Stagecoach brings country music camaraderie

Florida Georgia Line, Keith Urban, and Garth Brooks headline California’s country music festival

Tayler Reviere Verninas | Editor in Chief | USD Vista

James Douglas | Managing Editor | USD Vista

Boots, banjos, and bandanas — some of the quintessential features of Stagecoach, California’s annual country music festival. This past weekend the country music camaraderie was strongly felt among festivalgoers as they sang and swayed to the classic hits of Garth Brooks, the country radio tunes of Keith Urban, and the upbeat sounds of Florida Georgia Line (FGL).

The festival kicked off the weekend at Mane Stage with Friday performances from Chris Lane, Kelsea Ballerini, Jake Owen, and Florida Georgia Line, among others. The Palomino stage featured Molly Hatchet, Cody Jinks, Joshua Headley, and others, while the Sirius XM Spotlight stage hosted up-and-coming artists, some of whom included Jordan Davis, Walker McGuire, and Jade Bird. Senior Talia Londos described her favorite performance of Friday night — FGL.

“FGL always puts on a good show,” Londos said. “They have a way of turning the crowd into a party and bringing everyone to their feet. They don’t have one bad song. I loved when they had the audience sing it back and turned the lights off. You turn around and see everyone singing. When you look at the performers’ faces when

it happens, you can tell that every time it’s gotta be just as amazing as the last.”

Sophomore Hollen Herbst shared Londos’ opinion, saying that she also had the most fun at the FGL show.

“I enjoyed Florida Georgia Line, mainly because I knew all of the songs and the music videos playing in the background gave an added effect to the performance,” Herbs said. “They’re one of my favorite bands and I’ve seen them before, but I’m never opposed to seeing them again.”

FGL included guest performances from Jason Derulo and the most recent social media sensation “Yodel Boy,” 11-year-old Mason Ramsay, who debuted his new single for the country crowd. Londos noted how interesting it was to witness a young kid perform at Stagecoach from being famous through social media, and yet many country artists and bands spend years trying to make it on the stages of Stagecoach.

Londos has attended every Stagecoach since its first year in 2007.

“It’s my family’s thing; we go every year,” Londos said. “I’ve grown up listening to country music with my family so I’ve known these songs since I was little. I’ve noticed country music has a unique bond among fans. I love all music, but there’s something about country music that tells a story that I have found is different than any other type of music. I think it’s an easier connection for me, but that’s because growing up with it it’s become a familiar tune.”

A unique bond indeed. This family-oriented festival varies from the desert’s other hit festival, Coachella. At the entrance festivalgoers are met with the same iconic ferris wheel, but the festival experiences are vastly different.

Families with young children,  grandparents, teenagers, and adults walk the grounds with their lawn chairs and blankets in hand eagerly waiting at the gates to find a special spot to camp out in the audience. Most festivalgoers don’t arrive until around or even after 4 p.m., as they spend the mornings and afternoons prepping for the exciting evening of country music singing.

Londos defined the environment of California’s country music fest.

“You have the die-hard fans that will yell out every single tune,” Londos said. “You have the ones who go to party. You have the ones who are there with their family and friends. It’s a way to unify people but you don’t have to like the music to like the environment. Stagecoach is a way to get together with your friends and have a good time, and meet new people!”

Senior Jack Sheffield described the atmosphere as representative of the art that is performed.

“I would say the atmosphere is very much like a country song,” Sheffield said. “What I mean is that everyone is kicking back, drinking a beer, loving the day — just down-south country vibes.”

Herbst agreed that for the most part, everyone in attendance is in a good mood.

“At Stagecoach everyone’s really friendly,” Herbst said. “For example, we walked into the festival and a bunch of people wanted to take pictures with us because we were wearing matching jean-on-jean outfits and they were too. We have pictures with so many random strangers.”

This past weekend also marked senior Nick Hatton’s third year attending Stagecoach.

“I go for the music, but it would have been an awful time alone,” Hatton said. “The music was the best part but being able to do it all with my friends (from the past four years of college) made it even better.”

Saturday’s festivities started with performances on the Sirius XM Spotlight stage with bands including Delta Rae and Muscadine Bloodline. The latter band hails from Mobile, Alabama, and is fronted by lead singer Charlie Muncaster and lead guitarist Gary Stanton. The pair commented on their musical influences and how they perceive their own sound.

“I still like the Foo Fighters and We Came as Romans and Devil Wears Prada,” Stanton said. “Rolling Stone keeps calling us ‘emo,’ and I don’t know exactly where that’s coming from. Everyone went through that phase I thought. But it’s the guitar and the melodies that they hear in our music; it has a very 2000s alternative rock sound.”

Fresh off of a new EP titled “Movin’ On,” which they released the day before their Stagecoach performance and currently sits at No. 14 on the country music charts, the duo from Mobile emphasized that their immediate plan going forward is to promote their new album.

“It’s 100 percent tour, tour, tour,” Muncaster said. “We’ve got to push this project that’s just dropped. But then you jump back in the studio as fast as you can. We’re planning on getting back in the lab in August.”

Stanton hinted with a wry smile that fans could be in for a treat with the new music they’re recording.

“We are leaning toward doing something more pop-y, like James Bay-ish,” Stanton said. “We have a collab that we’re thinking about doing in the future with our buddy John Langston. It will absolutely be a hit.”

Performances continued on the Sirius XM stage with Seth Ennis, who sang his original songs such as  “Think & Drive” and included a few throwback songs like “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World, “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard, and “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” by Fall Out Boy. The 80+ person crowd rocked out to the classic hits, sharing the excitement with Ennis as it was his first debut at Stagecoach.

Following his show was a heartfelt performance from Carly Pearce, who included Shania Twain’s hit song, “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” Country fans started piling in as Pearce excited the crowd for the following Mane Stage performance from country music sensation Walker Hayes.

Additionally, Stagecoach also hosted the Honky Tonk Dance Hall all weekend which featured DJ performances, and tutorials for country line dancing, west coast swing, round dance, square dancing, and country two-step. Among the several disc jockeys (DJs) throughout the weekend was DJ Bad Ash, a.k.a Ashlee Willis.

DJ Bad Ash shared her excitement prior to releasing her new single and performing her DJ setlist Saturday night.

“It’s a dream,” Willis said. “I’ve been coming to Stagecoach foryears and I have always dreamt of being the performer. I do wish that I could be enjoying the festival but I am so excited I can’t even explain it. The anticipation is very nerve-wracking, but I know once I’m up there and it’s going people will love it and it’s going to be amazing.”

DJ Bad Ash took the stage around 8 p.m., jamming with the crowd for two solid hours with various throwback and recent country, rap, hip-hop, and pop hits. Festivalgoers line danced and vigorously shook their boots throughout the night as they enjoyed an overwhelmingly fun dance atmosphere at the Honky Tonk Dance Hall.

Meanwhile on the Mane Stage, Saturday evening closed with main headliner and contemporary country icon, Keith Urban. Hatton expressed his enthusiasm toward Urban’s iconic performance.

“I liked Keith Urban for the same reason I liked Jake Owen — he was so engaged in the crowd,” Hatton said. “(This was my) third time at Stagecoach and I’ve never seen a performer come to halfway through the GA (general admission) section. It was nice to be close, really excited and engaged. At one point he (Keith) was up on the stage and ran to the crowd and popped up on a stage in the VIP section. Then he hops back down and goes further toward the GA section and gets up on the stage. It speaks to him being engaged with the crowd and seeing everyone and making them feel a part of his performance.”

Londos shared a similar viewpoint on Urban’s performance.

“Keith Urban has a way of going into the crowd and is more audience focused,” Londos said. “He doesn’t perform at you; he performs with you. I liked his song ‘Days Go By.’”

Country music fans, especially Keith Urban devotees, passionately sang along to every lyric, shouting lines from hit songs such as “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and “Cop Car.”

While Coachella is considered a platform for people to show off their fashion, attendees of Stagecoach have a different approach.

Junior Hannah Huante paid special attention to what people wore at the festival.

“Most girls wear shorts and shirts with cowboy boots or cute dresses,” Huante said. “I’m really different and like to be super out there with everything, but most people wear cowboy boots and shorts. Guys usually wear American gear or button-down shirts with shorts or jeans or cowboy boots. And then some guys wear no shirts at all. I did see this guy dressed up as Guy Fieri, which was hilarious because he was actually at Stagecoach this year.”

Huante also offered advice to anyone thinking about going to Stagecoach next year who has never been before.

“I would say wait to go until around 4 p.m., unless you’re a die-hard country fan, because most of the people before 4 p.m. aren’t that famous,” Huante said. “I would also say to for sure try the pulled pork because it’s bomb; also, the lemonade is to die for. And finally, Stagecoach isn’t about trying to make your way to the front and squeeze through people — it’s about being with the people you love, listening to artists you love, and dancing around.”

The third day of Stagecoach brought memorable performances from artists and bands such as Temecula Road, Lillie Mae, Ashley McBryde, Colter Wall, Aaron Watson, Brett Young, and Lee Brice, among others. Classic country legend Garth Brooks concluded the weekend with an unforgettable performance and a special encore as the final day’s main headliner.

Hatton, who considers himself a “huge Garth Brooks fan,” described his most memorable Stagecoach moment.

“Being able to sing ‘Friends in Low Places’ was amazing,” Hatton said. “That is his most memorable song and the fact that he saved it toward the end … He played the one signature intro chord and fans knew immediately what was going on. We all had our arms around each other’s hands in the air belting the lyrics. The whole crowd was moving and hands were moving — it was electric!”

Londos stated the sentimental value of experiencing the live music of a country legend like Garth Brooks.

“Those (are the) classics that I would always sing along in the car with my dad,” Londos said. “I feel like right now there’s so much change happening in my life that it’s nice to go back and feel the excitement of it. I felt like such a kid when he came on stage; I could put a place to it and it reminded me that we are all kids at heart. When Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks’ wife, sang ‘American Girl,’ I remember listening to those songs as a kid and was stoked.”

But Brooks was not done after what fans thought would be his last song. Hatton shared the unique and memorable encore of Garth Brooks’ performance.

“He did ‘The Dance’ and went off stage and came back just him and a guitar,” Hatton said. “He looked out in the crowd into the pit and people had brought signs or posters of songs they wanted to hear. So he was like, ‘Oh you want to hear this?’ and starts playing it on his guitar. The ‘housecleaning session’ plays all songs that he may have missed in his line up (which was) around 9-10 more songs after ‘Friends in Low Places.’”

As attendees wash off the dust that coated them during Stagecoach, they face a return to the realities of work, school, and and non-festival life.

But whether they were line-dancing with friends all weekend, belting out lyrics while their favorite country artists rocked the crowd, or eating delicious barbecue and bonding over beer with strangers, the festivalgoers are sure to think warmly of their weekend in the desert at Stagecoach.