Now On," "Mental Health"
By the time Vampire Weekend started playing, I was slowly getting exhausted. They managed to catch me by surprise this way, playing the first couple of songs with a very muted set, before dropping a curtain to reveal a full band, multiple background infographics and a much louder sound.
Though I didn't know what was going on for a while during their performance, I knew their classics, and a nostalgic rock band was a good way to end two days chock-full of music.
FAVORITE SONGS: "Step," "Unbelievers"
My ears are still ringing and I'm a bit sore from walking around all weekend, but I can confidently say that, for my first time at a festival, Dreamy Draw was a welcome experience, and I only almost got trampled once.
Edited by Kasturi Tale, Senna James and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at pkfung@asu.edu and follow @FungPippa on X.
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Pippa Fung is a digital producer, helping to edit and publish articles. This is her fourth semester at The State Press, where she has previously worked for The Echo, politics and senior reporter desks. Pippa has also worked for the Los Alamos National Laboratory's policy office and Boomtown Los Alamos, a local online newspaper.
