By Jack M. Angelo, Senior Video Director
The All Things Go Fall Classic (ATG) hosted thousands on October 6-8 at Union Market in Washington, D.C., by far the biggest ATG event since they began putting on concerts and hosting music through their website a few years ago.
Hosting acts such as Young Thug, Vince Staples, and Galantis, it was also ATG’s strongest line-up of performers yet.
The first evening featured EDM DJs from around the globe, including Win and Woo from Chicago, Bearson from Oslo, and jackLNDN from the U.K. These and other artists filled the night with thumping bass and heavy drops, moving the crowd throughout the evening, which also included performances from The Knocks, and the grammy-nominated group Galantis.
By the beginning of day two, which would feature many more performers, the smell of marijuana (recently made legal-ish in the District) was potent. Apropos, Saturday was hip-hop day, featuring performances from artists like Saba and Vince Staples. The day started at 12:30 p.m. and went for 12 hours. The DJ Cashmere Cat played some tunes before the final two performers of the night took the stage.
Vince Staples took the stage at his scheduled time of 8:30 p.m. The 24-year-old Long Beach native rocked the crowd for an hour-straight, performing many songs from his 2017 album Big Fish Theory, among other hits. Foregoing some of the usual distractions of live Hip-Hop performances, Staples performed by himself for the entirety of the set, choosing to hype the crowd with his voice and movement alone. His electrifying performance was undoubtedly the highlight of the entire festival.
Atlanta crooner/rapper Young Thug was scheduled to come on 45 minutes after Stapes left the stage at 9:30 p.m. for a 75-minute set. Attendees and photographers alike waited for Thugger to take the stage, but after more than an hour had passed a photographer covering the event pointed out that, according to his Instagram story, the rapper had just disembarked his plane. The crowd became more and more impatient, with many patrons tweeting Young Thug to ask where he was and some openly assuming he would not show up.
In a move that should have surprised no one, Young Thug finally took the stage at 11:23 p.m., 7 minutes before his set was supposed to end. He proceeded to rap and sing his way through much of his lengthy catalogue of music. The audience finally got what they had been waiting for all night, though the crowd had noticeably thinned due to the wait, with many people already calling for rides home outside the venue during his set.
The final day of the Festival featured bands from around the country. The indie-tinged music of the day featured instruments and singers, instead of DJs and rappers. Lasting another 12 hours, and headlined by Foster the People, All Things Go Fall Classic’s Sunday hosted thousands once again.
Bands like DC’s Foreign Air, Brooklyn’s Great Good Fine Ok, and Minneapolis’ Now, Now rocked the crowd with electronically tinged rock and pop. The bands expressed their elation to be on stage, especially Now, Now, which, until recently, had been on a years-long break from touring. “It feels better than ever,” said Cacie Dalager, lead singer of Now, Now. “It’s personally my favorite thing,” added Jon Sandler of Great Good Fine Ok.
The All Things Go Fall Classic, beyond its stellar performances, was a smooth experience from start to finish. Wrangling together dozens of artists, businesses and thousands of patrons can be incredibly difficult, as proven by the disaster that was the Fyre Festival earlier this year. ATG had none of these issues, and the staff made the event a joy for everyone involved. Next year can only bring bigger and better things for DC’s music festival scene, and missing it would be a mistake for any music-lover.
These incredible photos from the 2017 All Things Go Fall Classic, in Washington, D.C., were taken by StayUp.News senior video director and photographer Jack M. Angelo:
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