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80/35 asked us to try something new. Iowa music fans had a mixed response

Backlit crowd watches a colorful performance on a large stage.
Lucius Pham
/
Iowa Public Radio
For its 15th year, Des Moines’ annual downtown music festival moved a few minutes south – a short drive that seemed to change the fest entirely. ⁠

The 80/35 music festival, held for years in downtown Des Moines, had a new location and different feel in 2024, but still had plenty to offer. And the music — and the people — were (still) amazing.

The 2024 80/35 festival was a lot of things: an oasis of both local and original music and art, a chance to see old and new friends, and a much-needed reminder that there are beautiful things in the world. It was also really stupid-hot. There’s nothing anyone could have done about that, but it was impossible to avoid, and therefore worth mentioning.

There was another thing that’s impossible to not talk about: the crowd was noticeably smaller than in recent years. I don’t want to speculate as to why, but it’s definitely true that Water Works Park is not within easy walking distance of hotels or air-conditioned buildings. Although they put on a great show, Killer Mike and OK Go didn't appear to drive ticket sales in the same as past headliners like Weezer, Ke$ha or Charli XCX.

Person smiles while watching a set and holding water.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
The National Weather Service forecast a heat index of around 101 degrees on Saturday, July 13 — the second day of the festival.

As in years past, there were four stages, with only the main stage requiring a paid ticket for admission. Each of the stages offers something a little different, depending on the festival experience you’re looking for.

The stages

The Alchemy Stage was located behind the main stage, on the right-hand side as you look out from the stage. Finding the Alchemy stage was a little confusing. Once you found it, though, it was a cozy hangout spot with a lot of shade thanks to the trees. I spoke to more than one person who mostly hung out at Alchemy for the weekend.

Crowd stands at dusk in front of a small stage. One couple hugs in the foreground.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
In 2024, Des Moines’ annual downtown music festival moved a few minutes south, changing some of what we've gotten used to in its 15 years.
Lady Revel plays the Alchemy Stage at 80/35 in 2024.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
Lady Revel plays the Alchemy Stage at 80/35 in 2024.

Most of the bands who played at Alchemy were from Iowa, and there weren’t a lot of big rock bands with complicated setups. I was already familiar with most of them, and everyone sounded great.

I especially want to shout out Munk Rivers from Des Moines, who are a fairly new band that put on a great performance that the crowd was definitely into. I’m looking forward to hearing more from them.

Also, I finally caught a performance by Lady Revel. Better late than never, right?

The People’s Stage had a lot to offer festival-goers who were willing to make the hike to get there. You had to follow a line of food trucks to find it, and it was quite a distance from the main festival grounds. But it was a spacious area with the second-largest stage of the festival, so they were able to accommodate a large variety of acts.

A small crowd sits and stands in the late afternoon sunlight in front of the People's Stage.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
The People's Stage, set further away from the other three options, hosted a wide variety of genres from out of town and a few favorite local bands.

I have to confess, I didn’t spend much time at the People’s stage. Tripmaster Monkey opened the festival there on Friday night, but I caught them at Octopus in Cedar Falls on Thursday so I could be free to roam around during the fest. I did catch the opening of The Finesse’s performance, with lead singer Madison Ray leading a marching band.

The People’s stage was also where my greatest missed opportunity from this year’s 80/35 performed. You see, every year there’s one band that everyone is talking about by the end of the weekend. This year, it was the Cincinnati rock band Foxy Shazam. I’m not exaggerating when I say that 100% of my friends and colleagues were raving about their set afterward. I’ll let someone else fill you in on Foxy Shazam’s performance, and I’m also putting them near the top of my Concert Revenge List.

By far the most fascinating addition to 80/35 this year was the Silent Stage. It’s exactly what it sounds like: in order to hear the music coming from the musicians on stage, you had to check out a pair of headphones.

Two boys look at each other with headphones on. A band plays on a stage in the background.
Lucius Pham
/
Iowa Public Radio
Though skeptical at first, we loved the Silent Stage for its sensory control options and creative solution to the challenge of figuring out how to play multiple bands across multiple stages at the same time.

I thought this was going to be extremely weird, but I got used to it pretty quickly, and so did most of the other folks I spoke to. Like the Alchemy Stage, the Silent Stage was mostly Iowa musicians, many of whom I was catching for the first time.

And that brings us to… the Main Stage.

The Main Stage

The list of Main Stage acts included some longtime Iowa favorites and touring indie rock bands, along with some great “new to us” bands.

Dreamer Isioma, a multi-genre artist from Chicago, lit up the Main Stage.
Lucius Pham
/
Iowa Public Radio
Dreamer Isioma, a multi-genre artist from Chicago, lit up the Main Stage.

Hiatus Kaiyote and Dreamer Isioma fell into the latter group for me. Bully is a core band here at Studio One, and their rocking set was one to remember. And it’s always great to catch The Maytags and The Uniphonics, both of whom sounded great.

OK Go closed out Friday night. Of course, they’re famous for their music videos, but otherwise did not appear to be a “big get,” or at least not a very timely one. They did announce they’ve finished a full album, which will be their first since 2014.

OK Go’s performance was fun. I’d seen them perform with my family at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center in Cedar Falls about five years ago. For that performance, they sat on stage and played along to their videos, which were projected on a big screen behind them. They also took questions from the audience in between songs. It didn’t quite feel like a rock show, so I was looking forward to catching them in a more traditional concert setting.

OK Go frontman Damian Kulash gets out into the barricade at the Main Stage on night one of 80/35 in 2024.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
OK Go frontman Damian Kulash gets out into the barricade at the Main Stage on night one of 80/35 in 2024.

Turns out, even in a traditional concert setting, OK Go still takes questions from the audience. It’s just a thing they do. This is how I found out that they use 66 pounds of biodegradable confetti during one of their shows. They also played a few (quite good) songs from the upcoming album, and lead singer Damien Kulash came into the crowd for a couple of the numbers. And of course, we got to hear all the crowd favorites from their now-classic music videos.

The festival ended Saturday night with a performance from Grammy Award-winning rapper Killer Mike. He’s best known as one half of the duo Run The Jewels, who were at 80/35 in 2015. Mike must not have strong memories from that year, because he apparently called up last year’s headliner, fellow Atlanta hip-hop icon Big Boi, for some advice. The OutKast legend warned Mike that “Iowa doesn’t play around.”

Man stands in white in front of five back up singers, also dressed in all white.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
Killer Mike played a gracious and exuberant set with several songs off his sixth studio album, MICHAEL, including an ode to his mom called "Motherless."

Well, that’s true, and neither does Mike, because this was a performance for the ages. Killer Mike’s headlining set was one of my favorites in 80/35 history. Musically, it combined hip-hop, R&B and soul, thanks partly to a powerful group of backup singers, and Mike’s ever-present sidekick, DJ Trackstar. The songs touched on some heavy subjects, ranging from Mike’s deceased mother to the pressure that men and fathers face. And he also gave the most earnest, well-meaning appreciation for weed dealers I’ve ever heard.

See you next time

There’s no reason to believe 80/35 won’t be back next year, and you can bet I’ll be there. This year was definitely different, but had plenty to offer, and the music and people were (still) amazing.

All that to say, I can’t fault anyone who’s gone in the past for not going this year. But for 80/35 to continue it’ll need everyone’s support. And as a vital part of our local music scene, the fest has proven it can program in a different location — and it's worthy of continued support in the future.

Tony Dehner is an award-winning Senior Music Producer, host and writer for Iowa Public Radio Studio One. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Northern Iowa. Dehner has worked for over two decades bringing the best AAA music to IPR's audience, and is a passionate believer in the Iowa music scene — after all, every musician was a “local musician” at the beginning of their career!