LaureLive 2017
Laurel School, Butler Campus
Russell Township, Ohio
June 10 and 11, 2017
LaureLive 2017 provided the fun, talent, and amenities necessary for a successful music festival, but the event also provided much more: positivity, inspiration, beauty, innovation, and girl power. If you missed the festival, then adding LaureLive 2018 to your calendar is a must. Check out the top seven reasons why.
The amazing, fun, and inspiring LaureLive 2017 ● Big Box: Michael Franti ● Smaller Boxes, clockwise from top left: The Head and the Heart, Blue October, NEEDTOBREATHE, and Magic Giant
1. The New Northeast Ohio Annual Music Festival
Cleveland, the birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll, has been in need of an annual rock music festival – like a Bumpershoot, Lollapalooza, or maybe even Coachella – to even further solidify the city’s significant impact to the rock world, and LaureLive has stepped up to the plate to help meet the demand. This second annual music festival is on the path to getting bigger and better year after year, bringing further positive attention to the Cleveland and surrounding areas. Ohioans know this, but slowly the rest of the country is starting to learn that Cleveland is an amazing city with killer sports teams, lots of activities, great bars and restaurants, and super cool people. Cleveland rocks! And, an annual music festival like LaureLive will help to keep the positivity flowing to the city.
Energetic crowd at LaureLive 2017
Michael Franti at LaureLive 2017
2. True Talent
Without question, the most exciting aspect to attending a music festival is to watch multiple bands in concert throughout the day… hearing new artists while listening to favorites. A few of the LaureLive 2017 musical highlights were:
- Biggest Wow: Magic Giant. A gigantic talent that amazed and wowed the entire crowd and the photographers with the band’s magically energetic performance. Check out the article about Magic Giant.
- New Favorite: Arkells. An up-and-coming band, quickly becoming popular in the US, while already a huge favorite in Canada. Check out the article about the Arkells (and chat with Lead Singer Max Kerman).
- Living the Message: Michael Franti & Spearhead. The band that lives and breathes positivity, ensures that their optimistic energy captivates the audience.
- The Much-Loved: Young the Giant, Blue October, NEEDTOBREATHE, The Revivalists, Gary Clark Jr., The Head and the Heart, and truly every, single band that played at the event. Major cheers to all!
The wildly fun Magic Giant at LaureLive 2017
3. Music with a Mission
Audience members at LaureLive 2017 naturally felt part of a positive and inspirational vibration without necessarily knowing the reason or source, other than the music and artists were uplifting, and all of the attendees, vendors, and workers were incredibly pleasant. But, there was more to it all. Behind the scenes, the festival was essentially produced by the Laurel School’s students themselves, as the all-girl school honors a deep commitment to real-life work and the concept of learning through doing, explains Ann Klotz, Headmistress of the Laurel School.
The school’s mission is “To inspire each girl to fulfill her promise and to better the world.” So, with the help of Elevation Group, an event production company, a platform was designed to “give our girls a really exciting experience from the ground up,” says Klotz. The students worked “on everything from marketing and budgeting to interfacing with fabulous people like Michael Franti, and all the stuff in between that’s much less glamourous but has to get done.” What an incredibly innovative and inspirational way to learn.
Painting at LaureLive 2017
4. Gorgeous Setting; Great Organization
Lasting two days and representing a great way to kick off the summer, LaureLive consisted of three stages, thirty bands, lots of vendors, and over 15,000 attendees. Gratefully, the acts were impressively timed, so the audience could catch almost all of the bands without much overlapping. Set on the Laurel School’s Butler campus with the two main stages on the track and field area, the festival was surrounded by large grassy areas and woods, providing a beautiful landscape. An oasis-like tent area in the middle of the field area offered rugs, cushions, pillows, a relaxing vibe, and shade, shade, shade. (Much needed on an incredibly hot weekend!)
The peeps and props at LaureLive 2017
5. The Peeps and Props
People-watching (or people-appreciating, rather) is as much of an important element to a music festival as music-listening. Nothing too crazy at LaureLive 2017, but here are the top spotted things at the festival:
- Families. Parents wanting their kids to safely experience the music scene realized that LaureLive was the place to take them.
- Singles. Lots of single guys and single gals. Perhaps this was a great place to meet someone, too!
- All ages. From babies to the older youthful, they were there.
- Bearded guys in tanks with tats and hats. It’s the latest look, and “this guy” was everywhere.
- Golden temporary tattoos. These tattoos offered a beautiful, shimmery look.
- Short jean shorts. They’re back!
- Ohio T-shirts. Tons of power-to-Ohio-types of shirts. OH-IO! (Timeflies asked if shouting “OH” to the crowd and hearing “IO” back really worked. It did!)
- Beach Balls.
- Blankets.
- Hula Hoops. With lots of people using them properly. How do they do it?
- Inflatable chairs. This chair should be on the list to bring next year, for sure.
- Backpacks with hydration packs. Ingenious!
- Dragonflies. These mysterious beauties seemed to enjoy the festival as much as the crowd.
6. Fantastic Vendors
For those needing a quick break from the music or to refuel, an avenue of artisan vendors showed art, clothing, and gift items; and, many local food vendors offered exceptionally tasty cuisine. As far as imbibing goes, Elmhurst offered “mocktails” made from nut milks; Cleveland’s Platform Beer Co. provided flavorful brew selections to the thirsty; and, several delicious cocktail concoctions were available (like, excellent mule-type drinks, Red Bull-based drinks, and lots more). Cheers!
7. They’ve Only Just Begun
LaureLive is on the rise as a newly anticipated annual music event. What’s on the docket for 2018? Per Ann Klotz, you can expect the safest, “finest, family-friendly festival for music in Northeastern Ohio, and possibly the world.” LaureLive 2018 will be “a gorgeous event… where the stars will shine and it will be a beautiful several days!”
Make sure to follow along as Adventure Music Life checks in with Ann over the course of the next year, as we look forward to LaureLive 2018!
Sameer Gadhia of Young the Giant at LaureLive 2017
The Revivalists at LaureLive 2017
The Head and the Heart at LaureLive 2017
Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October at LaureLive 2017
Max Kerman of Arkells at LaureLive 2017
J Bowman of Michael Franti & Spearhead at LaureLive 2017
What a great article!! It makes me wish I was there, and I’m definitely looking forward to next year. Sounds like an inspiring festival with great music in a beautiful venue. Thanks for sharing!! Great pictures too!!!
Thank you so much. Yes, attending LaureLive 2018 is a must!!
Great article about such a positive and entertaining festival! A truly worthwhile event put on by the girls of Laurel School who have gained so much in the doing. I learned about inflatable chairs, golden tats and an area that is perfect for this sort of thing. The pictures are beautiful and so alive!!!
Thank you so much! This means the world!!
This year our group of Rock Boaters and Friends from all over the USA attending LaureLive grew to over 45! So many of the bands at LL are Sixthman.net bands, so that was the first draw, and then hands down Michael Franti is a fav of all! Many of our squad were repeat attendees! The newbies were full of praise, and the vets were just as enthusiastic! We love that there is room to move (and hoping it doesn’t grow too much bigger!) and that placement of the stages is near perfect!
Most of us travel to attend one or more festival a year, and LL was universally praised by all! As fest regulars, we do have some suggestions though. Is facebook the way to go with those? Or email? And lastly, yes yes yes to Magic Giant!
This is great to hear, Mary! I attend quite a few festivals myself, and LaureLive was fantastic. For the suggestions, yes, maybe send a message to the LaureLive Facebook page. Thank you for your comment!!