All Things Go Music Festival returns to Columbia, MD for its 10th anniversary on September 28 and 29, with its biggest lineup to date. Headliners include Hozier, Bleachers, and Janelle Monáe.
Tickets for this year’s festival in DC sold out in impressive time, during both pre and regular sales. This is the fourth year All Things Go is taking place at Merriweather Post Pavillion, with a 20,000-person capacity. 35 artists will perform across two stages during the weekend.
Because of ticket demand, All Things Go Music Festival is also expanding to include performances at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York City this year. The New York City festival will occur on the same weekend.
All Things Go NYC features a smaller and slightly altered lineup, including returning headlining act MUNA on Saturday. All Things Go NYC has the advantage of all artists performing on one stage, so attendees won’t miss any acts due to overlapping set times.
The festival prides itself on its inclusion of female and LGBTQ+ artists in their lineup, and 2024 is no different. Performers include Reneé Rapp, Chappell Roan, and Julien Baker: some of the biggest female queer artists currently.
It can be easy to get wrapped up in the big-name artists performing this year, but it would be a mistake to miss any of the smaller artists’ sets. Here are some of them, and their music to turn you into a fan.
1) Indigo De Souza
Indigo De Souza is a Brazilian-American singer-songwriter based in Asheville, North Carolina. The indie-rock artist writes incredibly personal lyrics reflecting on her childhood, relationships, and community.
Her straightforward writing style allows De Souza to write openly about heavy themes other artists may avoid. Throughout her discography De Souza both alludes and directly writes about morality.
Indigo De Souza released her third and most recent album, All of This Will End, in May 2023. Indigo De Souza writes about some of the most honest human experiences and emotions, moving from the past into a future of self-worth, love, and acceptance. There is a definite progression from De Souza’s earlier albums to this one, finding certainty and confidence in her writing and understanding of the world as she gets older.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, De Souza said “All of This Will End” is her everyday mantra. “It feels like I’m able to infuse every day of my life with intention and love and presence within my relationships. Because why not? Everything is going to end. I just want to do the best that I can do now,” she said.
De Souza has an incredibly close relationship with her mother, who also paints the art for her album covers. Her debut album from 2018 is even titled I Love My Mom.
Indigo De Souza is performing at All Things Go DC on Saturday and at All Things Go NYC on Sunday.
2) Rachel Chinouriri
UK-based Rachel Chinouriri’s album What A Devastating Turn of Events on May 3rd, 2024, and has been met with critical acclaim. The singer takes influence from the sound and visual aesthetics of noughties Britpop. She is reclaiming her experiences of being a Zimbabwe-British woman, telling the story of her experience growing up in Croydon, London.
Chinouriri writes about her experience growing up, including the traumas of her childhood, her experiences with racism, as well as friendships, family, and love. The album begins with more upbeat songs and takes a drastic turn to heavier songs later in the album.
Chinouriri first went viral in 2021 on TikTok with her song So My Darling, which is used for over 100,000 videos on TikTok. She again went viral after the release of her single All I Ever Asked. The song has 27 million streams on Spotify, and 40.5k TikToks use the audio.
In January, Chinouriri released the single Never Need Me along with a corresponding music video. The Music Video features Florence Pugh, who is as much a fan of Chinouriri as she is a fan of Pugh.
Rachel Chinouriri will be performing at All Things Go DC on Saturday.
3) Annie DiRusso
Annie DiRusso is a Nashville-based and New York-raised indie rock artist. She has opened for various artists including Declan McKenna, Samia, HAIM, and Beabadoobee. She recently Co-headlined a tour with Chicago-born and LA-based comedian Caleb Hearon.
DiRusso is anticipated to release her debut album later this year and recently teased on Instagram that she will release music before All Things Go. She said, “Maybe there will even be new music I play that we both know by the time festival happens.”
She released her 5-track debut EP God, I Hate This Place in 2023. With crisp vocals and strong guitar, DiRusso creates anthems out of vulnerable lyrics. The EP is named after the same lyric in Frisco, Forever. She explains the lyric doesn’t refer to a location, but her mind and the intense feelings that she carried within herself at the time of writing this song.
DiRusso will be playing at All Things Go Music Festival in DC on Saturday and in NYC on Sunday.
4) Medium Build
Medium Build (Nick Carpenter) released his fifth studio album Country on April 5, 2024. Country is a form of exploration for Carpenter, both in terms of music genre and his own identity.
Carpenter was born in Georgia, moved to Nashville for school, and settled in Anchorage, Alaska in 2016. He currently resides in both Nashville and Anchorage. According to Carpenter’s website, he recently learned about his father’s past growing up in poor, rural South Carolina. The singer has been reconnecting with this aspect of his heritage.
Carpenter writes with a sense of authenticity, and Country was a chance for him and his creative partner Laiko to experiment with style and genre. The album incorporates classic country sounds with 80s new wave, 90s hip hop, and the influence of Carpenter’s own queer sexual identity.
Medium Build is currently on a headlining tour throughout the summer. Cities and tickets can be found on his website. He will be performing at All Things Go DC on Sunday.
5) Towa Bird
Hong Kong-born Towa Bird is becoming a household name among queer artists. Bird is releasing her debut album American Hero on June 28, an ironic title given Bird is Filipino-British. She describes the themes of her album as “me being completely open about queer love and all its essence; there’s a lot of yearning and vulnerability and dealing with difficult emotions.”
She recently released the single Sorry Sorry, a song about realizing you are falling in love with a friend.
Bird went viral on TikTok in 2020 after uploading an electric guitar cover of Tame Impala’s The Less I Know The Better. The TikTok currently has 2.4 Million views. Bird continues to upload covers to her TikTok, and a recent video of her playing to LUNCH by Billie Eilish gained 1.8 Million views.
Towa Bird recently toured with Reneé Rapp on the U.S. leg of her Snow Hard Feelings Tour in 2023. However, this was not Bird’s first breakout in the States. Olivia Rodrigo asked Bird to play guitar for her documentary Driving Home 2 U (A Sour Film).
Towa Bird will be playing at All Things Go NYC on Saturday and All Things Go DC on Sunday.
The All Things Go Music Festival in DC is currently sold out, but fans can join a waitlist for tickets if more become available. Two-day tickets for All Things Go NYC go on presale June 13, and general sale begins June 14 at 10 a.m. Ticket prices start at $149 for general admission bowl seating.
Have tickets for All Things Go and now thinking about what you want to wear? Check out 2024 Festival Fashion: What’s In and Why.
