Temperatures approached 90 at Riverbend Festival on Saturday, but that didn't deter a sellout crowd for Chattanooga's downtown music festival, celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Several attendees said they came for Saturday's headliner Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, while others said they came for the chance to check out new music and visit Chattanooga. In an appearance announced earlier in the day, musician Jason Isbell joined his wife Amanda Shires on stage Saturday afternoon.
"What a beautiful day," Shires said to the crowd before her set.
With a fiddle in one hand, she brushed back her hair with the other before ripping into her song "My Own Galaxy."
Patrick Lawson, of Chattanooga, said he came primarily for Rateliff. Wearing a Bryan College bucket hat and a green Hillsboro Hops baseball jersey, he said he's a big fan and dances with his young daughter to many of the Denver-based musician's songs.
"The fact that he came to Chattanooga — I nearly cried, I was so excited," he said.
Lawson was sitting in the shade across Riverfront Parkway from a line of food vendors. The noodles he got were good, he said, but may not have been the best choice for a hot day. His next treat was going to be a strawberry lemonade, he said, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry.
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One of the things Lawson said he likes about music festivals is learning about new artists. Lawson said he'd never heard of Trombone Shorty, a New Orleans-based musician headlining Sunday, but downloaded a lot of his music and has really been enjoying it.
Also playing Sunday is Memphis soul legend Mavis Staples and Sweet Lizzy Project, an indie-pop band originally from Cuba.
Goose attracts a die-hard fan base, Lawson said, and he was looking forward to seeing the Connecticut-based jam band later Saturday. On Sunday, he said he's looking forward to Blackberry Smoke, an Atlanta-based rock band, and Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.
Riverbend is a good size, he said, has plenty of food and music options and is easy to navigate. The festival used to be bigger, but Lawson said the size now is a better fit for downtown Chattanooga.
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Hannah Owens and Aleana Carmichael came from Nashville to see Rateliff. There were no other musicians they were planning to see, but Owens said she was looking forward to discovering new music.
"We're ready for a good time," Owens said as they stood on a downtown street.
Mary Streets, a resident of Chattanooga, was sitting on the grass watching Amanda Shires. She said she was going to volunteer tomorrow in exchange for free entry.
Streets said she would like to see more indie bands in the lineup, because a lot of the bands have a hippie or country feel. Still, she said the festival attracts a lot of different kinds of people and everyone has been friendly.
"It's interesting to come here and look at the demographics," Streets said. "It's very family-friendly."
Goose was another band she said she was looking forward to seeing. Band members play their songs differently for every show, which attracts a loyal fanbase through FOMO, she said, the fear of missing out on a unique version of one of the songs.
Jim Wood and his teenage daughter were standing near the festival's entrance, next to a pickup truck advertising an energy drink. The truck's bed held several coolers full of frosty energy drinks.
There was no one from the company nearby, so he decided not to take one — even though he said they were being given away earlier. He and his daughter, Isla Wood, laughed together at his moral challenge.
"We came here to see everyone, Nathaniel for sure," Birmingham resident Jim Wood said. "Yeah, it's been great so far."
Chattanooga rocks, he said, and he loves the city.
He said he's also looking forward to Big Boi, half of the Atlanta rap duo Outcast. He was asked to describe Big Boi's show.
"Stand back and hang on," Jim Wood said of Big Boi's show.
The rapper isn't for everyone, he said, but the variety is part of why festivals are fun.
Riverbend Sunday general admission tickets are still available online for $95. Gates open at 2 p.m., and the day kicks off with Doom Flamingo from Charleston, South Carolina, at 2:45 p.m.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.