SO WHAT?! FESTIVAL 2022
So What?! Festival 2022
at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, TX
photos and words by Kristen Powell
With the pandemic putting everything at a halt, once restrictions were lifted and things went back to normal, Third String Entertainment proudly announced their “craziest” lineup for 2022’s, So What?! Music Festival. The event took place over Memorial Day weekend (May 27th – 29th) in Arlington, Texas at the Choctaw Stadium formerly known as the Global Life Park. The festival was for all ages with five stages with a diverse lineup that gained so much attention. Some of the artists for each genre included Pop Punk/Alternative artists 100 Gecs, 3OH!3, Rebecca Black, Cray, Sum 41, Blackbear, and Chase Atlantic. Rock/Metal artists I Prevail, Wage War, Palaye Royale, Knocked Loose, Polyphia, and Underoath. Rap/Hip Hop artists Trippie Redd, 24KGoldn, Rae Sremmurd, Lil Skies, Night Lovell, 2Chainz, Waka Flocka Flame, and Juicy J.
In short, there was something for all music lovers of all ages. The youngest festivalgoer couldn’t be any more than four years old, crowd surfing and enjoying his time in the mosh pit at one of the metal stages. It was also incredible to see elderly fans enjoying themselves. This was by far the most diverse and insane festival, yet. Despite the heat, crowds gathered around the stadium early in the morning each day to be let in to enjoy all the festivities. Friday afternoon, we caught up with LA-based musician, Cheney Ray, popularly known by her stage name, CRAY at the Hot Topic stage. The dreamy, synth-pop alternative artist graced us with her presence and opened her show with her newest single, ‘We’re All Gonna Die’ followed by ‘Bad Summer’, a song CRAY had written last year during quarantine.
Saturday, we witnessed Gym Class Hero, Travie Mccoy takes the Hot Topic stage where rapper, Wes Period came out during ‘Cupid’s Chokehold/Breakfast in America’, one of the band’s most popular song that was released back in 2005 but still manages to put everyone in a good mood when the famous vocals of Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump’s “badababa” intro start. Later that evening, we made our way to the Flow Stage to see Hip Hop and Rapper artists, Night Lovell, Tyla Yaweh, Lil Skies, and Rae Sremmurd, who closed out the rap stage for day two.
On the last day, we saw Waka Flocka Flame take the rap stage and the crowd, by jumping into the mosh pit and turning up his fans. We managed to go back and forth from the Flow Stage to the Hot Topic stage to catch the Australian alternative trio, Chase Atlantic, but unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties, the band couldn’t perform a full song. This was a huge letdown for fans who waited hours to see them. One fan stated she had flown fifteen hours just to see them perform. But front-man Mitchel wasn’t having it, and continued to sing a capella and even let the crowd join in. So even though the show didn’t go as planned, Chase Atlantic still made it a priority to greet fans in the front and sing for them. Kudos to Chase Atlantic for the fan engagements!
We then ran to Juicy J’s set, followed by 2CHAINZ, who closed out the final day of the rap stage. Despite a few hiccups, overall, the festival was one to remember for all of us. Biggest shout out and thank you to Third String’s Mike Ziemer, as well as So What?! Music Festival Press and Big Picture Media for having us. If you’re interested in attending as a fan or an artist, be sure to follow the festival’s socials for updates (@sowhatmusicfest) and submit your music consideration to play in 2023.
