Inweekly Hangout Fest 2024 Feature

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The third weekend of May is finally here, which means it's time for the biggest beach party of the year—Hangout Fest.

We know we say this every year, but this lineup really might be the best yet. Especially if you love powerhouse female performers. In addition to headliner Lana Del Rey, this year's lineup also features everyone's favorite Midwest princess Chappell Roan, plus "Mean Girl" Reneé Rapp and "Buckle Bunny" Tanner Adell, just to name a few.

And that's barely scratching the surface of all the acts taking over the

beach throughout the weekend. Just make sure you remember that last part. Hangout Fest is a full-on three-day weekend, people. Three really long, really hot days. So make sure you pace yourself and stay hydrated. Think marathon, not sprint, OK?

To help you plan for the weekend, we've once again put together a jam-packed guide, complete with artist interviews, must-see picks and survival tips straight from the festival's director. So read up and get ready to fest with the best of them. We'll see you in Gulf Shores. {in}

By Savannah Evanoff

What people love most about Hangout Fest isn't changing.

Great music with a diverse lineup, this year featuring headliners Zach Bryan, Lana Del Rey and Odesza. A beautiful setting in Gulf Shores, Ala. And tons of stuff to do, like the Monster Beach Club with nonstop dance parties, Corona Beach with volleyball and beer and the wedding chapel—for non-legally binding (but still equally fun) unions.

Katelyn Yount, the festival director, said the biggest change this year is the festival's footprint. They decided to lean into what makes the festival so special: the uniqueness of its venue.

"We have reprogrammed our second stage (formerly the Boom Stage) as the new and improved Boom on the Beach, and so it'll be highlighting some amazing electronic and hip-hop artists this year in its new location," Yount said.

The new Shoreline Stage will arguably have the best backdrop: the Gulf of Mexico.

"We've positioned it in a way that our fans can watch their favorite artists from the beach or from the great lawn area," Yount said. "So super excited. All of our stages this year are now on the

beach with the exception of the Mermaid Stage, which is in the courtyard at the Hangout restaurant. We're super excited about how that will change the overall feel of the show, and again, just continue to really highlight what is so special about Hangout."

Another change she suspects festivalgoers will appreciate is additional sun protection.

"We know it can get hot at the beach, so we've added more shade," Yount said. "There's plenty of areas to cool off and relax in the shade this year."

They've also added new experiences, such as the Nosh Pit, which will offer snacks all day in a new shaded dining pavilion adjacent to Boom on the Beach.

There's also additional benefits for General Admission Plus-ers, such as permanent bathroom facilities and an improved hang space with a private bar and food offerings. VIP ticketholders will have new amenities too, such as a spa area with hairstyling and IV hydration treatments and a coffee vendor—and of course, they're bringing back the VIP pool.

"How could we not?" Yount said.

Super VIP fans will have up-front viewing.

As far as rules go, no alterations were made to the prohibited and allowed items.

"We still have a clear bag policy, and obviously people can bring in empty hydration packs, empty water bottles, and we very much encourage them to do so," Yount said. "We'll have our water refill throughout the festival grounds to fill up those containers."

Yount has a few other pieces of advice for newbies: Firstly, wear sunscreen, she said (speaking as a mom). Secondly, wear actual tennis shoes or other comfortable footwear.

"Sandals can sometimes be a little challenging on the hot sand," Yount said. "I saw some people last year just wearing socks with sandals, so they could take their sandals off and just walk with socks and not be affected by the hot sand. And I was like, 'Honestly, that's genius; wear your sand socks.'"

As far as the lineup goes, the team starts planning a year in advance using a mix of science and gut instinct to concoct the right mixture of rock, pop and everything in between. Yount is excited about dipping a toe into the country genre.

"It's been interesting watching music evolve

over the last couple of years and really start seeing this melding of genres between artists—and people aren't really sticking to one lane anymore, which I love," Yount said. "So I'm actually really excited to see how Zach Bryan and Lana Del Rey really kind of bridge between rock and pop and country and see how our fans interact with that."

Yount is always blown away by Cage the Elephant, she added.

"They're releasing an album the weekend of Hangout, so I'm sure that it will be a special weekend for them," Yount said. "So lots of awesome music. Chappell Roan has been blowing up and Reneé Rapp as well, so we've got some really fun artists on the lineup this year that I think will lead to some really one-of-a-kind experiences for our fans."

It'll be a special time for Yount, too, who tries to take at least one solo walk through the full festival site during the weekend.

"I certainly try to take a moment to step back and enjoy a couple of performances and get to see the festival from our fans' perspective," Yount said. "It's definitely fulfilling to be able to take that walk sometimes and remind myself that it started as just an empty beach."

Photo Courtesy of Hangout Fest / Alive Coverage

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Must See | CHAPPELL ROAN | @chappellroan | 3-4 p.m. Saturday | Hangout Main

Chappell Roan / Photo by Ryan Clemens

LIFE'S ALWAYS BEEN A BEACH

By Grayson Keglovic

with musicians who make soundwaves, but there's one band in particular that's liter -

that the indie-pop band, composed of Jordan Miller (vocalist/bassist), Kylie Miller (guitarist), Leandra Earl (keyboardist/guitarist) and Eliza Enman-McDaniel (drummer), is named for a profound love of the beach, good times and tan lines. But their name has much more meaning

"[The Beaches] is actually a neighborhood where we all grew up in Toronto," said EnmanMcDaniel. "It's very close to our hearts … so it just kind of seemed like a really great name."

The Toronto-based band grew up in the tight-knit neighborhoods of Woodbine Beach in Canada. The neighborhood that brought

place for the band, especially for the Miller sisters and Enman-McDaniel whom they first met when they were six years old, according

Miller sisters and Enman-McDaniel became the start of a long and flourishing career. The Beaches have known each other through life's many stages and have been a band for over a decade, making their debut in 2013.

"It's great to have each other to kind of keep you grounded, and none of us have changed throughout this entire process," Enman-McDaniel said. "We're the same people that we were before."

Despite being a band for over 10 years, The Beaches finally reached a mass audience courtesy of TikTok. Following their popularity on social media, the band released their 2023 single "Blame Brett," which became a trending song on TikTok.

While 2023 was the breakthrough year for the band, The Beaches had already received praise from legendary artists like Elton John, The Rolling Stones and the Jonas Brothers.

"It gives you a lot of confidence to see other acts that you really respect, respect you back and reciprocate that," Enman-McDaniel said. "It's a great confidence boost and it gets

DID YOUR BOOTS STOP WORKIN'?

By Savannah Evanoff

and ranches for horseback riding," Dasha said. "There is only one downtown street, and it has my favorite bar, Frog & Peach, that I always go to when I'm back home."

The Beaches / Photo by Becca Hamel

Dasha / Photo by Adam Budd

HANG 10 10 SETS YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T MISS

FLYANA BOSS

HEMLOCKE SPRINGS

DOMINIC FIKE

TANNER ADELL

SEXYY RED

RENEÉ RAPP

DEL WATER GAP

DOECHII

QVEEN HERBY

PAUL RUSSELL

All photos courtesy of the artists, via Hangout Fest

Photo by SJ Spreng

Photo by Daniel Prakopcyk

Photo by Erica Snyder

Photo by Chris Parsons

THE SINGING DRUMMER

By Savannah Evanoff

"I drum, I sing, g'day mate," reads G Flip's

And if you're not already playing songs like "Worst Person Alive" or their rock cover of Taylor Swift's "Cruel Summer" on a loop, you

The Australian musician, who identifies as nonbinary, proudly represents the LGBTQ+

"It's something I'm very passionate about, and I think being my authentic self is really a big part of my project," G Flip said. "I want to be the representation I never had when I was younger. I think me just being myself helps a lot of people, so it's definitely something I will continue to do in my career and I won't

Some listeners might've been acquainted with G Flip via cameos alongside their wife Chrishell Stause on the Netflix reality show "Selling Sunset." They agreed to highlight their relationship on the show for representation.

"We wanted to show a healthy queer couple and someone that's nonbinary and in a healthy couple on the screen," G Flip said. "We didn't want to get involved with drama or anything, we just wanted to be ourselves and represent our community … It was interesting to film, but it was cool. And you know, I love Chrishell so much, so doing anything with her

G Flip started playing a "kiddy" drum kit at 9—a gift from uncle and auntie after being weirdly drawn to their cousin's drum kit,

"I've just always loved the physicality of it," G Flip said. "As a kid, I had very high energy running around all the time and really struggled to focus on anything, but drums always kept my focus. I just really adored the instrument—and then I had a really amazing drum teacher that made me love the drum kit even more."

Drums are home base, but G Flip also plays piano, guitar and bass guitar—and dabbles with a few other instruments, too.

"I've never been vocally trained, so I've just sang what my ear hears and written songs by what my brain thinks is right,"

G Flip said. "It took me a little longer to get into the singing drummer thing."

And there aren't a lot of them, they acknowledged.

"Growing up, I never saw anyone that looked like me singing, so I wanted to do exactly that and create the things I wish existed," they said. "And I wished someone like me was a singing drummer, so that's what I went for."

In many ways, G Flip is a blend of their parents' taste in music: their dad's penchant for British pop and punk and mother's bias for top-40 hits. They were psyched to sit next to Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, a childhood favorite, while presenting at the GLAAD Awards with Stause.

"The Worst Person Alive," their favorite song on their sophomore album "Drummer," is a prime example of this musical mixture. As indicated in its name, the breakup anthem is about feeling like the worst person (alive) after a breakup.

"It's definitely a song people really shoutsing back to me," G Flip said.

Their rendition of "Cruel Summer" was born after countless times being hyped up by the song in the green room while on tour. It was featured in their pre-show warmup playlist.

"It's just my favorite Taylor Swift song," G Flip said. "I think the writing is so good, and that bridge is one of the best bridges ever written. I just wanted to put my own G Flip spin on it. So I got to work and I just thought about, 'If this was my own song, sonically what would I want it to encompass?' And obviously, being a drummer, I wanted it to be drum heavy, but I still wanted to bring that emotion because it's quite an emotional song lyrically."

G Flip promises their Hangout Fest set will be worth your time this weekend.

"I've got a very high-energy show, and it's very fun; it's very drum heavy, of course," they said. "I've played one festival on the beach before, so I'm excited to do it again. And it's a great lineup, so I'm very keen."

G Flip / Photo by Callum Walker Hutchinson

A N A D E L R E Y L A N A D E L R E Y L A N A D E L R E Y

Lana Del Rey / Photo courtesy of the artist, via Hangout Fest / By Chuck Grant

Linka Moja won the breakup—if a breakup competition exists.

Moja was taking a five-year hiatus from music; she'd nurtured a love-hate relationship with it through the unrelatable classical piano lessons her parents had en couraged growing up. What brought her back to music, though, was an ex-boyfriend slash musician.

"He was writing all this music, and I was kind of at tempting to communicate with him through songwriting, and so the songs I was writing were really, really personal and emotional," Moja said. "But it was also really healing for me. Then once we broke up, that just continued to be an outlet for me."

Even while studying economics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Moja couldn't stay away. She's now on an extended break from school.

"It's funny because a lot of people would rather hear that you're in school, regardless of the fact that you're miserable, than to hear that you're doing some thing crazy like taking a break and chasing a dream," Moja said.

But now, gaining traction and booking shows across the country like Hangout Fest, Moja is starting to think she made the right call. She recently returned to Los An geles after performing at Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta.

"It was crazy," Moja said. "It's the first time in my entire life there were people in the crowd who were singing the words to my original music. Like, I've never had that happen before in my entire life, and I've been gigging for a while now. It was just really inspiring, see ing people connect with what I'm saying. It was a really, really good feeling."

One of the songs the audience sang back to her was Moja's most played on Spotify, "Blood Orange." The lyr ics are about holding on tightly to a relationship that isn't

STAYING TRUE

By Savannah Evanoff

LINKA MOJA | @linka.moja 1:15-2 p.m. Friday | Mermaid Stage

THE PERFECT SCENARIO

By Grayson Keglovic

together' and then the pandemic happened," Griffith said. "[The pandemic] presented itself as that perfect kind of a scenario where we could all have a bunch of free time and get together, so we kind of just spawned

Griffith said that the long months of isolation gave each member an opportunity to focus on music. Once quarantine ended, the four had individually grown and exercised their talents.

for granted."

"Because it's really easy for those years to just fly by," Griffith said. "Let things slow down, take in everything. I would also tell myself to make smarter decisions."

Linka Moja / Photo by Jeremiah Rafferty

The Stews / Photo courtesy of the artist