On the weekend of April 5 and 6, The Underwater Sunshine Festival began with a bang at Bowery Electric in the East Village.
The creators of the festival, Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz and co-founder Barbara Rappaport delivered a sensational set list in an intimate and cool venue. In addition to the festival nights on Saturday and Sunday, Jesse Malin will also kick off the weekend with a VIP set on Friday night. 
Duritz and Rappaport created the festival to celebrate artists and fans equally. With the small venue and intimate crowd, the weekend produced an intense immersion into the world of independent music for passionate people that live and breath music. That weekend was all about music, and to this mission to be true, Duritz and Rappaport really put their money where their mouth is, as all the tickets were free.
Duritz states on creating the festival, “It’s honestly my favorite time of year. I love when everyone shows up in New York and, for a week or so, I get to just drown in great music.” No one could have said it any better. The lineup included amazing talent, among them, are Jordan Klassen, Eric Hitchinson, Red Wanting Blue, Cameron McGill, Petal, Fort Gorgeous, Amy Vachal, Roan Yellowthorn, and many others. There was even a special performance by Cyndi Lauper.
There were even merch tables and themed drinks for the night such as the ‘I Wanna Be Sedated,’ with apple and ginger beer and the tequila-based ‘Lust For Life.’ But the best part of the festival is that you can chat with some of the musicians before or after their set at the bar.
My personal favorite set of Friday night was Amy Vachal at the upstairs stage with her cellist friend. With her insane guitar technique and her smooth melodious voice, she is like a modern day female Bob Dylan. She even broke out a harmonica for her song ‘Cigarettes.’
Her set was followed by Fort Gorgeous, a Brooklyn based duo. Billy Libby, the songwriter, and guitarist of the duo create thoughtful and atmospheric songs with intricate guitar melodies that involve oodles and oodles of pedals. The lyrics are deep and delve into themes like death and regrets in life. There songs like ‘Chickadee,’ ‘Watch the Paint Dry,’ and ‘Round and Round’ will really make just want to sit listen and think like Rodin’s ‘The Thinker.’
The downstairs stage is much bigger but also much more crowded. Red Wanting Blue played downstairs for a large wanting crowd. The ‘Midwestern rock heroes’ have spent the last 20 years establishing themselves in the indie scene. With rock’n’roll song titles like ‘My Name Is Death,’ and ‘High and Dry’ their songs are equally charged and nostalgic.
With multiple stages showcasing a smorgasbord of genres and eclectic artists, the festival goer is encouraged to go on their own journey and hopefully discover their next favorite band or music obsession. It is definitely a weekend not to be missed for the passionate music lovers of New York City. Next year’s Underwater Sunshine Festival is much anticipated and going to be hard to top this year’s lineup.
