Culture
Review: All Things Go lives up to the hype at Merriweather Post Pavilion
By: Nicholas Kobe
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COLUMBIA, Maryland (WOUB) – For a long time, I’ve loved pop music and wanted to experience it in a festival setting. With the wild barriers to entry for festivals like Coachella or Lollapalooza, though, how was I ever going to go?
All Things Go was my answer. The festival held multiple editions in 2026, including events in Toronto, New York City and the Washington, D.C., area. I headed to its Sept. 25-27 edition at Merriweather Post Pavilion. It’s a tighter, more compact festival, with more than 45 artists across three days and two stages.
All Things Go stands for something beyond its size, too. Since its inception in 2014, the festival has been noted for centering women, nonbinary and LGBTQ+ artists, and you can see that commitment throughout the lineup. The artists also ran the gamut of popularity and genre. I wanted to see if the festival would live up to my hype or prove too good to be true.
Turns out it exceeded the hype.
Friday, September 25
To start with Friday, however, I don’t want to talk about what happened at the actual “pavilion” of Merriweather Post Pavilion. Sure, it was very nice and served as the primary of two stages at All Things Go. But I was much more captivated by the second: the Chrysalis stage.
Music aside, the stage was easily the most gorgeous part of an already pretty venue.
Surrounded by trees, it feels “in nature” despite the nearby Little Patuxent Parkway and a shopping mall about half a mile behind it. Adorned with a gradient of green plates, it actually resembles a chrysalis. The name also makes for a fitting metaphor for a festival side stage: a place for artists somewhere between obscurity and spreading their wings. But if the Chrysalis is meant for artists still waiting to emerge, Friday’s lineup had already become butterflies.
The Chrysalis stage on Friday was one of the best single-stage festival runs I’ve ever seen, with more than three hours of some of pop and electronic music’s greatest acts.
It started with someone who fits none of those labels: Rico Nasty, who slaughtered her criminally short 20-minute set. Ripping through new music and established cult classics, her charisma and raw energy left a huge impact in very little time.
Afterward, Underscores took the stage. As the current opener for Charli XCX, she fits right into the post-Brat hyperpop world. However, with slick vocals and some impressive solo dancing, she delivered a mix of hyperpop and K-pop that I really enjoyed. Visually, she has the talent and finesse of a mainstream darling while still leaning into a unique aesthetic. Following in a similar vein, but much more on the EDM side, was Ninajirachi. While she didn’t sing for a majority of her set, she expertly blended her tracks in a live DJ set that was nonstop fun.
And the fun didn’t end with Slayyyter, as Ethel Cain followed her on the main stage. This was my second time seeing Cain, and her performance was just as immersive, haunting and gut-wrenching as I remembered. Add the emotionally annihilating “House in Nebraska,” “Hard Times” and “Ptolemaea,” and you have a set that served as a triumphant farewell to the Willoughby Tucker Forever tour.
Magdalena Bay was the last act to perform before Mitski took the stage. The pop duo delivered an incredibly lush and captivating live experience; I’d argue they were even better live than in the studio. Mitski, ironically enough, was the headliner who left the least impression on me. I thought she was very good vocally and had an incredibly charming stage presence. Aside from that, however, Mitski’s laid-back catalog made for a rather mellow end to an otherwise very high-energy day. Again, this wasn’t due to a drop in quality, but a change in tone that didn’t resonate with me.
Friday at All Things Go was so jam-packed with banger performances that I had to go play-by-play through the day. That was less the case on Saturday and Sunday, but not because there was nothing noteworthy.
Saturday, September 26
Saturday was also a solid day, mostly hampered by the weather. The rain was consistently mildly to moderately annoying. Since only those who paid for that privilege could go inside the pavilion, the lawn outside the main stage and the entire Chrysalis stage remained exposed to the elements. Still, with no festival delays, All Things Go soldiered on.
Susannah Joffe and The Beaches were solid, along with the bits I caught of Del Water Gap, Suki Waterhouse and She & Him. Most of these acts weren’t as much my speed in terms of genre, but they undeniably delivered well-executed performances.
My mid-afternoon highlights on Saturday were Hemlocke Springs and Rebecca Black. The former is just as energetic on stage as she is in interviews. Live, her voice takes on more of a pop-punk style that suits her very well. Rebecca Black deserves credit for simply powering through a set that faced unexplained delays. With the time she had, Black performed her ass off. Black’s new album and the choreography that goes with it clearly show a lot of effort. The grit and dedication shone through even in songs designed to be upbeat, campy and lighthearted.
Saturday evening, however, was when the day shot into the stratosphere. Plenty of bands and artists across genres incorporated distorted electric guitars and other live instruments.
However, Muna were the only act that felt like rock stars. This came not primarily from their instrumental choices, but from pure sapphic swagger. Beyond how much they devoured with their stage presence, they have an incredibly great catalog of songs. The setlist was well-paced, keeping the energy high and the party going.
Finally, the rain began to die down, which was only fitting because at the end of this storm, there was a midnight sun. To put it plainly, Zara Larsson’s performance at All Things Go was pop perfection. There’s pretty much nothing you could want from a pop performance that Larsson doesn’t give. Vocally, she’s absolutely impeccable. She can do crazy runs and hit high notes without oversinging just for the sake of it. She and her team of dancers nailed the choreography, and her backing band added new layers to the original tracks. The set was also paced well; in particular, I loved how she opened and closed with two different renditions of “Midnight Sun.” The serene reprise felt like a cathartic release after an hour of pure fun and excitement. Put simply, Zara Larsson at All Things Go continues to prove why she is one of the best pop stars alive.
It was so good that, for the first time, it felt wrong to have another set to go to. Which is really saying something, considering The Hayley Williams Show was up next. Whether she’s performing solo or as the singer of Paramore, Hayley Williams has never made music I didn’t like. Therefore, unsurprisingly, I loved this set. Hayley’s vocals were incredible throughout. She’s not just technically proficient; she’s also very emotionally resonant. Williams’ band was also incredibly tight and lively.
It’s extraordinary music brought to life with extraordinary energy. What more could you ask for?
Sunday, September 27
The final day of All Things Go was the biggest question mark for me as I headed into the weekend. The lineup, while still having highlights, felt like a noticeable shift in tone from the artists who dominated Friday and Saturday. Notably, it shifted heavily toward country. This seemed to turn off a lot of the audience from the previous two days. I say this because the venue was noticeably emptier, and staff allowed a good number of fans from the GA lawn to come under the pavilion.
As stated in my preview, I saw the vision for Sunday. Many major stars were busy at the MTV VMAs, and the lines between pop, indie, folk and country can get blurry, but I think the shift was a little too dramatic for many. That said, Sunday had some of the most pleasant surprises of the weekend and a lineup I genuinely had a lot of fun with.
Two major examples stand out: the first is Brandi Carlile, the headliner.
Obviously, I know Carlile, and I enjoy her music enough. However, I thought her performance jumped well above “good” and into “excellent.” While she ticks all the boxes technically, what really got me was the raw, earnest emotion she displayed. Carlile told really cute and emotional stories about her kids, watching them grow up and the anxiety of watching your kids fly on their own. It was really touching, and lyrically, I felt a lot of the songs really connected with me. I was more moved than I expected, and I have a newfound appreciation for Carlile that I didn’t have before.
The second big shock was a last-minute addition, Sierra Ferrell. Country is unfortunately a blind spot for me, except for the huge chart-topping giants, which I don’t care for. However, Ferrell brought a classic sound that I really dug and leaned hard into the “Western” aspect of country, with a fantastical touch. I loved how organic the set was. A slew of musicians took the stage in matching cowboy hats and bolo ties. Ferrell’s band went beyond guitars, bass and drums; they brought in fiddles, mandolins, slide guitars and upright basses. Beyond that, Ferrell just churned out banger after banger. I’ve never seen line dancing in a festival pit, but I sure saw it on Sunday. The songs were easy to sing along to, dance to and love. I left Ferrell’s set completely in awe of both the music I had just heard and how much fun I had listening to it.
(Editor’s note: Sierra Ferrell performed as a part of WOUB’s 2023 Nelsonville Music Festival Sycamore Sessions.)
That’s not to say the day was all surprises. Wolf Alice, Rochelle Jordan and Tinashe were all very good. Wolf Alice’s indie rock had enough bite to stay interesting and was all-around enjoyable. Rochelle Jordan’s electronic-laced pop set might have been low-key in its production, but she has the chops and the songs to compete in the big leagues.
Speaking of big leagues, Tinashe.
A few days ahead of her performance, Tinashe released her album Popstar, which is quickly catapulting her star power. Luckily, at All Things Go, Tinashe proved she was ready to meet the moment. She’s got the full package: singing, dancing and even DJing, which she did for the entire back half of her set. Even if I could’ve used a few more tracks before the DJ set, Tinashe feels well on her way to world domination.
I’ve mentioned Merriweather Post Pavilion before, but I want to highlight how good the experience of walking through the venue was. I noticed no basic logistical issues. Parking was free, water and food were plentiful, lines were short, and the staff was incredibly friendly, helpful and skilled. As mentioned before, the venue is stunning, and there was a lot of great art and plenty of experiences around the festival.
Some of these were built into the venue, like the cool statues and the music pinball hall of fame, my personal favorite. But All Things Go’s emphasis on community and inclusivity also extended beyond the lineup. The festival gave space to activists and social justice organizations, reflecting the politics and identities represented by much of the on-stage talent. Rather than feeling disconnected from the music, these spaces felt like part of the festival’s identity, and they were popular with festivalgoers. It’s refreshing to see how united this front was, especially when I’ve been to festivals where “alternative” bands were less punk rock about their politics than pop stars.
The smaller bill, compared with something like Coachella or Lollapalooza, also served All Things Go well. The Maryland edition spread more than 45 artists across three days and just two stages, creating a much more compact experience than many massive music festivals. While that meant the misses stung extra hard, there were very few soul-crushing schedule conflicts. Fewer stages and fewer artists also kept the festival from becoming overwhelming. It’s not just that the lineup was smaller; it felt intentional.
Everything at All Things Go felt well thought out. I felt confident in the festival in a way that I can’t always say I have in past music festival experiences. On top of this solid foundation, All Things Go was free to have fun, and have fun I did.
All Things Go is just, pound for pound, one of the best festivals around.