The 5 Best Sets We Saw at Moon River 2023
Main photo by Taylor Regulski, courtesy of Moon River
Music festivals are magical, but they can also be unpleasant. Standing for hours on end, the crush of the crowd near the front of a stage, the overpriced chicken tender baskets, the rows of mobile toilets and the accompanying smells—so many smells!—can all make for a chaotic experience. It’s not for the faint of heart. But every now and then, a festival overcomes these pitfalls and you have so much fun you forget the whiskey Coke in your hand costs $20. Moon River Music Festival is one such outlier.
The Americana-centric boutique festival put on by Tennessee natives Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors began as an upstart in Memphis nearly a decade ago, and four years ago expanded to scenic Chattanooga, where it lit up Coolidge Park once again this past weekend. There was truly a familial feeling throughout the whole weekend—vendors, attendees and artists alike remained not just courteous but also friendly. And when Caamp was sadly forced to drop out of their headliner slot for health reasons just a few days before the fest, NEEDTOBREATHE stepped in and stepped up and provided a stellar Saturday night set. Even when things once again didn’t go to plan thanks to a late afternoon rain shower, no one pitched a fit. Rather, patrons flooded into the bars of Downtown Chattanooga for beer breaks, and we were all happily back under blue skies before long. And even though the festival was sold out, it never felt too crowded.
Since there were only two stages and acts were rarely competing against one another, Moon River provided the perfect opportunity to not only see old favorites, but also stumble upon new discoveries. Our favorite acts were a mix of the two. Please find our top five acts below, and if you happen to find yourself near Chatt this time next year, do yourself and your soul a favor and grab a buddy, put your boogie shoes on and head under the bridge to Moon River.
First Aid Kit
Photo by Cora Wagoner
First Aid Kit, the Swedish folk-pop duo made up of sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg can’t always be found state-side, and I’ve been trying to catch them live for many years. The time finally came at Moon River, where they played a dreamy set at dusk on Sunday evening. It was so dreamy, in fact, that a couple standing on the front row got engaged amid the band’s hit “Emmylou” to the great delight of both band and audience. Swoon!
S.G. Goodman
Photo by Nathan Zucker
Alt-country troubadour S.G. Goodman, hailing from Western Kentucky, writes funny and frank rock songs that never fail to inspire toe taps, but her greatest talent may in fact be stage banter. Goodman charmed the crowd immediately with her quips about an alleged cult supposedly operating out of a local deli and played several songs from her 2022 album Teeth Marks including blue collar anthem “Work Until I Die.” Her tunes are so catchy even the Tennessee River seemed to be rushing along in time.