Marshfield Fairgrounds was home to another year of relaxation, creativity and good music at Levitate Music & Arts Festival. The weekend was headlined by Stick Figure and Dispatch, but included a variety of outstanding performances from artists of many different points in their career. Owned and operated by the local Levitate Surf Shop, the community oriented festival features endless options of local food and vendors giving a glimpse into the greater Marshfield area.
Personally I was most excited for the second day of the festival, but those who did perform on day one made sure to show up and give it their all. As always the local talent at Levitate shines bright with a clear favorite being The Elovaters who played both a Saturday and Sunday slot. As someone without a deep knowledge of their discography, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the instrumentals were perfect throughout both of their sets and it was clear they were a fan favorite. Going into the set my expectations had been set pretty high by a fan in the crowd who had been hyping them up pretty much since I met them and spoke of “the best vocals in music”. While I’m not sure I would go that far I can definitely agree frontman Jackson Wetherbee put on a beautiful set performance.
My dark horse of the festival was Fai Laci who I don’t feel matches the overall relaxation energy of the festival, but they were by far my favorite act of day one. I had never heard of them and being wedged between Hush Club and Mihali, I was actually a couple minutes behind on arrival. As another local, Boston based band, they absolutely ripped the imaginary roof off the nonexistent building. They rocked! Tracks like “Gypsy Lover,” “Shot Me Down,” and “Friend” were so incredible that right from the jump I needed to screenshot their spotify to checkout on my ride back home. Their mantra of “Making music we want to hear” is clear with spectacular work from production on studio tracks, to the live performance I was fortunate enough to see at Levitate.
If you couldn’t already tell, Massachusetts produces a lot of musical talent including the headline of day one, Stick Figure. Duxbury native, Scott Woodruff leads on vocals and guitar with a talented roster behind him, creating one of the best roots reggae bands of the modern era. Stick Figure has made an appearance at every Levitate festival and is a long time staple among all who attend the event. When you are able to build a community like they have, you will always be greeted with love. I If the music isn’t to your taste no worries, you will still have an amazing time watching Cocoa the tour dog waltzing blissfully around the stage as fans toss chew toys all over the stage throughout the night. This was also a very special night as we got to celebrate her 14th Birthday, and the crowd came together for a cute performance of “Happy Birthday” as Woodruff lifted her into the air for all to see. It was an amazing way to close out the first night of the festival.
Day two rolled around and it was just as hot, if not hotter than the first day. Earlier in the week there were chances of storms but mother nature clearly decided a bit of sun would be more fun. While there were plenty of favorites for me on day two I wanted to start with another artist I ended up loving, even though I didn’t know her as I arrived at the set. Linka Moja caught my attention as soon as she got on stage. Why? The incredible song selection. Linka has an EP (and a few singles) but really worked on a lot of covers for her performance. Leading with a personal favorite and Metric cover “Black Sheep,” immediately had me hooked for the rest of the set. As a big Scott Pilgrim fan, I felt like I could see, and hear some of the Envy Adams inspiration in her performance. A few tracks later we were enjoying a cover of Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks”, another song which was a huge chart topper on its release. Mixing in a few of her own works like her latest single “Psycho” she created a blend of original and covered tracks that kept the audience engaged throughout her performance.
A couple sets later on the same stage, it was time for my personal headline of the festival. If you have heard of Lawrence I recommend you get on the hype train. Fronted by the brother sister duo of Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, the eight piece soul pop band is absolute musical perfection. Do you like talent? Well this band is literally an endless well of it. The vocal phenom Gracie is currently on Broadway as Connie Francis in “Just In Time”, but somehow finds a break here and there to perform festivals on off days. When she isn’t doing vocal gymnastics on tracks like “Don’t Lose Sight” or covers of “It’s Gonna Be Me” by NSYNC, she will grab her trusty Tambourine and let her brother Clyde take the spotlight. A very well established singer/songwriter, you can find him performing in between writing scores for movies or helping produce tracks for other artists via thedinermusic. He took the vocal lead on tracks such as “Casualty” while holding down his position on the keys throughout the set. If you want to hear an instrumentally flawless band you can also make sure to check out the incredible Jordan Cohen (sax), Jonny Koh (lead guitar), Sumner Becker (sax), Michael Karsh (bass), Marc Langer (trumpet), and birthday boy Sam Askins (drums) taking over a few solos throughout the set. Honestly the biggest disappointment was that they didn’t have time to play more songs. Staples like their cover of “Get Busy” or the “Hey Arnold Theme” had to take a rest to make time for this quick performance. Fortunately we were blessed with a personal favorite in “Misty Morning!” I cannot stress how incredible this set was and if you even remotely like soul pop, you will surely love this band. Welcome to the “Family Business,” and we can’t wait to see you again.
The funky vibes continued shortly after as attendees made their way to the highly anticipated Thundercat. Rocking on one of the coolest guitars I have seen in recent memory, it featured an anime character which absolutely popped on the cherry red basecoat. Sorry anime people, I am unfamiliar with who it was. He grooved with tracks such as “Dragonball Durag” and “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II),” leading one of cleanest majority instrumental sets of the night. Levitate really seemed to hit a theme for day two as many of the funky performances were back to back to back.
The third consecutive groove hit with Still Woozy who had what I perceived as the most crowd participation of any set during the festival. Most well known for his hit “Goodie Bag,” we were given plenty of outstanding, crowd pumping, songs from “Habit” to “Window” and more to enjoy as he ran all over the stage. Levitate, while an amazing festival, can sometimes lack motion, as it is generally more laid back then your typical music fest. Still Woozy made sure to get the turn the energy kinetic, with many waving their hands through the sky as he jumped around and sang his heart out. Alongside his upbeat groove was a very cute little flower set piece that stood out to me from the first song. He truly puts everything into his craft and it showed with the performance he produced for the penultimate set of Levitate.
At long last, after a hot but incredibly fun weekend in Marshfield, we had reached our finale. Dispatch took the stage to an audience that was ready for one final ride. The band is coming off the release of their ninth studio album Yellow Jacket, which is also a title track we were able to hear during their set. That alongside hits such as “The General” and “Bang Bang,” had the crowd swaying their way into the late sunset. A very on brand, relaxing way to bring everyone back from the festival high, leaving a pleasant smile on the faces of everyone sticking through to the end of the night.
After a wicked weekend, fans from far and wide made their way to the exit gates. Levitate Music Fest was able to put together another successful year, despite some changes both this year and maybe on the horizon. As far as music and community goes, you will struggle to find a festival that exhibits so much local talent while also creating one of the most relaxing environments in the music scene. From a tiny surf shop putting on “backyard performances” to a major music fest, the growth of Levitate will hopefully continue throughout the coming years. If they can keep the path they have built I am sure more and more amazing opportunities will follow.
If you have interest in joining the Levitate community be sure to text “LMF” to (833) 987-5498 or check out their website at https://levitatemusicfestival.com/.
GALLERY: Levitate Music Festival 2025
