Over the last few years, I’ve spent my springs and summers attending at least five music festivals per year, whether big or small. In all that time, I haven’t seen one as picturesque as Zootown in Missoula, Montana. In its inaugural year, the lineup was enough of a selling point, but the decision to travel and spend our Fourth of July weekend in the beautiful Montana mountain valley turned out to be a great choice. Headlined by Hozier, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Modest Mouse, and Mt. Joy, it was almost guaranteed to be a fantastic weekend of music. While many throughout my Instagram story feed were attending lakes and parades, it rained a little on Zootown’s parade, with a steady rainstorm for a good portion of the first day of the festival.
Despite the rainy weather, a crowd of festival-goers continued to grow throughout each set. By the time Richy Mitch and the Coal Miners took the Trailhead Stage at 4:20, it was the biggest and loudest crowd I had seen so far that day. The band got its start in nearby Bozeman, Montana, and has made a name for itself in the folk-rock genre. The band has been one of my favorites for years, and the Missoula crowd also had a clear appreciation for the band. There was a special pride among locals as the band played “Lake Missoula,” a song that uses imagery from the massive Glacial Lake Missoula as a metaphor for personal struggles, self-doubt, and the process of moving forward. The band has also released an edition of the song in collaboration with Mt. Joy, co-headliners for day two of the festival.
Fresh off of the passing of Donald Trump’s controversial “Big Beautiful Bill,” RMCM frontman Mitch Cutts used the platform of the festival stage to say how grateful he is to be able to play music with the band, and that he also can’t help but voice some of the consequences of the bill, particularly for the many set to lose health care coverage as a result to its passing. It was a powerful moment and statement in the middle of the festival lineup on day one. Following that with Cutts on keyboard, the band played a very fun live rendition of Lucerne that I have replayed in my head multiple times in the day since it occurred.
My only qualm from day one of Zootown came from the conflicting set times making it hard to see both stages. I made my way over to see Mon Rovia on the Lookout stage, which had an incredible view of the valley, however, by the time I made it there I was only able to see a song or so before heading back to see Lake Street Dive.
Lake Street Dive is the perfect festival set. Super energetic. Their sound carries throughout the festival grounds. Multiple instruments and strong performances on each, while accompanied by the stellar vocals of Rachael Price.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit was an act that I finally got to cross off of my bucket list and was one of the selling points on the Zootown lineup for me to inspire me to travel to see it. I wasn’t alone in travelling for it. I met a few people from both Louisiana and Michigan to see the two-time Grammy Award-winning band. However, the local crowd didn’t seem to have the same esteem for the group beyond when they played ‘Vampires.’ They did well at successfully winning over the crowd with an incredibly strong set. It was great to see firsthand how good Isbell is as a guitarist, I’ve long felt he was underrated as a guitarist, and seeing him and the unit rip guitar only cemented that belief. It was truly remarkable and garnered praise from headliner Hozier later in the evening, who expressed his gratitude for seeing the set and hearing him shred on guitar.
Hozier took the Trailhead stage to close an amazing first day of Zootown festival. The rain finally let up, and he began his set with ‘Nobody’s Soldier’ and ‘Jackie and Wilson.’ I’ve seen Hozier at a festival for the last three summers and have loved it more and more each time. This time was particularly memorable. He played all of the hits ‘Like Real People Do,’ ‘From Eden,’ and ‘Cherry Wine’ from a special small stage in the GA section of the crowd. While all of those were moving performances, the real moving portion of his set came near the close. Hozier took the opportunity to tell the story behind his song ‘Nina Cried Power’ in which he collaborated with music icon Mavis Staples. He explained why the song and collaboration mean so much to him, being from Ireland, and how Mavis and The Staples Singers’ role in the Civil Rights Movement and marching with Martin Luther King, which movement directly inspired the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. This collaboration to him was one that set him on his path of using his music to speak up and against things that are wrong. To which he then used his platform to express his desire for a Free Palestine. It was a powerful story and statement to see on stage. It felt oddly patriotic on the Fourth of July to see an artist use their art and platform to speak out against the atrocities happening in Palestine, all while in the middle of rural Montana, a more conservative state. It was moving. It is one of the things I love about Hozier and is something he did during his entire summer tour. He finished his set with ‘Take Me To Church’, another powerful protest song, and he donned a pride flag from fans in the crowd. A cherry on top of a powerful performance on the Trailhead main stage on the first day of Zootown.