Mo Pop returned to West Riv-
erfront Park for its seventh year 
this July, this time bringing two 
of music’s most acclaimed acts to 
headline: Vampire Weekend and 
Tame Impala. This year’s edition 
also brought some of the indus-
try’s fastest-rising stars to Detroit, 
with singers and bands like Yel-
low Days, Goth Babe, Roy Blair 
and Tiny Moving Parts taking the 
stage.
Vampire Weekend headlined 
Saturday night, putting on a mind-
blowing, 
passion-filled 
perfor-
mance. Their seven-member suite 
played more instruments than I 
could count — I lost track when 
the bongos came out. The crowd 
bobbed to the groove of “Sun-
flower,” and the dancing stretched 
from the front row back to the tech 
booth as “This Life” captured the 
summertime vibe of Mo Pop. Ezra 
Koenig made for a more dramatic 
and impressive live singer than I 
ever could have imagined in the 
studio version of “Harmony Hall.” 
His ethereal vocals enchanted the 
festival after the sun went down 
and the stars began shining, both 
literally in the sky and metaphori-
cally as Vampire Weekend rocked 
out onstage.
Hearing old hits like “Oxford 

Comma” and “A-Punk” reminded 
me that the band is really from 
before my time. I was especially 
reminded of it when Koenig gave a 
shout out to everyone in the crowd 
who came to their first Michi-
gan performance in Ann Arbor 
in 2007. A group of festival-goers 
beside me from the University all 
turned to each other and smiled in 
mutual understanding — we were 
doing multiplication tables and 
watching Spongebob when Vam-
pire Weekend first came to our 
current home.
Closing out the festival Sun-
day night was Tame Impala, who 
drew the biggest crowd I’ve ever 
seen, stretching from the stage 
across half the length of the fes-
tival grounds. Kevin Parker and 
his team of live performers took 
the stage in grandeur, launching 
confetti into the sky over the audi-
ence as they whirled and reeled 
to a harmonious clatter of instru-
ments. Just as the performance 
was teeming with trippy imag-
ery, Parker himself sounded like 
he was tripping: “Great, this is 
good, I feel good,” he said between 
laughs. “There’s a bug in my drink 
… it’s a Detroit bug … it’s good for 
you.” Between songs, a fan in the 
crowd screamed, “SEND ME, 
KEVIN!” and Kevin answered his 
call by playing “Let It Happen.” 
Let it happen we did.
Tame Impala live is an experi-
ence worlds apart from the stu-

dio version. While the main beats 
of each song remained, all of the 
tracks were stretched and warped, 
making for a hazy, dream-like ren-
dition of Parker’s peerless produc-
tion. Arms waving, hips swinging 
and heads bobbing, the crowd was 
spasmodic from start to finish. 
Motor City and all its visitors may 
have never been mesmerized so.
The headliners took the stage at 
night, but smaller acts made waves 
while the sun was still up. Alec 
Benjamin paid homage to Detroit’s 
own Eminem, singing a rendition 
of “Stan” infused with Benjamin’s 
sadboy energy. J.I.D. honored his 
forebears, playing A Tribe Called 
Quest’s “Scenario” as a lead into 
“EdEddnEddy.” The Story So 
Far had a nonstop moshpit and 
more crowdsurfers than security 
could keep up with. And Wallows 
rocked the river stage, although 
the 
“scrawny 
motherfucker(s) 
with the cool hairstyle(s)” had 
only mediocre hairstyles at best.
Country music also graced 
Mo Pop. Chicago band Whit-
ney rocked their set for a fervid 
crowd, impressive for a last-min-
ute addon, taking Noname’s place. 
Caamp brought the rawest of folk 
energy, beginning their set with 
only guitar, bass, and banjo. At 
one point, a man walked on stage 
and lead singer Taylor Meier said, 
“This is my friend Joe. He’s gonna 
play piano.” Sure enough, Meier’s 
friend Joe played piano.

Among all the acts, it was clear 
who really ran Mo Pop: the women. 
Queer icons like King Princess, 
Siena Liggins and Lindsey Jor-
dan (of Snail Mail fame) were the 
greatest stars and brought power-
ful performances. Kali Uchis and 
Ella Mai, R&B’s reigning queens, 
took 
listeners 
through 
soulful 
journeys of heart-
break and love. 
Their supporting 
bands 
brought 
a new intensity 
to 
their 
music, 
revealing emotion 
and 
spirit 
that 
could only be felt 
live. There was 
no doubt that this 
year, women were 
the ones running 
shit.
To that end, It 
was Lizzo who 
took the crown at 
Mo Pop 2019. There was nothing 
she couldn’t do: Singing, danc-
ing, butt shaking and flute play-
ing, she performed with all her 
heart before pouring it out to the 
audience, talking about visiting 
her family during her return to 
her hometown of Detroit. As she 
described the feeling of seeing her 
face on a billboard overlooking the 

city, she came to the verge of tears, 
and so did many listeners around 
me (myself included). In her “spe-
cial discount,” Lizzo declared 
everybody in the audience, no mat-
ter their shape or size, was blessed 
to be a thick bitch for the duration 
of her performance. Between all 
the body positiv-
ity and embrac-
ing who you are, 
Lizzo made Mo 
Pop a celebration 
of self love.
Mo Pop 2019 
made for a hot 
girl 
summer 
to 
remember. 
The 
festival 
is 
unique in that all 
performers 
go 
back-to-back 
on 
alternating stages, 
so 
festival-goers 
don’t 
have 
to 
miss a single set. 
It exposes listen-
ers to music they may never have 
listened to before — I saw many 
of the same people getting down 
to hip hop before singing along 
to country, grooving to R&B as 
hard as they moshed to pop punk. 
There wasn’t just something for 
everybody; everything was for 
everybody. But Mo Pop was for the 
ladies, most of all.

7
ARTS

Thursday, August 1, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Between 
all the body 
positivity and 
embracing who 
you are, Lizzo 
made Mo Pop 
a celebration of 
self love.
At Mo Pop Festival 2019, 
women run the program

CHESTER PINK FOR MO POP

DYLAN YONO 
Summer Senior Arts Editor

FESTIVAL COVERAGE

