Lost Woods Music Festival, hosted by the band Salt Fox for its third year in Cedar Falls, has become the unofficial capstone of music festival season for the Studio One team. And just like in the festival’s first two years, it was a great way to say goodbye to summer, even with the unseasonable warmth and a couple of changes to the festival. (The “unseasonable” warmth is something we’re going to have to get used to, for better or worse, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about.)
New this year, festival organizers made the decision to sell tickets rather than relying on donations from attendees. This did not affect attendance at all, as hundreds became more than a thousand by sunset. So much so that the line for the SingleSpeed Brewing tent snaked all the way back to the fluorescent pink arches at the entrance.
Iowa City artists Jim Swim and Alyx Rush both returned to the woods this year, with music from Swim’s solo projects and Sun Centauri, the duo of Swim and Rush. It’s basically not Lost Woods without Jim Swim at this point, and it was great to not only see him receive a great reception, but also hear him once again share how much he enjoys playing in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area.
Soul pop artist Charlotte Blu (from Rock Island) and the indie band Dearborn (Iowa City) also performed. They’re both acts you’ve heard on Studio One, representing very different styles of music, both of which were great fits for Lost Woods. And it was also refreshing to hear the all-instrumental band Jack Lion from Iowa City in between sets, playing up in a literal treehouse and keeping the atmospheric music and vibes going.
The one entirely “new to us” artist this year was singer-songwriter Anna Graves. While not technically an Iowa act, Graves grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, also spending time in Nashville and Los Angeles. She toured with The Head and The Heart earlier this year and is set to open for Stevie Nicks in November, so we may not get many more chances to have her play smallish events in Iowa. She’s a wonderful writer and performer, though she may have suffered the most from the gnats during her intimate and tender set, as she was the only performer of the night to go solo.
Usually top-billing at themselves, Salt Fox was the second-to-last band of the evening this year, administering a high-energy injection to the crowd before the much-anticipated headliner. This performance marked Salt Fox's first time ever playing with a drummer: Chris Hansen, who’s played with many Iowa artists and is “as good as it gets,” according to Salt Fox vocalist Michael Rogers. We were fans, and even if they can’t make it work every time, we hope to see Hansen back with Salt Fox.
Under the moonlit sky, electronic trip-hop duo Hippie Sabotage sent an already raucous Saturday evening crowd into space. Jeff Saurer showcased his guitar shredding skills, trading the center stage with his brother and vocalist, Kevin. They performed an elongated version of their song “Devil Eyes” (which is closing in on a billion streams) to some heavy beats and sick guitar solos. A lot of folks were there specifically to see Hippie Sabotage, and the crowd was yelling for more.
Lost Woods is notorious for its incredible lighting, which transports you to a new place once it turns on, and there were some other new touches this year to make it feel like a truly “lived in” place. A Ferris wheel (that appeared to be moving very quickly; I did not partake) was added, along with a dining area near the food trucks. I’ve never seen a festival do something like that, but it’s a lowkey genius move. Who hasn’t struggled while trying to eat on the ground, or while sitting in their camper chair, or (heaven forbid) standing up?
In its three years of festivalhood, Lost Woods has gotten really good at making little changes that add up to big improvements. It’s been a joy seeing how the festival has “grown up” over the years, and I can’t wait to see what they do next. But if they decide to just run it back I don’t think anyone will mind.
