Last weekend, it seemed like most of Western New York attended the Borderland Music Festival at Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora, New York. Borderland celebrated its seventh year in what appeared to be the largest crowd yet, especially for Saturday’s headliner, Vampire Weekend.
Borderland does some witchcraft with the weather where it is always the most stunning weekend in the month of September thus making the appeal even stronger. This year approximately 15,000 people attended Borderland but felt like more.
I have been to a lot of music festivals locally and internationally and Borderland is in a league of its own. It is the festival you could invite your friends with kids to or your friends who have never been to a music festival before. It is also the festival you can attend without having to see the chiropractor the next day because it ends at a reasonable hour (11pm at the latest) and offers lots of options for lounging throughout the grounds of the beautiful park that doesn’t hinder the experience for those who want to stand close to the stage and dance.
Borderland thoughtfully curates local vendors for food and art that showcase the local fare and talent. Organizers also respect the beautiful Knox Farm grounds to ensure that environmentalism is at the forefront with free water filling stations, recycling receptacles all over the grounds, reusable cups for alcohol and ample parking for bikes (although we would all love for the Borderland shuttle from the city to return!).
Festival goers across the musical spectrum attended the festival. Each day tailored to a different demographic of music goer and exposed people to music that dipped into different musical comfort zones. There was something heartwarming seeing generations of listeners enjoy the headliners in their own way or to watch parents teach their children about the music that is meaningful to them. I observed a mother singing all the words to Band of Horses songs while dancing with her 8-year old boy, teens and grandparents bopping around to Vampire Weekend, and those of all ages transfixed by the unique mostly instrumental psychedelic Khruangbin show.
All the headliners took the headlining task seriously: whether it was delivering collaborations with other artists at the festival as seen with Mt. Joy and Nathaniel Rateliff on ‘Wild and Rotten’, incorporating festival friendly covers by Father John Misty, the Grateful Dead, the Velvet Underground, surprise saxophone solos by Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, mesmerizing double encores by Khruangbin and dozens of other memorable moments that felt curated for Borderland festival itself.
One of the best parts of a festival are the sets by those you haven’t yet discovered or haven’t had the pleasure of seeing live yet. The standout surprises for me were the vulnerable sounds of Joy Oladokun who sang a medicinal rendition of ‘Blackbird’ during her afternoon set, the endearing set by New Hampshire’s Sneaky Miles, Johnny Mullenax’s infectious sound that felt like Consider the Source dabbling with bluegrass, and the unforgettable Teskey Brothers that brought Sam Cooke back to life to teleport us to a more hopeful space.
Additional memorable sets were delivered by Robert Randolph to a packed crowd where he bellowed tracks like ‘I need more love’ and a powerful cover of ‘Foxey Lady’. Trampled by Turtles and Mountain Grass Unit made the grounds a bit dustier as they made everyone energetically dance to their hypnotic bluegrass and folk rhythms. I was especially entranced by Trampled by Turtles’ cello player who played a cello at the speed of light while jumping with his bandmates. Heavy Heavy also brought retro British 1970s rock to the festival that made Western New York feel special that we have bands across the pond coming to Borderland.
The whole festival felt like a testament to the art of the music scene and culture of Buffalo. Everywhere you turned in between the internationally acclaimed acts, there were sprinkled sets by our local music scene whether it was seeing Ellen Pieroni with the Brass Machine as you transitioned throughout the grounds, Aqueous side project: Dirty Work, Leroy Townes Band, Folkfaces, local legends Organ Fairchild, and the finest local tribute bands like the Strictly Hip and Pastmasters, Songbirds, Borderland Dead All Stars and the Shakermakers.
In a time of so much division, there was nothing warmer than seeing a sea of Bills fans on Sunday where everyone was on the same page to watch the Bills win, enjoy the last glimpses of summer, and at the end celebrate at a peaceful, melodic set by the Wailers who kicked off their fall tour in Western New York.
Every night made me nostalgic for the unforgettable free Thursday at the Square days where every set ended with ‘Downtown’ as Madonna’s ‘Borderline’ rang through the speakers to close each night.
The festival as a whole reminded us of Mt. Joy’s Matt Quinn so eloquently stated that ‘there’s so much humanity left.’ Every year it seems impossible to top the lineup and experience but it seems like Borderland will continue to impress and magically ensure the weather is immaculate.
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