Cover Photo by Dusana Karam, Daisy Chain Fields
There were real big expectations for the first annual Daisy Chain Fields Festival, and the talented, hardworking women behind the music and magic exceeded them every step of the way.
In the two short months after Grammy-winning popstar Olivia Rodrigo announced the all-women festival, Daisy Chain Fields quickly made a major name for itself. Every bit of subsequent information released about the inaugural festival sparked a sea of headlines, and rightfully so. Rodrigo and the team behind Daisy Chain Fields were clearly determined to craft a vision of what the music industry could and should look like, and she didn’t shy away from putting her money where her mouth is.
From day one, Daisy Chain Fields has made its mission to support women loud and clear. Rodrigo has been hard at work spotlighting the ten nonprofit women’s advocacy organizations that the festival’s proceeds will be going to: Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, John Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center, and Planned Parenthood. Before the festival even began, Rodrigo announced on Friday that the Daisy Chain Fields Fund had already raised ten million dollars for the nonprofits.
If this concept sounds familiar, that’s because it is: Rodrigo has been open about taking inspiration from the legendary Lilith Fair, an all-women touring festival from the ‘90s created by Sarah McLachlan. Just last year, Rodrigo appeared in Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, a documentary directed by Ally Pankiw about the festival and its legacy. McLachlan herself starred in the documentary and stated in an interview with Vulture that if the concept of Lilith Fair ever was to be brought back, “It needs to be someone of today, someone who’s relevant and coming up in the world, to champion something like this. I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m happy to offer any advice I can if I’m asked. But the younger generation needs to carry it forward now.” With the support of McLachlan, Olivia Rodrigo stepped up to the plate as founder, curator, and headliner. On Saturday night at Irvine’s Great Park, the torch was passed, and Lilith Fair began again in the form of Daisy Chain Fields.
In addition to the many celebratory headlines published in the days leading up to the festival were far less exciting ones regarding the heat concerns being raised by volunteers and attendees alike. From the second you stepped out of your shuttle, you felt the blazing Irvine sun, and you, unfortunately, never stopped feeling it. But if the lines for the art installations, brand activations, merch, and drinks — in addition to the tens of thousands of people waiting at each stage at all times — were any indication, it seemed attendees were still determined to make the most of their time and money despite the weather. To be fair, when you walk in to the sound of Stevie Nicks soundchecking “The Chain,” you don’t really have a choice but to suck it up and be grateful you’re there at all.
A sea of floral outfits and mini fans made their way through the pink gate and under the big orange balloon at 10:30 a.m., and it was off to the races from there. Despite the many photo ops and pop-up shops scattered across the Great Park grounds, the organizers ensured the music and the mission never got lost in the crowds. Tracks by festival performers played on the speakers between sets, and representatives from the ten nonprofits introduced artists to the crowd.
Tasked with setting the tone for the day was Texas-based dream-pop artist Quiet Light. “Thank you for being here so early,” she said to her sweaty but supportive audience. Her chill, atmospheric vibes were exactly what was needed to briefly cast oneself under the illusion that you’ve escaped the heat by entering Quiet Light’s cool, cosmic soundscape. Sharing the stage with two ballerinas and a musician on the synth, her tranquil, angelic aesthetic was instantly clear and uniquely hers.
Next up on the Marigold Stage was British indie-pop sensation Rachel Chinouriri. In between premiering tracks from her upcoming sophomore album, I think I spoke too soon, Chinouriri played fan favorites like “All I Ever Asked,” “Never Need Me,” and “Can we talk about Isaac?” Her shiny, silver stage outfit made her look like a total superhero, and the pop perfection she delivered backed up her magnetic aura. Chinouriri drew an impressive crowd for a noon set, and she proved she more than earned it every time a lyric was passionately shouted back to her as the crowd put the weather aside and just danced.
After taking a much needed-break from the sun, I was ready to brave the crowds and sun rays once more, making my way over to the Dandelion Stage where I’d remain for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, Mitski’s set took place during the height of the heat, and even my time in the shade couldn’t prepare me for some of the worst of it. Thankfully, Mitski put on a captivating performance that worked as a brilliant, brief distraction. Part of that stemmed from Mitski herself being completely locked into her performance. With her powerful vocals and emotive eyes lighting up the space, she lured the crowd into her own kind of one-woman musical — just with a band of brilliant guitarists in lieu of an orchestra. She largely stayed channeling the emotion of the songs, but came up for air every once in a while to tell the crowd how much she loves them and to remind them to stay safe. Mitski also expressed her gratitude for being invited by Rodrigo to take part in the festival and added, “It would be cool if it could happen every year because then we could all say we were at the first Daisy Chain Fields, and when do you get to be the first at anything anymore, right? For the rest of our lives, we can be like ‘Oh, yeah, I’m OG DCF.’”
Following Mitski, in a stark but welcome change of tone, came Grammy-winning rapper Doechii with one of the most energizing sets of the day, one that instantly made all the hours spent in the sun worth it. Decked in pink body paint and glitter, Doechii was both impossible to miss and impossible to look away from. With her sharp flow and killer choreo, Doechii looked and sounded like an alien rap rockstar. She dominated the stage with hit after hit and threw in a stellar selection of throwbacks for the crowd to sing along to, from Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” to Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know.” For a festival all about supporting women, Doechii more than delivered on making the women in the crowd feel empowered. It was a set so good that the price of admission was justified before night even came down on Daisy Chain Fields.
In any other case, it would be nearly impossible to try and follow up an act as spirited as Doechii’s, but Daisy Chain Fields, luckily, didn’t have that problem — it had Chappell Roan. The festival marked Roan’s first festival set in five months, and for fans, the wait for her return to the stage proved more than worth it. Having held her very own festival last year in Pasadena, the “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” made commanding a crowd of this size look like a piece of cake. “Only the hits today,” she declared, and “hits” was right. It was impossible to get a true visual grasp on the size of her crowd outside of the occasional drone shot, but with every person loudly singing and crying along to each one of her raunchy lyrics, the sound of the crowd alone indicated not only its size, but its love for Roan. She’s at the point now where she doesn’t even have to teach the crowd the “HOT TO GO!” dance, because it’s precisely what they spend all day looking forward to. Like the Swamp Princess before her turning the grounds into her Florida home turf, Roan transformed the venue into her very own “Pink Pony Club,” fitting for the kind of solidarity-filled Saturday night in SoCal that the song was inspired by. The twofer of Doechii and Roan was satisfying enough that it was hard to believe there was still one more set to come, but that honor, of course, went to Olivia Rodrigo herself.
Before her set, Rodrigo took the stage to thank everyone who made the festival possible, with a special thank you granted to philanthropist Melinda French Gates for pledging to match the ten million dollars raised by the Daisy Chain Fields Fund, bringing the grand total to twenty million dollars. “When women and girls come together to dream and to lead, we change the world. Long after the lights go down from this festival, the organizations doing this work will keep doing it because you all are here, so thank you for being here and thank you Olivia,” Gates said.
Rodrigo kept the celebrations going with eighty minutes of bangers and ballads. With a month to go before Rodrigo’s Unraveled Tour kicks off, Daisy Chain Fields attendees got to be some of the first in the world to hear tracks from you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love live. Even after a long, grueling day, the crowd couldn’t help but jump and sing to the tune of such euphoric pop perfection as “drop dead,” “maggots for brains,” “stupid song,” and “expectations.” “This is the best day of my fucking life!” Rodrigo exclaimed before singing “my way.” The song is meant to be a diss toward another woman, but in the context of Daisy Chain Fields, felt more like Rodrigo letting out her anger at the patriarchy that made a fundraiser like this necessary in the first place. And success is the best revenge.
A few days prior to the festival, Rodrigo released a new track called “serena joy” on streaming, with a portion of the proceeds made from the song going toward the Daisy Chain Fields Fund. The lyrics are quite on the nose (“And if you close your eyes then it can’t be your fault”), but the song, as a whole, worked well within Rodrigo’s set, her eyes piercing the crowd as she eerily warned, “If they do it to them, they’re gonna do it to you.” That a song like that and a festival like this is necessary shows just how much work there still is to be done before women have equal rights in this country. However, Daisy Chain Fields was also a reminder of how much work has been done and continues to be done by strong, committed women, including the decades of progress made possible by Lilith Fair co-founder Sarah McLachlan. “Without Lilith Fair, there would be no Daisy Chain,” Rodrigo declared, as she introduced McLachlan to the stage to duet “Building a Mystery” and “Angel.”
Before playing “Angel,” McLachlan shared, “I want to dedicate this song tonight to the OG, matriarch, beautiful goddess of country music, the biggest philanthropist in the history of country music, Dolly Parton.” Parton’s passing on Tuesday had cast heavy emotions over the festival. At any moment in the day, you could overhear an attendee talking about how sad a week it’s been without her light in this world. The thought of Parton being in the arms of an angel, looking over the festival, and finding some comfort here knowing her work will continue made for a real tearjerker and a lovely tribute to the beloved icon.
Also set to take the stage with Rodrigo as a special guest was Karen O, but the Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer had to pull out of performing at the last minute due to a family emergency. Rodrigo followed that announcement with some good news to make up for it as she brought Alanis Morissette to the stage to sing “Ironic” together. Rodrigo has performed with many rock legends, including David Byrne, Billy Corgan, and Robert Smith, but there was something extra special about watching her perform with one of the women who paved the way for her brand of pop rock. Following their duet, Rodrigo reminded the crowd exactly what that brand looks like with a powerful performance of “all-american bitch.” Before the song’s pivotal scream, Rodrigo demanded, “Right now, I need you to think of something that fucking pisses you off, okay? There’s a lot to choose from in this world today.” The ensuing scream was naturally deafening.
The night ended on a hopeful high note as Steve Nicks graced the crowd with her presence and a beautiful rendition of “Landslide.” The sound of sobs as Nicks sang, “But time makes you bolder / Even children get older / And I’m getting older too” indicated how hard those lyrics were hitting the crowd with the passing of Nicks’ peer, collaborator, and friend, Parton, still clearly at the top of everyone’s minds. But like Parton, Nicks is doing what she can to pass the baton, trusting that her legacy of giving back and bringing women forward will be continued by the next generation of artists and activists. Leading Gen Z in that fight is Rodrigo, and if Daisy Chain Fields is any indication, the world is in good hands. The closing remarks of the night were delivered affectionately by Nicks about Rodrigo — “She’s very special. Take her to your heart. I have.”
The Daisy Chain Fields Festival is for such a great cause and delivered such great performances that reducing it to its unfortunate weather would be remiss. In even slightly less heat and humidity, this would be a pretty perfect festival. Luckily, this is just its first year, and there’s still time to make sure this never takes place during an excruciating August heat wave again. The circumstances were unfortunate all around, but it was, nonetheless, an emotional sight seeing women so at peace for once in a world that constantly denies them that right. A mural at the festival featuring a Jenny Holzer quote read, “In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy.” Daisy Chain Fields was that dream, “a spark in the dark” of a bleak year, and I’m eager to see how this “femininomenon” evolves and returns hopefully during a cooler season.
Daisy Chain Fields provided not just a vision of what the country could and should look like for women, but also the music industry. It renewed my faith in the future of music to see such a diverse, stellar mix of iconic artists and rising stars come together to support women, while forgoing any money in return. Because women like McLachlan, Morissette, and Nicks paved the way, women in music today have the opportunity to freely speak their minds and use their influence for good to make things like Daisy Chain Fields a reality.
The message these women wanted to send and that they succeeded in sending was clear: keep singing, keep dancing, keep loving one another, but also keep fighting to leave this world a better place than you found it and don’t stop until every day and everywhere feels like it did at Daisy Chain Fields.
