With Treefort Music Festival’s 10th run only a month away, we’re reminiscing on Treefort 2020 2021, held this past September.
Having never been to a music festival and having only gone to one concert since the spring of 2020, my expectations for Treefort were not high.
They were none existent.
I went with a shortlist of artists and a very simple goal of just wanting to see what the multi-day Boise music festival had to offer.
The 2020 Treefort Music Festival was postponed and rescheduled from its typically March dates to September 2021. This forced time to sit on their hands resulted in the planners wanting the festival’s return to truly reflect what a return to live music should be: big, joyful, and highly anticipated.
My ringing ears, tired feet, and sore cheeks can confirm that Treefort hit the mark.
Wednesday was my grace day. I wanted to get a good feel of the street that was closed off to house the main stage, food trucks, and rows of table vendors. I did catch Lake Street Dive’s main stage set and was struck by lead singer Rachael Price’s sheer vocal power and the band’s ability to get the entire crowd moving.
Doug Martsch (Built to Spill), Treefort Main Stage 
Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast), Treefort Main Stage 
Brandon Hagen (Vundabar), The Shredder
Thursday was the day I looked forward to most. Having very little knowledge of their discography, I attended hometown heroes Built to Spill’s main stage set. Founding member Doug Martsch was joined by Melanie Radford on bass and Teresa Esguerra on drums and, despite this relatively new rotation of members, their set was like listening to a recording. At some point, an audience member blew up a few small beach balls, other attendees complied in volleying them through the playing of “I Would Hurt a Fly” and “Goin’ Against Your Mind.” A slice of sky that peaked from around the stage exposed shades of peach pink and periwinkle blue. Everyone bounced in that energetic way that is all in the balls of your feet and it couldn’t have been over 70º outside. It was the kind of set that outdoor concerts dream to be.
After a period of moving equipment, Japanese Breakfast took the stage. If I had to pick, they were the artist I went to Treefort for. And I was not let down. They opened with Jubilee album opener “Paprika.” Lead singer and guitarist Michelle Zauner moved around in a pale pink dress so poofy that it fluttered with her as she rhythmically hit a gong, a nice live instrumental addition. Zauner also took a moment to express not only her gratitude to be playing Treefort, but to be playing after Built to Spill, crediting Martsch for being the reason she learned guitar. The majority of their set comprised of songs from Jubilee, which came out in June, with the sweet treat of “Glider,” a track from the new video game “Sable” that Zauner composed and produced the soundtrack for. The crowd moved from bouncing to full-on jumping when they closed out with well-known and well-loved “Everybody Wants to Love You.” After some chanting of “encore,” Zauner returned to the stage to play “Posing for Cars,” her bandmates slowly joining in.
Once the stage was cleared and the intermission-between-bands music returned, the first song heard over the speakers was “Body” by Megan Thee Stallion. I don’t think a single person left the crowd until the song was over and everyone was a little sweatier.
After a brief interlude that included a Redbull and a walk, it was now after midnight and I sat on the balcony of The Shredder looking at arcade games and waiting for Vundabar.
Though I like to think of myself as a tough person, I have to admit my defeat of moving to side stage three songs into the set. Hats off to all the young people in the audience and I pity anyone who wore soft-toed shoes that night. The indie-rock Boston three-piece met the audience’s energy with ease from song to song. Frontman Brandon Hagen kindly taught everyone how to do “The Queen wave,” instructing that it is like cupping an imaginary egg. After covering Portishead’s “The Rip” and playing Gawk track “Oulala,” band and audience members exchanged waves.
Andy Shauf and band, Treefort Main Stage 
Spencer Petersen (Sego), Mardi Gras Ballroom 
Alyssa Davey and Thomas Carroll (Sego), Mardi Gras Ballroom
Friday I returned to the main stage, front and center, as Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf took his place alongside his band. He played a mix of songs from Neon Skyline and The Party, tossing in choice tracks from Wilds. The latter of the three was released that day, garnering a “happy release day!” from an audience member. Shauf reacted by glancing at his bandmates and saying “hey, I think the album comes out today.” Though I’m sure hearing a solo set from Andy Shauf would’ve been transcending, I feel lucky to have heard the songs in their fullness, with the inclusion of live clarinet and saxophone. For the better half of that hour, I rested my chin in my palms and swayed along to the Saskatchewanian’s breezy storytelling.
After my third food truck dinner of the festival, I headed to party venue Mardi Gras Ballroom for L.A.-by-way-of-Provo band Sego’s set. The small crowd that stuck close to the stage bobbed and nodded along to the four-piece’s distorted guitar, steady drum beats, and socially conscious lyrics.
Haley Heynderickx, El Korah Shrine 
Matthew Holmes and Haley Heynderickx, El Korah Shrine 
Haley Heynderickx’s crowd, El Korah Shrine
Saturday came with a need to slow down, so I prioritized one and only one set: Haley Heynderickx’s. She and her band played El Korah Shrine, so I can check “attending a show at a brotherhood lodge” off my list of life to-dos. The Portland singer-songwriter was soft-spoken in between songs, making the audience lean in with reverence and admiration. Having those feelings towards Heynderickx isn’t difficult, as her lyrics are gentle and reflective and her band contributed to the warm, cocoon-like feeling in the venue.
Keyboardist Lily Breshears introduced the set’s closing song, jokingly, as “a bop” and that “it slaps,” likely given it is the most upbeat instrumentally of Heynderickx’s songs. The audience hummed along to “Oom Sha La La,” the second-to-last track on Heynderickx’s 2018 album I Need to Start a Garden.
Getting to yell alongside a crowd of people to a song that a year ago I would sing quietly to myself in my kitchen almost daily felt like the perfect “full circle” moment to end my first Treefort experience.
