WonderWorks fest at Hartwood brought surprises, indie-rock greatness & inflatable sofas

HAMPTON TWP. – Fans showed up Saturday at WonderWorks Music Festival's opening day eager to hear headliner Hozier sing "Take Me to Church."

But Andy Frasco had a different plan, remarking early in his wildly entertaining mid-afternoon set, "I'll take you to temple."

Indeed, Frasco soon enough jumped off the stage, at Allegheny County's Hartwood Acres, then parted the hillside crowd in two ― like Moses at the Red Sea, he commented. Frasco then instructed everyone to link hands as he proceeded to teach gentile indie-rock fans how to do the hora, an Israeli folk dance, as his band, The U.N., launched into the Jewish wedding staple "Hava Nagila."

With hands clasped, both sides of the parted crowd enthusiastically ran around in two distinct circles, doing the dance as Frasco celebratorily held aloft a young boy he made friends with in the crowd. The Jewish singer from L.A. then scampered back up the hill and flung himself onto the stage to continue delivering what proved to be the performance of the day at the two-year-old music festival.

Frasco & The U.N.'s 45-minute set began with bluesy rock numbers like "Spill The Beans," but the frontman craved improvisation, which found the band shifting styles amid one jam where he'd shout out a genre and The U.N. followed suit. "Reggae!" Frasco shouted, for instance, as the band then slowed its pace to play chunky reggae notes. "Disco!" the frontman then exclaimed, prompting the band to ramp up its glittery dance sound. Motioning toward his bassist, Frasco said "Seinfeld!" to persuade a few bouncy slap bass bits straight out of that 1990s sitcom's theme music.

The thrilling looseness continued as Frasco and The U.N. tore into My Chemical Romance's "Teenagers" as the singer began scaling the metal P.A. towers on both sides of the stage like Bono at The US Festival. Well, not quite as high.

Smart festivalgoers know to never miss the afternoon acts, though the WonderWorks crowd was only moderate-sized by 2:30 p.m. when indie-pop act Michigander commenced with a satisfying set on the second stage followed on the main stage by the exulted blues-rock thunder and boogie of Canadian duo The Blue Stones.

Unlike its inaugural year, WonderWorks offered a third stage, where sound issues were a recurring theme. Abby Holliday, sporting a Cincinnati Reds hat, persevered through some soundcheck difficulties to play a well-received indie-rock set with some autotuned vocal effects.

Sound problems were worse for third-stage act Almost Monday (stylized as "almost monday"). The San Diego band's soundcheck took much longer than normal as the musicians kept urging the soundboard guy to make changes so they could hear their instruments properly. Three times, the soundboard guy sprinted from his tent, weaving through the crowd, to reach the stage to make adjustments. Perhaps he didn't realize his mic was live during this sequence, and at one point the entire crowd hear him plead for the band to just start playing, even if the sound wasn't ideal.

Almost Monday plowed ahead, with singer Dawson Daugherty eventually commenting with a smile that it was the most chaotic set the band ever did, but they got through it for the patiently seated and standing crowd, which enjoyed a cover of The Romantics' dance-rock classic "What I Like About You" and a set-closing original song, where according to Daugherty, the guitar amp was barely holding on.

Let's talk about the crowd. Fans were noticeably younger, skewing early 20s, compared to last year's then-named Maple House Music Festival, a single-day event led by Jason Isbell and Black Pumas. There was an equal mix of sundresses and denim shorts Saturday, though the most intriguing accessory was furniture, not fashion, as dozens of fans brought inflatable sofas. It's a festival trend.

High school and college-aged women packed the front of the main stage to watch 20-year pop-rock singer Stephen Sanchez and Nashville pop-rock band Coin, which had a sound that reminded a bit of The 1975.

Sanchez later roamed through the audience meeting fans and he strolled onto the second stage to help The Head & The Heart hit some high notes on "Honeybee."

The Head & The Heart's harmonies and rich piano and guitar textures made the indie-folk Washingtonians a festival favorite.

X Ambassadors satisfied, too, with a rocking set that began with 2015 hit "Renegades" and also included the slower and emotional, four-times platinum "Unsteady."

Frontman Sam Harris was fun to watch, with his expressive gestures and boots scooting all over the stage. It was nice seeing him take the stage while holding hands with his blind brother, Casey Harris, the band's keyboardist.

Headliner Hozier hit the stage at 9:30 p.m., backed by a full band with cello, violin, two female backup singers, keys, drums, bass and loud, crackling guitar. Hozier's band was as tight as his man bun, and the Irishman had the audience in his hands as the set launched with his dynamic 2023 radio single "Eat Your Young" and "From Eden," where he contributed to the electric guitar layering. Soulful and bluesy when warranted, Hozier proved to be a solid headliner for a crowd so receptive, it even cheered loudly when he said, "Here's a song I released a couple weeks ago," referring to "Francesca."

Day Two of WonderWorks brings headliner Jason Mraz plus The Revivalists, The Heavy Heavy and Jess Williamson.

About 12,000 concertgoers were expected on both days.

Organizers were well prepared opening day, as bathroom lines were short, traffic wasn't bad, and staff was friendly and knowledgeable. My constructive criticism for next year would be to drop the third stage and relocate the second stage from its hilltop perch.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: WonderWorks Music Fest opening day was a success at Hartwood Acres allegheny county