Life is Beautiful: 2019

Alli K.
Aug 14, 2021
6 min read

Life is Beautiful 2021 is in just over ONE MONTH! One month and 4 days to be exact. I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane and show you jammers how incredible this festival is. Inarguably the best weekend of the year, I couldn’t be more excited to get back to live concerts and the joy of being in a crowd of music lovers. It seems like forever ago since I was jammin’ on Fremont Street. 2020 deprived me of my live music and this year’s fest has high expectations from me!

Day 1

I had prepared for months before this day. I had all 3 outfits picked out, hair appointment booked, and a fanny pack loaded with advil, chapstick and cash. Walking down Fremont with my pink and blue hair, I showed up to the gates at 1:30 for doors to open at 2. What if there’s a rush of people and I miss something? I don’t want to wait in a long line! I had no idea what I was doing. Newbie!

I will say this: I was with my mom on day one because my brother wasn’t getting in until late that night. All I knew was that I wanted to head straight to the Dutch Bros line, and then get my merch before everything was gone. Walking through the gates, it was everything I expected and more: the craziest outfits you’d ever see, music playing from every direction, and volunteers all over to help you find what you needed.

I snagged all my LIB garb and then went to grab a drink. TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS for a vodka slushie. I guess I should’ve known, I’m in Vegas. Even though Fremont generally has cheaper alcohol than the Strip, everything goes up in price for LIB weekend.

Since the artists I wanted to see didn’t start until later, our first stop was comedian Jonathan Van Ness. He was at the Fremont stage where I was surrounded by the best people. I mean, if you love JVN, you’re amazing. He was hilarious and spoke out on some current issues, and was just a great kickoff to the weekend.

From there we did the usual tourist walk through the blocks of the festival. We took lots of pictures, browsed all the amazing art throughout the grounds, and met some awesome people. The Bacardi Art Motel was particularly cool. An artist took an old, run down motel and turned it into an interactive art exhibit. Rooms had different art structures and the middle courtyard was decorated like a jungle. Super fun.

If you have ever considered going to LIB, or any music festival in general, I highly recommend VIP. We had access to the front of the stage for almost every concert, our own hang out spots, and even nicer bathrooms. It is so worth it.

Then, the day of music began. Gunna was up first; not really my cup of tea but Connor was mad he missed him. It was a big dance party where everyone was letting loose in the big space we had in VIP. Walk the Moon was next, and holy moly were they amazing. So much energy and just a great time. Not to mention, Cirque Du Soleil came on stage and did a trapeze act to “One Foot” and it was so great.

Following Walk the Moon was Billie Eillish. I was a bit annoyed by the group of teenage girls cramping my style, but her show was still a riot. Connor showed up just in time for her show, and we were blown away by her energy. “You Should See Me in a Crown” was insane. Spastic lights, screaming, and head banging- all while she was in a boot. Let’s just say her shows are not for everyone.

Then, the amazing Chance the Rapper blessed us with his presence. Although he didn’t play my favorite song, GRoCERIES (yes it’s spelled like that), he played a ton from his new album at the time, The Big Day. My favorite song he performed was “Eternal.” While that song is already a bit slower, he emphasized the chorus-like sound by singing with a choir. It was a rendition without beats and without many instruments, just Chance and his background singers. It was a great ending to the first night, leaving my brother and I on cloud 9 headed back to the hotel.

The next day, I stayed in bed until about noon. My legs hurt so bad and my body was shot. But it was all worth it. Connor and I wandered around the festival checking out the market with local vendors, going to a pop-up of Chance the Rapper’s non-profit Social Works, and eating some Shake Shack. Surprisingly, all the sponsored tents ended up being pretty fun. Toyota had a mini DJ stage, one company had some light up swings, and Dutch Bros had some cool art that we took many pictures in front of. :-) the art was so cool too, some really unique things!!

First concert of the day we saw Of Monsters and Men, who sounded EXACTLY like they do through the headphones. I was belting out every song just totally embarrassing myself. Next was supposed to be Lil Wayne… but after all the anticipation he didn’t come on stage and they turned all the lights back on. Apparently his first song had gunshots in it, and LIB said nahhh no way. So he peaced out and left. Pretty annoying considering we skipped Saint Jhn in order to have a good spot for Weezy. SMH.

The headliner that night was Black Keys, and they were in my top list of artists I was most excited to see. I really did enjoy them, but I felt as though I couldn’t hear their voices well enough. Just like any other rock concert, the bass and the guitars were so loud, I was hoping for more of a realistic sound. Regardless, I was in the front row and saw Dan Auerbach in his weird natural habitat. They played all of their bops and even did a couple of covers. Apparently they were the least popular headliner for the weekend, because we were right up front at the fence the entire time!

Sunday, our bodies were feeling it. Walking around on concrete from 2pm-1am two days in a row takes a toll on a 22 year old with joints like a 70 year old. However, Advil and coffee helped because it was a BIG day of performances. First thing, I had to decide between Toto and Oliver Tree. How do you decide?! My thoughts were, okay, Toto is probably done before we know it. I can see Oliver Tree again. So, off to the main stage I went to see the miraculous, come-back, one hit wonder of 2020.

My inner 80s soul absolutely shined at this moment. And when I tell you the crowd went nuts when they started “Africa”.... They went INSANE. Like, ya ever heard “Rosanna?” “Hold the Line?” Well, “Africa” was totally amazing and they played what seemed like a 10 min rendition of it just to satisfy the fans.

After a couple of hours relaxing, we went to a food truck with MASSIVE grilled cheeses. I mean, we shared one. We met someone that came alone, saying he’d been to almost every festival in the country, most by himself. I’ve been to a couple concerts by myself, but I think I’d get so lost at a festival. Wow!

Walking back to the main stage (in our VIP area of course), I just hear “Somebody come get herrrrrrrr” and I’m instantly dancing. Rae Sremmurd was good to listen to from a distance. I had to save my energy for the Vampire Weekend concert up next. Although I love a good rap concert, I really don’t like when the song plays behind the rapper going “yuh! Yuh! Yahhhh!” Like, cmon I wanna hear YOU sing it! I’m hoping my boy Don Toliver does me proud this year.

Vampire Weekend was one of the best performances of the entire weekend.They had a giant globe circling behind them and they just sounded AMAZING. Shockingly, not a lot of people around me knew many of their songs. Just the popular “A-Punk” and “Diane Young,” but the best song of the night wasn’t a Vampire Weekend song. Lead singer Ezra Koenig is also the singer for the band SBTRKT, and they played “New Dorp. New York” for 8 minutes. I was in heaven. I don’t think very many people will ever get the chance to see that song live and I did!!!! So amazing.

Finally, Post Malone concluded the festival. I didn’t know what to expect- I knew he was a little crazy but deep down had a great voice. Needless to say, he blew me away. His voice was so pure and real, and he just kept thanking the crowd repeatedly. Granted, he’d had a few Bud Lights, but still. I sat in the back for this one and just enjoyed the sound. Toward the end, he sang his song with Ozzy Osbourne “Take What You Want” and smashed a guitar on stage. It was so epic! And I could just feel the emotion behind Posty’s words. I tell everyone if they have an opportunity to see him, YOU MUST.

Well, if you don’t enjoy music as much as I do, maybe this blog didn’t find you well. I plan to go to LIB every year, and will be blogging about it every time I go. Sorry! I’m such a concert junkie, I just CAN’T WAIT to be back seeing artists live. If you’re interested, these are the artists I plan on seeing live next month:

Tame Impala

Green Day

Billie Eillish

Glass Animals

Don Toliver

Brittany Howard

A$AP Rocky

Haim

Young Thug

6LACK

Modest Mouse

Ludacris (lol)