All Things Go (And So Should You)

By Alexandra Henriques 

This year, I had the greatest pleasure of attending the All Things Go music festival on Saturday, September 28th, at Merriweather Post Pavilion (ignore that this article is nearly two months late). It was easily one of the greatest days of my life, but I have so many thoughts on everything (parents chose thought daughter), so I decided to write a little editorial about some of my biggest takeaways.  

Laufey at Merriweather Post Pavilion on September 28th.

TICKETS  

This year, tickets went on sale in April. I joined the queue over an hour before the presale began and got to select tickets within 10 minutes of its opening, and by that point, the 2-day pass was already sold out. I made a (forcibly quick) decision to get a Saturday pass because while Sunday’s lineup was stacked, I admitted to myself that I mostly wanted to go for Chappell Roan’s set and did not have a deep love for many of the other artists (besides for maybe Conan Gray and Blondshell). Therefore, it made way more sense for me to buy the Saturday pass – Ethel Cain, Remi Wolf, Laufey, Indigo de Souza, and Julien Baker find themselves in my rotation much more frequently.   

While I think All Things Go did a better job at avoiding scalpers than some others, they did use Ticketmaster as their platform … I definitely saw a good amount of people immediately go to resell the tickets, which sucks, but such is life.   

Also, so many people bought Sunday tickets just for Chappell, which seemed … wrong. It is a music festival, and obviously, you can go for a specific headliner, but there were way too many people saying, “I only got tickets for Chappell!!!” when she canceled. At the end of the day, you are spending $150+ for nearly 20+ artists – that is a crazy deal. There was so much talent on both days of the festival that complaining relentlessly and selling your tickets because one artist dropped tells me you should not have had the tickets in the first place … sorry, not sorry.  

VENUE  

Merriweather Post Pavilion is a beautiful venue. However, it is far from George Mason’s campus, and virtually inaccessible through public transportation, so be ready to drive or have a friend (or ridesharer) drive. If you do not have anyone to drive and do not want to spend $50+ on Lyft or Uber, I recommend taking the metro to Union Station, transferring to a MARC Camden line train, taking it to Laurel Racetrack- or Savage-MARC station, then Ubering from there, which is only $15-$30 depending on the time and day. However, it will take a lot more time than an hour’s drive. Parking was fairly simple, though I wish there were more signage / people conducting traffic. You had to register for parking, and I was assigned Lot C, but I did not see a single sign for Lot C. Eventually, we parked in parking garage #3, saying that C must be equivalent to 3 (right…?). Parking was free in all the lots, which was great. Overall, I think parking could be better, but it was definitely not bad.   

All Things Go has found lots of success in recent years, hosting headliners like Laufey, Lana del Rey, boygenius, Lorde, and Hozier, so the festival arguably has grown out of the 20,000-person capacity that Merriweather has. However, Merriweather is a great venue for the festival, with its two stages boasting rolling lawns for thousands of people to hang out on. There also is no other venue like Merriweather in the DMV area. So, ATG tickets will simply become a more coveted feat, and that is something people who want to go will have to accept. The only semi-solution I can think of would be to have the festival two weekends back-to-back with the same Saturday and Sunday lineup, though this is highly unlikely and would be very hard to pull off, especially considering ATG has also branched into New York City.   

Overall, I think Merriweather is a great venue. They have also proved themselves to be accepting of criticism; in 2023, people said there were not enough refill stations, so this year, water stations were easy to access and plentiful. My only complaint about the amenities is the food prices. While cheap food at a concert venue is like finding gold, I hoped they would accommodate, considering it is a full-day event.   

However, with that being said, I wish I had done more research on the rules of outside food and items in the venue, and Merriweather would make their policy clearer. A tote bag definitely would have been okay – so many people brought them, but I was paranoid it would be too big. I was wrong; tote bags are ideal, and almost everyone had them. Some people even had small coolers. My second mistake was not bringing food. Food is allowed if it is in a clear container or bag. So, break out the Tupperware and the Ziploc bags. I saw people around me bring hard-boiled eggs (a choice), grapes, crackers, pretzels, chips, and granola bars, all packed into clear containers or bags. So, a tote bag or small cooler is definitely necessary. I was pretty much starving most of the day because I am broke and vegetarian, a lethal combination. While they did have a fake meat burger, it was just expensive ($2 more than a normal burger), and fries were an additional $5, making the total for a burger and fries $19.50, before tax. So, bring your own food. I cannot stress that enough.   

Finally, I wish I brought a blanket. Specifically, a tarp or some plastic covering. Everyone sat down on the lawn, which I was not expecting. I thought it would be huge standing crowds, but everyone laid out on the grass. It was a super relaxed environment, except that my cousin, who I went with, and I had no blanket. We bought one, but it was cloth, and the ground was soaking wet due to the week of rain the DMV area had faced before the festival. So, I recommend bringing a blanket (or 2) and/or a plastic tarp to sit on. It will make the whole experience so much more comfortable. I did not mind getting wet during the day, but it was uncomfortable when it got cold later in the evening. A plastic tarp would have eliminated the whole wet behind issue.   

PERFORMERS 

All Things Go has boasted an impressive setlist since its debut in 2014, and 2024 was no different. Laufey, Bleachers, Janelle Monae, Hozier, Renee Rapp, and Conan Gray were amongst their main headliners this year, joined by Ethel Cain, Remi Wolf, Maren Morris, MUNA, and many more (a whopping 35 artists played at Merriweather between September 28th and 29th). All Things Go is an amazing price for the experience that you get. It was a full 10-11 hours of music, and I enjoyed every second.   

I am incredibly biased in favor of Ethel Cain, so she was my favorite set of Saturday. Her vocals are haunting, and she consistently got the crowd involved, whether it was chanting a line from her songs or connecting with audience members in front of the stage. Plus, her storytelling throughout her lyrics is genuinely unmatched. She is arguably one of the best storytellers of our generation’s artists.   

The most high-energy and entertaining sets were Bleachers and Remi Wolf. Bleachers, formed by Jack Antonoff, their lead singer, makes incredibly dynamic music. Every instrument had a solo, and it was clear that Bleachers, as a band, appreciated the instrumentals of their songs. Antonoff is an amazing performer. He was funny, joking about New Jersey (his home state, as well as mine) and refusing to kill a lantern fly sitting on his microphone lest it curse him with a bad show (Antonoff has been vocal about his struggles with OCD), though he said he would eat it before his bandmate killed the fly. He also spent over an hour running and jumping across the Pavilion stage. Remi Wolf was another energetic performer. She performed a cover of the hit song “Life Is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts and improvised a song on the spot based on a word that the audience gave her. In this case, the word was “scorpion,” and the song she created sounded like it could have been legitimately released. 

There were so many performers that I had not listened to before ATG but are now in my weekly rotation. Allison Ponthier, the first set of the day, had a beautiful voice, and now I stalk her Instagram and Spotify for a release of her song, “Everywhere Isn’t Texas.” Sammy Rae & The Friends is a folk, classic rock, and jazz fusion band. Their stage presence was one of the most memorable, and their music appeals to such a wide audience that I recommend everyone listen to them. If you want to see videos of all ATG’s performers, I posted many on my concert Instagram, @wisteria_mp3.

Overall, All Things Go was an amazing festival and one of the best days of my life. It is a great deal for all the music and beautiful artists you get to hear, and I hope to go again in 2025!