Live Shows: Green River Festival, Franklin County Fairgrounds, Greenfield, MA 6/20/26

Britt Daniel of Spoon
Photo by Ken Sears

As one of the announcers said, Saturday at the Green River Festival was a marathon. I got there early for Lily Seabird and stayed late for Spoon. It was over ten hours of diverse music, from Americana and folk to cumbia to indie rock to experimental music. It was absolutely exhausting, in the best possible way as I tried to take in everything possible. Here are my highlights from day two!

Lily Seabird, Backporch Stage

I've been trying to see Lily Seabird live for almost three years now, and the Green River Festival finally let it happen. My expectations were high, and she and her band blew them completely away. I had meant to watch half of her set and then head over to Dean's Beans Stage for the second half of The Animeros, but I was transfixed by Seabird's set. Live she seemed to lean into her more indie rock side with folk elements. It was kind of like if Nirvana or Sonic Youth decided to try out Americana. Lily Seabird set the bar for the day incredibly high, and was the perfect way to get eased into music festival mode while getting amped up for the rest of the day.

Tunde Adebimpe, Sundial Audio Main Stage

Usually I'm not a fan of artists singing over pre-recorded tracks, but there are always exceptions to every rule. TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe played the main stage with mostly pre-recorded vocals and some live electronic elements, and I was transfixed. There might not be a better frontperson alive than Adebimpe, and he could have done anything on stage and won over the crowd. He played his excellent 2025 album Thee Black Boltz in its entirety and had the crowd dancing and cheering throughout. It's an album about dancing through grief, and I can't imagine the album or Adebimpe's performance didn't leave everyone in a better mood.

Sondido Gallo Negro, Dean's Beans Stage

Sondido Gallo Negro were the second of three cumbia bands to play the Dean's Beans Stage on Saturday, and their set was enough to completely win me over to an entire genre. All seven members of the band looked like they were having the best time on stage, especially the percussionist, who stood and danced the entire set with a giant smile on her face. Playing mostly instrumental tracks, they had the crowd on their feet and dancing for their entire set (including me, Puritan roots be damned). A highlight was a cumbia cover of DEVO's iconic "Whip It," but their original songs were just as worthy of praise. As much as cumbia singles and albums have been winning me over lately, a live performance is next level joy.

Folk Bitch Trio, Backporch Stage

I've long felt that Folk Bitch Trio have been wildly underrated, but they might finally be having their moment. Playing a packed Backporch Stage, the Australian trio mesmerized the audience with their quiet and emotional folk. I don't think I've ever seen three people playing acoustically with such a focus on vocal harmonies create such a compelling stage presence, but Folk Bitch Trio are one of those artists. They even turned Los Mirlos' sound bleeding into their stage in between songs into a memorable moment by suggesting we all go check them out since they sounded like so much fun. (They did say that Saturday was their first time in Massachusetts even though they opened for Whitney in Marshfield last year, but we'll let that one slide.)

The Beths, Sundial Audio Main Stage

New Zealand's The Beths might be the artist I've seen the most out of everyone at this year's Green River Festival. They also might be the perfect band to play the current version of the festival. They're a pop leaning indie rock band with some folksy roots, which fits in perfectly with the Green River Festival 2026 vibe. The set was similar to when I saw them in Providence in December of last year, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable. Their live show is always delightful, with stage banter being top notch. Songs like "Future Me Hates Me," "No Joy," and "Expert in a Dying Field" are always fantastic to see live, and I can't imagine ever getting sick of the experience.

Ratboys, Backporch Stage

The theme of the Backporch Stage seemed to be long running artists finally getting the recognition they deserve, and Ratboys epitomize that. The Chicago band play a perfect mixture of country and indie rock, and the Green River Crowd ate that up. Every song received an eruption of applause, and a high energy set was what the audience craved and received. I'm now three for three in crying to "The Window" live, and it will probably go up to four for four next time I see them. Ratboys have seemed to be on the precipice of exploding for years now, and they seem ready to be huge. And it's well deserved.

Spoon, Sundial Audio Main Stage

Spoon closed out Saturday, and despite being around for over thirty years, this was my first time seeing the indie rock legends live. Unsurprisingly, they were great live. Not many bands can take an all day festival stage and make it completely their own, but that's exactly what Spoon did. They played a high energy set of classics that spanned their entire career, and even busted out the big hit, "The Underdog," right in the middle of their set. (As much as I like to pretend I don't care about the hits, seeing that particular song live after almost twenty years was thrilling.) Their set was wonderfully entertaining, and even kept the most exhausted of us on our feet and rocking out.