George Ezra | Photo by Cameron Pollack | cameronpollack.500px.com
Here are all our favorite covers from this past weekend’s XPN Fest
Missed out on the festivities this past weekend? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. As entertaining as it was seeing some of our favorite bands play some of our favorite songs at XPN Fest, it was equally fun seeing them play some of their own favorite songs. Without fail, there is always a fantastic collection of covers played by the various performers throughout the festival, and we’re here to break down the best of the weekend for you.
Day 1
Perhaps sensing that the day could use a start to keep festival goers on their heels, Havertown singer Cole Redding jumped into a surprisingly on point rendition of Britney Spears (almost) classic “Baby One More Time” (7:25 mark).
JD McPherson | Photo by Rachel Del Sordo | racheldelsordophotography.com
JD McPherson slowed down his groove-filled set for a cover of English singer-songwriter and Elvis Costello collaborator Nick Lowe’s “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day” (13:40 mark).
Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear had all of the Marina Stage singing along with Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”. Would it surprise you to know that “Dreams” wasn’t the only Fleetwood Mac song covered at XPN Fest? Us either. Stay tuned. (39:40 mark)
Dawes capped the night off with not only being able to play a full set at XPN Fest (!!!) but also giving us not one but two covers! First they gave us a cover of The Waterboys’ “Fisherman’s Blues” before gracing us with Billy Joel’s classic “Big Shot” in their encore.
Day 2
Swedish folk sisters First Aid Kit delivered one of the most promising sets of the festival, and that’s saying a lot for the young duo. One of the biggest highlights of their River Stage set was their cover of one of their favorite songwriters of all time, Paul Simon. Essentially the same can be said for everyone in regards to Simon, but nevertheless, their take on “America” had the entire festival swaying along.
Latin singer Gina Chavez gave her Hispanic set a bit of American-inspired flavor with Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (17:50 mark). Her version has the chance to go down as the second most popular cover of the song (sorry, Cake’s cover will always have my heart).
Upon closing things out at Wiggins Park Saturday evening, Delta Rae teased fans with a number of covers, such as Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon”, MJ’s “Billie Jean”, and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, before closing their set with Fleetwood’s “The Chain”.
Day 3
Possibly the only cover to rival “Baby One More Time” in intrigue was Kopecky taking a crack at The Weeknd’s hit “Can’t Feel My Face” (20:40 mark). They also finished their set by jamming to Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” (36:10 mark). I wasn’t kidding when I said Fleetwood Mac was a consistent theme at this year’s XPN Fest.
UK singer-songwriter George Ezra, a 22-year-old kid with a grown man’s voice, gave fans a double shot of other’s favorites of his, performing Bob Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country” and Macy Gray’s “I Try”.
Later on at Susquehanna Bank, Grace Potter gave a nod to her recent touring with The Rolling Stones by giving her own rendition of “Gimme Shelter” to cap off a rocking set by her and the Nocturnals.