Zany Waves Heads to New England for Levitate Music Festival

Sarah Bruno
1 day ago
6 min read

Levitate Festival | by Sarah Bruno for Zany Waves

Earlier in the summer, Zany Waves was accepted to cover the Levitate Music and Art Festival in Marshfield, MA. The Levitate Foundation aims to keep music, art, and the outdoors accessible to people from all walks of life. Starting off as a surf shop in Marshfield, the shop owners, Ben and Jess Hassett, decided to launch the foundation in 2023 to encourage nature conservation and to host art shows, surfing competitions, and music events. They wanted to give creatives of all sorts a platform to show their work.

Located on the South Shore of M.A., the Marshfield Fairground was the ideal venue for a music festival, with some attendees able to camp on the premises while others traveled in from Boston and Cape Cod, a 45-minute drive away. The two-day festival was held on July 18th & 19th, featuring headliners such as Ziggy Marley, Alanis Morissette, and Caamp. On the fairgrounds, there was an emphasis on the Art Festival part… local artists painting murals live, an entire art gallery of local artists, and many small vendors who were selling their art, whether it was jewelry, paintings, or whatever their medium may be!

Day One

It was forecast to be an overcast day with a slight chance of rain in Marshfield, but that didn’t dampen attendee excitement on the first day of the festival! There were three stages throughout the fairground: Stoke Stage was the main stage, Style Stage was for known artists who are quickly gaining attention, and Soul Stage was for small local artists. On the Soul Stage, the artists who performed were winners of the Levitate Foundation’s emerging artist submission, who were spotlighted on the stage and received a $5,000 grant to put towards their debut album. I loved the idea that those just starting their careers as musicians could show off their talent. On day one, I was really impressed by Copilot, who had a soulful rock sound, and even more so by the fact that the lead singer was 9 months pregnant. After talking with the band for a while, they expressed their gratitude for receiving the Levitate Foundation grant to start recording the songs they had written over the winter.

Bebe Stockwell opened the festival's main stage for the weekend and did not disappoint. Fans camped out for her set at 10:30 am to get a good spot to see her set at 1:00 pm on Saturday. Her voice was absolutely mesmerizing as she played songs from her 2026 album, Volume 1. As a Boston native, she was talking to the fans about how happy she was to be performing in New England again, in a way that felt like “home” to her. It was hard not to pay attention to the uniqueness of her strong voice, which was accompanied by softer indie songs.

Larkin Poe followed Stockwell’s set, a band composed of two sisters who absolutely blew me away with their set. I was not familiar with their music before the Levitate Music Festival. They are GRAMMY-winners for their songwriting/production abilities, and have a soulful and gritty rock sound. Their stage presence was something you couldn’t look away from as both sisters jumped around and were seemingly having the best time together performing.

Then the rain started to roll in, and I was introduced to New England’s bipolar weather. Pouring rain and blustery winds started to roll into the fairground, and everyone in the media quickly took cover. Impressively, the music never stopped until headliner Alanis Morissette’s set began. The set was only delayed 30-minutes or so with excellent organization by the festival. I was listening to Pigeons Playing Ping Pong performance in the media tent, a traditional jam band with a psychedelic and funk rock sound. They were performing songs from their newest album, “Feed The Fire,” that were consistently upbeat songs and the type of music you have to dance around to.

As the weather started to settle down, Sammy Rae & Friends took command of the mainstage. Performing with a full band composed of a tenor saxophone, bassist, guitarist, rhythm guitarist, keyboards, and drums, her voice was soulful and jazzy, with a little reggaeton mixed in. Sammy Rae’s live performance had a contagious energy as she jammed with her band, whom she seemed to adore. Her expressions and high energy on stage worked extremely well with the distinct sound, a fusion of upbeat rock, soul, and jazz. On day one, I was most impressed by the band’s live sound and ability to engage with the crowd, unlike any other performance that day.

Sammy Rae & Friends | by Sarah Bruno for Zany Waves

Unfortunately, around 6:30 pm that night, the rain took a turn for the worse, and most of the media team (including me) were escorted out of the fairground. As disappointed as I was to miss Ziggy Marley’s and Alanis Morissette’s set, the decision was made for my own safety and the safety of my equipment.

Day Two

Day two felt like a completely different festival than the day before. The sun was shining without a cloud in the sky, the attendees’ energy was high, and the excitement of the line-up was contagious. Starting off the day was Hans Williams, who’s originally from New England but is now calling New Orleans home. Williams had a distinct ability to morph together soft indie-folk with hints of Americana in a subtle yet powerful way. His voice and acoustic guitar polished his set, and fans were so excited to hear him play!

I was surprised to see such a big crowd gather to see the up-and-coming jam band out of Nashville, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country. Yet, after their set, I had no question of their popularity. The performance was similar to that of The Grateful Dead, as the instruments worked off of each other and the psychedelic sounds. Donato introduced a more blues-, jazz-, and country-driven sound to the traditional jam band sound. The energy of the set was bouncing off the crowd’s excitement and feeding into the band’s ability to jam out together in a really beautiful way.

This day also happened to coincide with the FIFA World Cup Finals, so the festival thought it was only fair to screen it between sets. There was a sea of soccer jerseys of different players and random bursts of cheering or disappointment from the crowd that amassed.

Casey Rivers, Levitate Foundation Winner, took over the Soul Stage and offered a beautiful, soft indie-folk sound with lyricism that truly told the audience. Rivers’ sound and storytelling ability were an impactful fusion of John Prine, a bit of Woody Guthrie’s Americana, and Maggie Rogers’s new-age soft indie-folk.

Casey Rivers | by Sarah Bruno for Zany Waves

Trombone Shorty & New Orlean’s Avenue immediately made their presence known on the Stoke Stage. They brought the feeling of New Orleans with their jazz-funk, soulful sound and loud horns, even backup dancers to the south shore of Massachusetts. With a full band composed of trumpets, baritone saxophone, electric and rhythm guitars, tenor saxophone, keyboard, drums, and, of course, a trombone. The passion they had for their music, which had R&B influence to it, energized the crowd to dance and sing along.

As we are talking about energized sets, I would be remiss not to mention the performance of Marshfield’s hometown heroes, The Elovaters. The band’s founding members, John Alves and Jackson Weatherbee, are from Marshfield, and the band returns to the festival every year to support The Levitate Foundation. The Elovaters performed an electrifying reggae-rock set that truly had every fan there engaged with the band. They had a sound similar to early Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, and the legend Bob Marley. They created a set that was seemingly controlled chaos, with inflatable sharks and beach balls passed around the crowd amidst pyrotechnics. At this point in the festival, there wasn’t a set more well received by the crowds. Every single lyric was sung back to the band; everyone was dancing and cheering them on. A truly impressive homecoming set by The Elovaters!

Caamp, self-proclaimed “boys from Ohio making beautiful music,” were set to headline and close out the festival on Sunday night. Quickly growing in popularity in the indie folk-rock scene, Caamp have proved themselves time and time again. With the distinct raspy voice of frontman Taylor Meier, Caamp’s music tells a story through their music and lyricism. Their more popular songs include “All The Debts I Owe,” “By and By,” and “Vagabond,” all of which explore themes of the vulnerability of love, interpersonal relationships (both romantic and platonic), and life’s struggles. In a traditional storytelling way, Caamp’s ability to tell stories in their lyrics cultivates a very humanistic quality that touches the listener. As the front man, Meier took the stage, and the Marshfield Fairgrounds suddenly erupted in excitement at the sight of the band playing live. The riff of the electric guitar, the lyrics fans knew by heart, and the vibrant set decorated with fresh flowers completely captivated the audience. They played a wide variety of their discography: from songs off their first self-titled album, to their most popular song, to the newer songs from their most recent album, Copper Changes Color. Their fans were a unique crowd from all walks of life: families with children, older couples, and young girls spinning around in pretty dresses. It was beautiful to see how their music touched the audience! The set put on by Caamp was the perfect way to close out The 2026 Levitate Festival.