Mission Creek is its own kind of festival, perhaps one of the most unique in the country: it's a hidden gem that happens in some of the state's longest-running, independent music venues. The booking is some of the most thoughtful and introspective of our state's music events, and the entire weekend feels like an exercise in deep, intentional listening — with the party of the Iowa City Ped-mall thrown in the mix.
We get introduced to the most new music of the year at Mission Creek. There's always something experimental and weird that tickles our creativity, and the vibe of the event is truly that of a community festival. We're going to be sharing the conversations we had with Indigo De Souza, Sunny War and Armand Hammer over the next few weeks, but first, notes on Mission Creek 19, complete with some of our favorite photos.
This year, the weekend coexisted with the Iowa women's basketball team's NCAA Final Four game, which created a special kind of energy. At night, there were so many people downtown!
The festival also took place shortly after the deaths of two of the festival's longtime collaborators, Chris Wiersema and Sarah Shonrock, whom festival co-founder Andre Perry commemorated in his opening remarks at Hancher Auditorium Thursday evening.
"It's up to us," he said, "to create the foundation for the kind of place we want to live in, and I want to thank you all for being a part of that. One of the things Sarah used to say and really push us on is the idea that the arts are for everyone, and we really believe that here."
This event spans more than a half-dozen locations in Iowa City, encapsulates the literary ethos of the UNESCO City of Literature and presents so much interesting music. It really shows that the event has been in the hands of gracious and innovative leadership for nearly 20 years. We'll be high on the weekend for a while, and we want to thank Iowa City for supporting this festival in all its stages from the bottom of our music-loving hearts.
Now, let's talk about some music!
Sexiest set of the fest - The Osees
Apparently The Osees know where the fountain of youth is, and we’d like for them to share that info with the rest of us. Before we talk about how remarkable their drummer side-by-side center stage set-up was, we’d like to point out that lead guitar player and vocalist John Dwyer is nearly 50 years old. It’s nice to see someone in rock and roll who knows how to take care of themselves, and John, we would very much like to see your workout routine.
Okay. About their music. WOW. We’ve played this band in heavy rotation on-air for a while. If you’ve been following us, you know we’ve got a big soft spot for psych rock and experimental rock projects. But The Osees performance at Mission Creek was something else. We heard tracks spanning at least four of their records Saturday night, including their two newest albums: Intercepted Message and A Foul Form.
If you’ve never seen an act with two drummers, you must make it a point to do that. And while we’re here, we’d like to specifically recommend this one. Some bands touring with double drums will set the instruments on opposite sides of the stage. Bon Iver, for example, did that at Hinterland in 2023. The Osees put both drum kits front and center, where they belong, operating like a four-armed beat-making octopus pushing bass kicks into the chests of everyone in the room. Again, WOW.
P.S. Anyone else see the Mission Creek Bunny crowd surfing at the end? Gotta love Creekend!
Best vocal performance - Neko Case
Before Neko Case and her band took the stage Thursday night, the audience was greeted by a “voice of God” message over the PA, requesting that we silence our phones and put them away. It was an entirely reasonable request, but once Case starts singing it's hard to imagine someone NOT giving her their undivided attention. Case is a brilliant songwriter and bandleader, but it's truly her voice that sets her apart. You've probably heard her music on Studio One. If not, you'll want to fix that right away. Start with 2018's Hell-On and then work your way backwards.
The setlist consisted mostly of Case's most well-known songs. “Last Lion of Albion,” “Deep Red Bells” and “Star Witness” were all highlights, as was “Hold On, Hold On,” the final song of the night. We also got to hear several songs from Case's next album, scheduled to be released next year, which we've already penciled in as our favorite album of 2025.
Bucket list performance - Indigo De Souza
Before she left the stage Friday night at Mission Creek, Indigo De Souza said she was having a bit of an out-of-body experience. Having been fans of hers for years, so were we. We'd been looking forward to her headlining set since she was announced, and she exceeded all our expectations.
Among her setlist, we heard “All of this Will End,” the title track to her latest release, and “How I Get Myself Killed,” one of our favorite tracks from her 2018 release, I Love My Mom. She also treated us to a few unreleased tunes that we didn’t catch the names of, but will be looking up and waiting anxiously for her to release!
The quality of Indigo De Souza’s vocals is stunning — especially in the ethereal moments that lace the melodies of her songs. This is as true live as it is on her recordings.
Our own Tony Dehner talked with De Souza backstage before the show, and she gushed about how much she loves steel guitar. We obviously do too, and it was a special moment when the lap steel came out on stage — probably beaten only by the second the bassist took off his flannel to reveal an Iowa Hawkeyes tank top. Perfect attire for a set playing the same time as the Iowa vs. UConn game!
The set we recorded for the radio and for YouTube - Sunny War
We had a chance to talk with Sunny War on Friday afternoon, after the soundcheck for that night's show at the Riverside Theatre. She captured our hearts.
During our conversation, we asked her about the “folk punk” label that's sometimes applied to her music. Before we knew what was happening, we were going down a rabbit hole of punk subgenres: “crust punk,” “gutter punk” and probably one or two we're forgetting. Seriously, it was a great interview, and we can't wait for you to hear it. Also: don't call her music folk punk.
For her performance, Sunny was joined onstage by her frequent collaborator, drummer Alan Eckert. Not only are they musically a match made in heaven, they're also clearly good friends. Their stage banter between songs touched on subjects including songs that make them sad, how much water you should drink and how much is a lot of money to put into Pac-Man at the arcade bar.
Despite her claim that she's “cosplaying as a blues guitarist,” Sunny is a tremendous guitar player, with a fascinating style that primarily uses her thumb and forefinger. Many of the songs that night were from her 2023 Americana-leaning album Anarchist Gospel, but she also played some of her more punk-influenced songs, as well as one by her first punk band, Anus Kings. (Sorry not sorry, that's their name.)
Artist with the coolest stage set - George Clanton
We've been playing George Clanton on Studio One, and we were obviously going to check out his set. We did not expect the dynamic and immersive stage design he created to accompany he and his drummer though. It was incredible.
"My name is George Clanton, and I'm going to play a f$*king song for you!" he screamed into the mic to start the set. His cocky stage persona was also really fun, "wow I'm really good at this," he said at one point during the show.
After he introduced himself, TV stacks playing synchronized video of static, moving pictures and old cartoons lit up as they framed the stage. Behind Clanton, who had a guitar strapped around his neck near his keyboard for most of the show, there was a programmed light curtain that first flashed the letters of his name and then changed with the most mesmerizing (or trippy) visuals we've seen at Mission Creek. See more amazing photos from this show on Instagram. Look for @iprstudioone!
We had seen someone loading in A LOT of gear earlier in the day, and we wondered what it was for. Thank you George Clanton for hauling and setting up all those lights for us to enjoy!
The set we want to thank Chris Wiersema for booking - Nadah El Shazly
If you saw the performance by going in blind and walking away having experienced some absolutely beautiful music from another culture: welcome to Mission Creek.
Nadah El Shazly, a vocalist paired with harpist Sarah Pagé, gave the most romantic and haunting performance of the weekend. El Shazly is a producer, vocalist and sound artist from Cairo, Egypt, and during her set she performed off music from the movie soundtrack she produced, The Damned Don't Cry, and music from her debut album, Ahwar. Her music combines musical concepts and field recordings from her homeland, as well as some expressive ideas from the 19th century.
Here's what she says about that record on her bandcamp page:
"In the midst of the deep Montréal winter of 2022, I received an email from Fyzal Boulifa, asking me to compose the score for his beautiful film The Damned Don't Cry. Fyzal had heard my debut album Ahwar, and felt a deep connection with the music he was imagining for his film. His desire was that the music needed to be singular, like the film’s characters, and perhaps a little impolite, avoiding a banalizing effect which would diminish the characters’ depth. We experimented with many different musical avenues but eventually discovered that improvisation was the key to establish the precariousness and improvised quality of the characters’ existence. Gradually, this improvisational backdrop would gracefully evolve into something more refined and melodious, evoking a direct emotional response as the film unfolded. Towards the culmination of the story, the score would unabashedly embrace a classical melodrama, fully embodying the essence of the film."
The duo returned to the fest this year, after having been one of the first acts Wiersema brought as a wonderfully "weird" edition to Mission Creek, under the moniker "Feed Me Weird Things."
The writer who hit the nail on the head and set us up perfectly for a weekend dominated by music, love and basketball - Hanif Abdurraqib
Repping Caitlin Clark’s #22 on stage, author and culture critic Hanif Abdurraqib opened the 2024 Mission Creek festival at Hancher Auditorium with a reading from his latest book There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension.
This loving and hopeful examination of basketball and the communities it impacts rang extra true in a city all but consumed by sports fandom. The Columbus native, who has strong ties to both Mission Creek and the university, brought sports lovers and book readers together to reflect on what basketball has meant to him, and what LeBron meant to Cleveland.
His reading and subsequent Q&A with University of Iowa professor Tisa Bryant took us all back to a time when watching planes land on the tarmac was a great way to spend a Saturday. “We are responsible for building the foundation for the places we want to live in,” festival co-founder Andre Perry said later in the night, still inspired by Abdurraqib’s message.
Multi-instrumentalist L'Rain also tipped her hat to Abdurraqib during her own set, realizing almost in real-time, that her line "through repetition, transformation" off the track "5 to 8 Hours a Day (WWwaG)" was born out of a conversation she had with the music critic about her songwriting style.
